travel system/hatchback car. Do we need a new one?

[EmmaKateWH]

I have my heart set on a bugaboo cameleon and it (or any other proper travel system with a carry cot which fits on a chassy), won't fit in our car (a BMW 1 series hatchback). I think we should just buy an estate car, but my husband seems to think this is completely unnecessary. He says we can put the chassy in the boot and the carry cot on the back seat next to the baby. This doesn't seem very practical to me and there won't be any room in the boot for anything else? Did anyone else have this problem? did you try and squeeze into your trendy pre-baby car or give up and buy a grown up one? We can afford a new car so I don't understand what DH is making a fuss about. I think he just doesn't want a boring car, but I keep telling him to give up and accept that we have to be boring now!

Personally I'd shop around for one that folds down well. It's a lot cheaper! We have a tiny boot but found a travel system to fit (silvercross halo). There's a huge huge range of prams out there and you'll find one that works. I must admit though that we run an 18 year old BMW and I don't care about the car as long as it's reliable, safe and moves! It'll be replaced when it dies, but it's going strong. We could afford another, but it's just not I think an important use of money that ca go elsewhere.

Oh one last comment- you won't use the carrycot for that long, how long would you therwise be intending to keep the car? If you would change it anyway soonish then change, if it's something you would otherwise run for years then leave alone.

I don't think an estate is necessary at all for a child (though someone I work with swears the same), but you probably will want a boot that can fit your pram!

It might be worth checking no prams will fold small enough. For example we went with the Babystyle Oyster before we knew what car we were getting because it folds down extremely well. Otherwise I'd be like you and would want a bigger car, because if the boot is that small, it's going to fill up quick whenever you visit friends and family, pram or no pram.

We've got a BMW 1 series and managed to fit our Bugaboo Cameleon (in carrycot mode) into the boot. Granted, not much else fits in. You can take the large wheels off fairly easily, which does make the chassis flatter.

Also meant to say that you do need to remove the bumper bar from the carrycot to fit it in. I preferred to do that anyway as it's easier to get the baby in and out if it's not on. We did find the carrycot invaluable, especially when visiting as it's OK for sleeping overnight. Lasted our DS right up to 6 months.

thanks - that is really helpful. Mishy - did you put the carry cot in first and the chassy on top? Or the chassy on the bottom? I am pretty sure they won't go in side by side and will have to go one on top of the other?

really mishy?? The woman in mothercare told me that the cameleon definitely doesn't fit in the back of hatchbacks like the one series or the astra? maybe I have been misinformed. Damn. No new car for me now!

The problem with buying a pushchair that doesn't go in the back of a lot of cars is that it can cause problems if ever you're using a courtesy car or a hire car. it's really important to have a pushchair that folds easily without removing the wheels. It's fine if you intend to have another smaller pushchair, but you need somewhere to store it. We bought the (unfashionable) M and P Pliko pramette to go in our hatchback. Nice little pram turns into a comortable pushchair.

we have a jane matrix with the carrera (new model called solo reverse) - the car seat is the carrycot, it would definately fit - we bought it as we had a corsa when DD was born. managed with the corsa for DC2 as well as chassis very small. i agree about hire cars - useful on holiday to have compact travel system!

we needed bigger car for DC3 though...

The chassis goes in first and then the carrycot on top. The carrycot frame has the 2 prongs which it attaches to the chassis with, which need to be folded down. When we were looking at options, we went to John Lewis and they brought a few down to try in the boot of the car.

Once you convert the carrycot to the seat after 6 months, it's much easier to fit as it's flatter.

We'd still like to get an estate though and with DC2 due in a few weeks we are looking at our options.

We also fitted the maxi-cosi infant car seat in (with the isofix base) fine and now have a larger rear facing seat (Graco Duologic II- had to order from Sweden) in too. So the 1 series isn't huge, but you can definitely get away with keeping it for at least the first year if you want to.

thanks Mishy - v helpful.