Travel system choice = complete nightmare!!

[LittleMissSnowShine]

Is the Graco Mosaic travel system really as terrible as all the reviews seem to make it out to be??

Review Centre has only given it 1.7/5 and Mumsnet has given it 5.4/10 which doesn't seem very optimistic!! So I was about to reluctantly cross it off the list but then dooyoo has given it 4/5 so now I'm considering it again!!! confused

I'm due at the end of August, this is our first baby and we're hoping to have maybe another 2 kids so ideally whatever we buy now would last the course. We live in a pretty urban area so there wouldn't be too much walking over rough terrain. Our car is small (a fiesta lol) and we're unlikely to be upgrading to a bigger one any time before next year so we need a stroller that can be used from birth, folds up easily and is compact enough to fit in our boot. Price is a factor, otherwise I'd probably love the Bugaboo Bee...but the Graco mosaic is just so much more affordable...

Has anyone else used the Graco mosaic or any other Graco pram/stroller? Any thoughts?? Are they as crap as some reviews seem to suggest?? Thanks a million

AlCrowley - Thanks for the advice, I'd never heard about that. I thought sometimes babies looked a bit uncomfortable being forced to lie in a carseat for more than a couple of hours at a time, but I had no idea it was actually potentially dangerous as well

So does the general consensus seem to be that I should just get something easy to use, lightweight and that allows them to lie flat for first few months and swap over to something like the Maclaren Techno (or something like it) when the baby is about 4 months? And that it's fine to buy both the pram they'll need from birth and th buggy they'll use after that second hand provided they are both in good condition?

You're all amazingly helpful!! God knows what my poor child would have been getting pushed around in otherwise

"So does the general consensus seem to be that I should just get something easy to use, lightweight and that allows them to lie flat for first few months and swap over to something like the Maclaren Techno (or something like it) when the baby is about 4 months? And that it's fine to buy both the pram they'll need from birth and th buggy they'll use after that second hand provided they are both in good condition?"

Sounds good but from experience of my own 2 DC's, I would say that maybe you'll need to use the lie flat for more like 6-7 months as you really need them to be able to sit unaided before they look properly comfortable in a sat up buggy. The MacLarens don't lie back very far and a wobbly baby soon ends up all fallen over and scrunched looking.

Glad we're helping

You need to choose a pushchair which will fit in your boot, then choose a car seat that will fit your car (britax and maxi cosi do online fit finders) .THen check the carseat against the which? reports (you can look at which free in the library). And if your pushchair and carseat can be a travel system well great, and if not don't worry too much. We had a small car and had an M and P Pliko pramette. it's fine and has washed up nicely for dc3 and is lie flat. The matching car seat is not very good so we don't have a travel system.

Yeah, I'm still leaning towards a Bugaboo Bee for first few months and then something like a Maclaren Quest when it has outgrown the Bee.

Final question (sorry!!) - I was looking at the Maclaren Techno XLR and Maclaren XT online. Both are suitable for use from birth, come with the same accessories etc but the XLR is about £50 more expensive and the only difference (or so it seems to me lol) is that the XLR is a bit heavier/sturdier. Would either of these more or less do the job or does anyone think the XLR is significantly better?

And yes, I'll post on the pushchair thread too!! Determined to have made our decision on this by the end of the week so if we're going down the second hand route we still have 8 weeks or so to source one

Re - Maclaren - I would say either the XT or the XLR would do the job. I borrowed an XT off a friend when my dd was younger & then bought an XLR when my very large 2 yr old had outgrown her previous stroller. I found it a fair bit wider, still easy to get round shops etc though. My dd went in it when she was 4 (only because she was ill I add) & there was still loads of room for her.

We had the Mosiac. I liked it.

Pros - light, small when folder, easy to get on and off buses, easy to get car seat bit on and off. Cheap!

Cons - narrow. DS outgrew it at about 18 months as he is very broad. When the seat is fully reclined you can't get into the shopping basket, but I think this is true of lots of umbrella folds. No cup holder! I have one now on the Silver Cross Pop (which I dislike in general) and wonder how I got on without it!

It got a lot of use too. DS had at least one nap a day in it for several months, which would mean walking him for about an hour.

Well.... I have been having the same dilemma. But, after looking into it all, I deceided that (1) I didn't want/need a car seat that clicks onto the pushchair... looks so uncomfy and people I asked said they hardly used the feature; and (2) I really wanted the option for parent facing in stroller mode.

So... I am going for the Obaby Zezu Pramette. Looks great!

Another vote here for Babystyle Oyster - I LOVE mine! Demo video here on youtube. Folds with the seat unit attached too, although only in forward facing position.

PS can use with Maxicosi car seat too

my advice is not to buy a travel system and buy a pram that lies flat instead ... sorry, not helpful

If you're going to have more than one child go for the phil and teds sport, you can get an attachment to put a maxi cosi car seat on if you're that into the idea of a travel system (I hate that idea though TBH, they should be as flat as possible in the early days). Also then you can just get a doubles kit later and hey presto it's a double buggy.

I agree I would not have DD in her car seat for long periods, but having a travel system is v handy when you are just popping into a shop etc and will only be out for an hour - saves bringing carry cot/seat unit with you.

Hi there snowshine,
Have you seen the Mamas & Papas Sola?

It's very light, folds up small (without the basket dragging on the floor, a pet hate of mine!), and is both forward and rear facing. The build quality feels very good, some pushchairs I looked at felt very wobbly.

The pushchair goes down flat, or you can also buy a carrycot that I think is suitable for overnight sleeping.

The compatible car seat can be used with or without isofix and is very compact (handy for in my very small car!).

It's not mega cheap (pushchair, car seat, footmuff and car seat adaptors came to about £400), but it's miles cheaper than some other models.

Might be worth a look?

Thanks for all your input everyone - has been absolutely invaluable

So I spent a bit of time in Smyths last night (left grumpy post work DH at home lol) comparing the Techno with the two Graco Mirage/Mosaic systems that I was originally really keen on. In so many of the online reviews, people complained the wheels went wonky on their Gracos not long after they bought them and I have to say that even on a brand new shop model which the sales assistant said they'd only had in for a couple of weeks it was determinedly veering to the right!! And they really did feel pretty small, which, considering they weight 2.5kg more than the Techno was a bit disappointing...

I really liked the Maclaren XLR - the only drawback I could see was the relatively small storage basket but I decided all the pros outweight the cons and I ordered the black and champagne version off mothercare last night - only came to £198 which wasn't too bad.

Although it's suitable from birth and lies completely flat, I do think I will find it nerve wracking putting such a tiny baby in a pushchair facing away from me, but I know I'll get very good use out of it. I thought about maybe getting a carrier to use when the baby is still really small or the XLR does have an attachable carrycot option so they can face you in it. tiny.cc/ej2i2

Has anyone bought the lay flat carrycot to go with the XLR? Or any other similar carrycot for that matter? Are they any good?

I also did not buy a travel system mainly because I hate to see babies squashed into those car seats for long periods of time. It seems that it's just too easy to carry them about and plop them down where ever you go and leave them like that. I just took a blanket with me so if there was nowhere suitable to put him I laid him onto the blanket, whether sleeping or awake. Not to mention that carrying your baby is hard enough work without carrying a huge great baby seat around too!

I bought a pushchair and car seat that could be used from birth until they don't need them anymore. My car seat was rear facing until DS was 9 months and then we turned it, he's 3 and I have just bought him one of the booster seats with the back support and he is still using the pushchair I bought from birth.

I would say with a pushchair you need to look at what you need most as you will never find one that does everything! We got an M&P three wheeler (not sure off the top of my head the model) because I live right next to the forest and go there daily to walk my dog. It is not small but we have a large boot and that's where it lives, it's not heavy to push but it's quite heavy to lift. Mine faces away but if you have the hood up most have a little window so you can see the baby.

i think there are pros and cons to each pram/buggy/travel system so you need to go with what suits you and how you are likley to use it.

I have a graco quattro tour deluxe, which was fantastic for ds and was used a lot.
Now using it with dd and it is still great.

I did have to replace a wheel after a over zealous exit from a bus once but i found the repacement customer service dept fine. I thought i'd have to replace the whole pushchair initially, but instead got a replacement part for £15

People have commented the buggy fabric etc still looks like new.

I am completely satisfied with this travel system.

I am just waiting on delivery of our Babystyle Oyster travel system - I know a few people have recommended it so far, but I thought I'd add that it came out top in the Which? report on buggies and travel systems. When we tested it out it was noticably more robust, easier to use and well designed for ease of clicking in/out the buggy/carrycot/car seat, had loads of storage space and folded up REALLY easily. When we tried the same with some other very reputable brands they just didn't compare.
At least you're thinking about it carefully - do you know before I got pregnant I thought you just picked your favourite colour and bought that one....oh how my life has changed!

I got a mamas n papas pliko on ebay- bargain! used it for 4 months, occasionally used the car seat on top if popping in the shops. sold it on ebay for the same price i bought it! Got a baby jogger city mini now, i love love love it! Believe me u will not use a travel system for long and will quite quickly want something quick n easy to fold and get bubba in n out! Every mum i know has got really frustrated with their big bulky travel systems (gracos are useless from what i hear) and all want lightweight ones pretty quickly!!! Baby jogger is good if you're tall too!!!