Please help! Pushchair choice for first baby - Bugaboo Bee Plus with Micralite Toro carrycot... anyone tried it or any other suggestions?

[millymollypink]

Right, I'm going a little bit crazy over this and would really appreciate some advice so I can just buy it and get on with thinking about something else!

Our first baby is due in March. We live in London and I'd really like to choose something which I'll be able to easily manage on and off buses, maybe occasionally on the tube and in busy areas (plus I have a very narrow front door to consider.) Ideally something which will see me through a couple of years until (potential) number two comes along.

I really want the ability to have a carrycot for the first few months and then for the seat unit to parent face. I'm very tempted by the Bugaboo Bee in all respects except the fact that it doesn't have a carrycot attachment, however I've read that the Micralite Toro carrycot can be attached with Maxi-cosi adapters. Has anyone tried this successfully?

Or anyone have any other suggestions? I'm also thinking Mutsy 4 Rider light or Uppababy Vista but a bit concerned they are not as nippy as the Bee. Any suggestions very very gratefully considered and potentially sanity-saving!

the uppababy vista is lovely, its so light to push.
i have also read about someone using the micralite carrycot on the bee and they loved it, it was on here somewhere a while ago though

Although I think the 4Rider and Vista are very good pushchairs, I don't think they'll be great on public transport in London becasue of their widths of 62/63cm. The Bugaboo Bee+ and BabyStyle Oyster are both 54cm wide so would be much better options. The Bee's the obvious choice but the wheels aren't great for bumpy ground. The Oyster would be better for that (especially with the additional air tyres) but is heavier. You could consider getting something like a Micralite chassis with carrycot to get the good wheels, lightness while being a bit narrower, but still not as narrow as 54cm.

There are also carrycots made by Quinny and Maxi-Cosi that use Maxi-Cosi adapters to attach to the chassis. I bet there are others too.

Thanks so much, that's really helpful. My friend came to visit today with her 57cm wide pushchair and I reckoned that was as wide as I could manage to get through the door with any amount of ease so I think the Bee or Oyster will be it.

replying to an old thread and never posted before so hope this works.

Does anyone know if the micralite toro carrycot fits on the old bugaboo bee (ie not the plus)? I have one and it was a great pushchair for my first child. I found not having a carrycot a real pain though.

I also heard the Quinny dreami fits on a bugaboo bee, but not sure if this is the bee plus or not.

Failing that, I was thinking of trying a phil and ted's coccoon, but can't see how to attach it. I'm trying to avoid buying a new pram just for those first few months.

Help appreciated!

The carrycots fit onto the Maxi-Cosi carseat adapters so they should fit, but aren't safety tested. You could fit a cocoon using the clips on the cocoon to attach it to the D rings on the harness of the seat unit.

But you could just put the baby into the seat from birth, there's no reason not to.

If you are considering a P&T's cocoon, why don't you simply buy the Bee cocoon? Its a lovely cocoon and should last you 10-12 months.

The bee cocoon is annoying - you have to strap the baby in and so you can't lift it out like you can with a p&t cocoon. It's basically just a cosy toes. Ours only lasted to 6 mo.

But you can't seriously be considering putting a P&Ts cocoon onto a Bee???!!! Surely its far far better to have your baby strapped into a Bee cocoon and safe than in a soft cocoon laid on top of what is one of the most wobby, likely to tip pushchairs? I can't even contemplate how carefully you would need to drop off a kerb. If you had seen the injuries sustained by one child on here strapped into a Bee when it tipped, you wouldn't even contemplate this. To be honest I dont like the idea of a carrycot on the Bee either. Safety rules are there for a reason, and yet sometimes I do push them, but I wouldn't in this instance at all.

The Bee cocoon works brilliantly. It is no hassle to push the harness through the slits and do it up and then undo it to lift the baby out and pop them into their cot or wherever upon your return. I had a 9 and a half pound early baby and he was still in the cocoon at 10 months with room to spare.

No no no to the p+t cocoon on a bee! That is insane. Its not designed to be used like that, and I think would be very unstable

I wasn't suggesting people should use the cocoon, simply saying that the bee cocoon isn't great. Or wasn't for me. It's the major drawback of the bee, which is amazing in every other way.

I didn't like the bee cocoon as if u didn't do the harness up after removing the baby, and folded the bee the coon wound up on the floor. So I used the bee cosytoes.

I put a Quinny Carrycot on the Bee as you described but it was not flat and the baby had to lie with it's head at the wrong end if that makes sense, it was no worse than the M&P pramette which I felt had him almost doing a head stand.