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Travel System?! Graco, Chicco, Maclaren? Advice please.

9 replies

Catty82 · 19/01/2012 15:30

I am expecting my first baby in May. I live in London in a flat with three flights of stairs, I need a travel system where the carry cot attaches/detaches easily from the chassis so I can easily carry the baby upstairs, also a light weight travel system would be good. I am thinking Chicco Trio Living, Graco Symbio, or Maclaren XLR. Any Advice really welcome!
x

OP posts:
Tiggywunkle · 19/01/2012 15:53

Have a look also at the Britax B-Agile and Baby Jogger City Mini.

Does the chassis need to be carried upstairs or can it be left in the hall or a car boot?

Catty82 · 19/01/2012 16:26

There is a bit of space at the bottom of the stairs so hopefully can leave the chassis there, but there are steps leading up to the front door that I will need to carry the chassis up and down, also a lot of stairs at my local train station, so a light weight one would be good.

Thanks for your suggestions, I'll take a look.

OP posts:
Ihateparties · 19/01/2012 19:32

My b-agile and carrycot combo will hopefully have turned up within a week or so, will pop back with a bit of an impression of that. Lots of people on here have city minis and so many good things to say about them. Incidentally I looked at the trio living too and found the whole thing a bit faffy but it does have the longer term reversible seat unit that the city mini, b agile and maclaren don't have.

Catty82 · 20/01/2012 11:02

Thanks! Be great to hear what you think of the B-Agile once you have it.

OP posts:
Tiggywunkle · 20/01/2012 13:49

Have a read of this whilst you wait. There's more here too.

Ihateparties · 23/01/2012 17:44

Right, well I have my b agile and carrycot combo... initial impressions are positive for what I wanted it for (nice wheels, lightweight, fairly easy fold, takes full size carrycot, under £250) but I definitely think it's not as easy to use as a baby jogger. In fact for your purposes, where you will most likely be wanting to lift the carrycot off on a very regular basis then I think it possibly wouldn't be that great as it is an extremely tight fit with the seat fabric on.

I have removed the fabric but you need a screwdriver and some patience, doing this is not in the instructions so I'm pretty sure it's intended to be used with the seat fabric still on. Also the basket comes off with the fabrics at the front, you'd have to find a way of re attaching it to the bare frame. On the plus side the cot is easier to put on and off in this format and it looks better IMO.

The seat fabric removal on the city mini is both easier and something it is specifically designed to do if you want the carrycot on the frame only. Equally you can use the carrycots with the seat fabrics on and from what I saw in the shop the cots are easy to take on and off. The baby jogger compact carrycot does what it says on the tin though, it is definitely compact and doesn't have a carry handle.

If you wanted to go in the bagile/city mini/pull to fold type of direction and are willing to pay the extra then I think on balance a city mini 3 or probably 4 is a better bet when compared directly to the b agile. Possibly with a deluxe hard carrycot instead of the compact one?? Just my opinion, my ideal was probably a city mini 4 with deluxe carrycot but with raincovers, bumper bar, cot etc. the whole lot was stacking up to approaching £400 and I'm too much of a cheapskate!

Good Luck with your choice Smile

ItsMyLastOne · 23/01/2012 18:35

The city mini/b agile choice is usually decided on by your height. The city mini has a higher handle. Are you and your DP particularly tall or short?

Catty82 · 24/01/2012 17:03

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I think BJCM is looking like a more practical option for me at the moment, have also seen the Graco Evo on the Mothercare website which looks suitable. Good job I've got a few more months to decide, I've never been good at making quick decisions!
x

OP posts:
Ihateparties · 24/01/2012 20:14

Ah the Graco Evo... want. Although I did get in trouble on here for admitting this fact! If it turns out to be not too huge I might just get one when they show up in real life... Grin particularly if it will take a buggyboard.

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