What's the Bugaboo Bee Cocoon like in practice?

[minipie]

Evening all

I have a Bugaboo Bee Plus. With DC1 I used it with the Micralite Toro carrycot using the Maxi Cosi adapters. I wanted a carrycot rather than the cocoon because it was midwinter, very snowy and she was premature so I wanted the extra protection/warmth from the high sides of the carrycot and lots of blankets.

However DC2 is due in April and hopefully will not be prem. And I'm a bit less PFB these days . So, I had planned to get a second hand cocoon instead of the bulkier Toro carrycot arrangement, and indeed have now sold the Toro carrycot...

However, I'm just wondering if there are any other practical issues about using the cocoon.

For example, DC1 used to fall asleep on the boob and it was useful to be able to pop her into the carrycot without waking her (usually...). Is it more likely that a baby will wake up when they're being put into the cocoon, seeing as they need to be strapped in?

Also, DC1 used to have most of her daytime naps in the carrycot, even at home. Can babies nap safely in the cocoon? Do they need to be strapped in even if the pram isn't moving?

Can the cocoon be removed easily - for example if I wanted to move sleeping baby into the living room in the cocoon, while leaving the pram in the hall?

Anything else I need to consider? Any benefits of the cocoon vs a carrycot?

It looks like I now also have the option of buying the Bee3 carrycot and using that on the Bee Plus, which might be the best of all worlds... but it's 200...

Thoughts/experiences welcome!

Ouchy, that's a lot of money, have you included the canopy too? The attachment seems to be totally different for the 3 so you'd probably need to buy another if you haven't accounted for that.

If you want to use the seat for both children then I think the benefits of the cocoon outweigh the downsides (strapping in, I definitely would even stationary). You can lift it out once the straps are undone, unlike a footmuff, which is handy imo.

The other option carrycot wise is britax car seat adaptors and the britax carrycot, which sits lower than the toro one (if that's good or bad depends on your perspective I guess, personally I think it looks more stable).

With a toddler around I found a carrycot really useful for baby napping and I do find it easier to just sort of lay them in and go without having to deal with straps etc. Dd2 had the britax carrycot, which has a soft harness type thing, that was a good balance between a bit of security should the pram tip but not having to deal with a full harness each time.

Oh dear! Canopy too in that case, in addition to the 200. That really writes that option off I think.

I do want to use it for both children (eg when DC2 goes in sling, or when Dh takes DC1 out on her own) - that's a good point. getting the seat on and off is a real pain.

For napping, I do have a sleepyhead now, so maybe DC2 will nap in that...

I had the cocoon, it was great while DD was small but she outgrew it quite early. It isn't designed so you can put the seat up so if you do, it sort of bulges outwards.

I had a premature dS1 who came home from hospital in the snow and I used the cocoon with him. I was able to take him and the cocoon out of the pushchair together and you just need to gently info the straps. Think it will do all the things you want it to.

Good luck with DC2 fingers crossed all goes well

thanks both! crucru not sure what you mean about putting the seat up... do you mean when they get to the stage of wanting to sit up, ie you can't use the cocoon like a footmuff? That's ok as I have a footmuff, but it would be much too big for a newborn... I'm hoping that timing wise it wouldn't matter if she outgrew the cocoon quite early as it would be summer by the time she is 3/4 months.

hinky thanks, that's useful to know. That could actually be better than a carrycot in that case.

Both my kids wanted to sit up a bit by 8 weeks. At 2 months, DD was doing stomach crunches in her buggy because she wanted to see out.

Ah I see, thanks. At that point a carrycot would be even worse I presume, as they can't see out of that at all!

Yes, both were out of the carrycot really early, much earlier thn the 6 month recommendation.