Travel system advice

[bubalou]

Hi all,

Second time mum to be here. DS is 6.5 and as a clueless first time mum with him I went to m&p and bought something pretty and expensive that turned out not to be very practical!

20 weeks now with dc2 and need some advice on brands / makes / models etc.

I want something that isn't too weird looking, nothing big and bulky, easily moves baby from pram to car.

Budget up to £700.

Help much appreciated.

Uppababy Vista. We have one and love it. Only down side is it isnt small but you get used to it. Has longevity and can't fault it.

How will you likely be using your pushchair? Off-road? Mainly in town?
Steps? Public transport? Will you have easy storage for it? Much room in your car?
Does parent facing matter to you?

A little bit more info should help us recommend something best suited!

Answers

Storage is not an issue and have a large crossover car with a big boot.

Live in a large town - no public transport used.

Will need to be practical to manoeuvre the school run which is very busy so don't want something large and clumpy.

Will mostly be walking round town and to the park etc.

Oh and would prefer parent facing when they're small.

Hi Bubalou!

We have a Vista and I love it. I do wish I'd looked at the Cruz too as I think it has a lighter frame. I didn't realise you could get the bassinet to go on it. We're going to expand ours into a double - that's how much I love it.

Huge basket, great on grass, easy to fold, parent and world facing, massive sunshade. Just brilliant.

Graco evo
Baby jogger - city mini with the carrycot but look at their range

My top tip... look on ebay. If there's loads for sale at 6-12 months old don't bother as you'll be switching to a maclaren 6 months in. It's usually the heavy prams that get ditched

Thanks for advice!!! Really appreciate it!

ICandy Peach, really good to push and can convert to a double, perfect for a town but folds super small to go into your boot...love it!

Agree with the vista. You have a similar criteria to us and that's what we went with. Have no complaints at all. Although agree you could take a look at the Cruz too, it's more lightweight.

It might be worth having a look at the icandy raspberry and the mamas and papas armadillo flip - both are great prams for around town, do parent facing, fold pretty small and are fairly lightweight for putting in and out of the car.
They should cope ok with the park although not great off-roading really.

Then there is the babyjogger versa / versa GT and the Easywalker Mosey. These are all a bit more all terrain, are slightly bigger pushchairs but have a nice compact fold. The versa / versa GT is fairly heavy (to lift into the car but not to push) but both have a lovely all in one fold. The mosey looks like it might be the perfect all-rounder and is a fair bit lighter plus all-in-one fold and folds with carrycot on.

Jane rider? Loads of choices on what to use on frame re carrycots, car seat etc inckuding an auto carrycot so baby can travel in the carrycot in the car then just lifted onto chassis and a lie flat car seat so can be normal car seat in car then laid flat when tiny and out and about. Parent dacing or forward facing on buggy seat until whatever age you like. I have the trider which is the 3 wheel version as we do a lot of off road stuff too and love the quality of it and design. So easy to fold and unfold etc, even my mum can manage it and she's a total techno phobe!

Icandy aren't within budget (when you add up all the bits) but you can get them secondhand too.

We have the (original) strawberry and would really recommend it. So easy to push and is quite compact compared to a lot. Can be parent facing or outward facing. Not sure about the new model though.

We're about to get the peach blossom 3 (as will need a double soon).

Thanks all for advice.

Happy to spend more as obviously some include the car seat etc.

Defo going to look into these options.

It's a really great pushchair but if you genuinely don't want big and bulky then the Vista is not what you're looking for.

The more compact stuff is the bee, raspberry, mosey, mini and armadillo flip. Also smallish and one piece folds are the oyster 2 and joie chrome. The versa isn't far off but as mentioned is heavier to lift.

Fwiw I think it sounds like easy and light to push is a pretty big factor for you, I would be tempted to find the nearest place with a range of things and go push them all. See how you find the feel of a variation of pushchairs, it can be a very subjective thing.

The easywalker mini 2 is looking interesting but I'm not sure you need the extra features over the mosey, which imo is reasonably priced for what it offers.