Do you actually need a carrycot ??

[Praisebe]

Looking at buying a travel system in the next few weeks but im so confused do you actually need one with a carrycot or is it ok just have the pushchair car seat combo like a Graco Fastfold ? The one we like is only £89.99 brand new for the car seat and pushchair in a green colour but i also like a really expensive one called the Icandy Peach 3 which i think would be a better investment since we want 2 close together in age. Im tempted by both but they are so different in everyway yet fit our lifestyle perfectly. If we used a car seat stroller combo baby would only be in car seat about 30mins each time and I've got a sling to use as well when we're out and about but even for 30mins im worried they will be squished and uncomfy in a car seat and there chin flops down onto their chest so there airways can get cut off ?
Gonna leave this here my hormones are making me ramble on

I've used an umbrella fold pram from birth that has a full recline with each of my kids. I have a silvercross pop for my ds.

Someone gave me their old mamas and papas carry cot pram with my first (it was the late 90s and they were the latest thing) and I really hated it! It was a nightmare to fold one handed and I couldn't get on the bus without assistance. They've probably come a long way since , but it was the moment I decided to go compact.

I chose the silvercross pop because it was cheap and it's narrow enough for bus journeys. So no , I don't think you need a carry cot. If your budget stretches and you travel by car/on foot then it's not a terrible option though.

How much are you going to use the push chair ?

I don't drive so used the pushchair loads. But friends who drove barley used the carrycot as they were in the car and car seat times they were out.

We have the kiddy evo luna car seat as it lies flat so is safer when used as a travel system. Still don't like DS to be in it longer than necessary

Personally I detest the car seats that fit onto pram frames. The babies look uncomfortable, we know their oxygen levels can be restricted and they are heavy and unwieldy for new mothers recovering from pregnancy to manage.
Think about your lifestyle. If you will benefit from a carrycot for daytime naps then that is a plus for butting one; similarly if you are on foot a lot. If , however, buses feature in your everyday life then a carrycot will not get used.
I do think carrycots can be very comfy and protective for babies but they are only in use for a few short months so if you are not going to get use from it then a compromise with a lie flat pushchair might be the answer. I did this and my silver cross stood up to 3 DC ( I had a few awful months with a double buggy , use of a sling and back carrier and I think 2 umbrella fold cheapies for older toddlers/ holidays/ chucking in car boot etc... 11 years of tinies with varied lifestyles over that time span)

There are cheaper pushchair which lie flat so you don't need a carrycot. Look at the Joie chrome or the Cybex balios S, or the Cosatto woop. I think once you get past a certain price point you're paying for the name.

@toothtruth has said literally everything I came on this thread to say (right down to the Urbo2!)

I got a carrycot initially and DS hated it. He wasn't secured and rolled around. Did the "hands up in the air" scary motion every time we hit a slight bump on the pavement.

When is dc due? Early November baby was in the carrycot pretty much every day as it was warm & snuggy and he was properly laid flat.

I also used it in the house for ds to sleep in (on the table).

I would use the car seat on the wheels to go from the car into the children's centre so he was in it for practically no time and again from the car park into a cafe. The car seat was v heavy to carry him in & i wouldn't have been able to do things like sign in, get my coat & shoes off etc if I was carrying him in my arms as a tiny baby. They do have a place just not a replacement for a pram ime.

We walk everywhere so we'd be using it everyday. Is The Peach 3 easy to fold ? There YouTube video makes it look easy so if lt is i should be ok folding it myself to get on the bus. We've found some peach 3s for sale on the Icandy website and online retailers so i didn't realise they have been discontinued so id probably buy a twin one and just use it as a single till 2nd baby comes along

Hmmm I don’t know how the hell you’d fold a peach on the bus with the carrycot. The folding mechanism is easy enough but the frame is heavy, however your main problem is that the carrycot (or seat once baby is bigger) needs to removed first and doesn’t fold at all. So you’d be on the bus trying to juggle baby, a carrycot, and a very heavy frame. If you take a lot of public transport then it wouldn’t be my first choice of pram, unless you’re planning on a sling instead for the bus. Something with a one part fold like a Bugaboo Bee or Babyzen YoYo might be more practical in your case. But up to you, personally I bought a very expensive Peach and quickly replaced it with a YoYo as I only stupidly thought about how gorgeous it was, not about practicalities in London.

I have a Peach 3 and I love it, it's pretty and rugged for rough terrain, but I still wouldn't get it again. It's very wide and doesn't fold without taking the pushchair or carrycot off so not much fun on public transport.

Definitely not a peach then. Im wanting something parent facing with a high up seat unit and a fast one hand fold i can do myself to get on the bus quickly if there's no spaces. Any ideas what would suit me ?

Bugaboo Bee with the newborn cocoon?!

Bugaboo bee is too low down they look so ugly and impractial too and we had a go with on recently and it was rattling all over the shop like a trolley. And it Doesn't convert to a double. Ive had a look at the uppababy Vista and the babystyle hybrid but the 2nd seat on the hybrid is so low to the floor why is it so hard finding the right pram

I wouldn't bother with one which converts, I think it's a bit of a gimmick. Just research the best double if/when you need it later.

I had similar criteria to you and this was my list: (None of these convert but all parent facing with fairly high seat + easy fold) I don't like the Bee either.

Cybex Balios S
Mutsy Evo - we have this - the fold is actually not as easy as thought. The others are better on this case but it wasn't a huge priority for me.
Maxi Cosi Adorra/Stella
Joie Chrome DLX
Cosatto Woop
Maxi Cosi Loola 3 - I didn't look at this in detail but I had the Loola Up with DS1 10 years ago and it was brilliant for what you want. I didn't look at it this year because the wheels are too small for me, but small wheels make for a better fold.

If small wheels no issue look at Mamas and Papas range too.

The Stokke Xplory is queen of high seats of course, but expensive and hard to fold.

I would definitely recommend a carrycot if you are going for longer walks often. Mamas&Papas carrycots are unfortunately one of the smaller ones, that is why some people don't like them as much. But they are comfy and also good for the colder days too :-) And there are many that are much much bigger. Also, you can just have a lie-flat seat to be used from birth - I had with my second one for a time - but it is much much better if you add a nest or a soft insert carrycot inside.

It is normal to be tempted by both, I had many many strollers and often I had two at a time, one quickly and compactly folding for shopping, quick trips, car etc., and the other for the big walks with the baby. The perfect combo however is a sturdy, comfy pushchair that is at the same time compact :-D

I have a dedicated car seat (it wont clip on pram) and a sling. I dont think you need a carry cot. Mine hate lying in it so i havw resorted to just using sling and i wont bother with pram until baby can sit up.

Id say its not needed and if you use 30mins at a time would be ok but if your baby goes to sleep might there be a temptation to leave baby in car seat when lifting rhwm out of car into house or onto the pram?

So we went for a play around today and think we're going to get the Joie pact and something more sturdy like the peach for non bus journeys

I had a carrycot for my eldest. Along with a Moses basket and other useless stuff. Thankfully I didn't buy them, bought by grandparents to try and force overnight visits from birth. They never left our house and was never used.
The buggy I bought then and subsequent ones lay flat. I used to walk for miles (I still do) and the lay flats were never an issue. Plus unlike the carrycots, the lay flats allowed for baby to be strapped in to ensure they were secure. However this might have changed, my youngest is a teen.

Incidentally, two of mine are close in age, this wasn't planned so we ended up with a double and single. The double was a nightmare. Big and heavy and the older of the two was mobile and hated going in it so most of the time would be empty. Most of the time we took the single out, and the times the older one did get tired, would go in the buggy and sling for the younger one. The tiredness and going in didn't last long and we got a board.

Has anyone used the Joie litetrax 4 ? I like The look of that one as its fast fold and takes a carrycot we also like the Chicco stylego as the carrycot can be used in the car and it has a fast fold

Have you looked at the bugaboo bee with the cocoon op? It's so handy and folds down small

As i said upthread it pushes like a shopping trolley and the baby is too low to the ground

Don't use the Chicco carrycot in the car, even if it's technically approved - those things are death traps. Which? did a big report on it a few years ago - they don't protect babies at all and aren't required to pass crash tests. I thought that all "car certified" carrycots had been recalled actually. Make sure you use a proper car seat.

Ive found a few carrycots that can be used in the car do you have a link to the report i can't find anything online

No, sorry. Only some news reports from 2005. It used to be online but I can't find it any more. Just this article from them which contains this info:

"We haven't found many carrycots and lie-flat child car seats that protect children adequately in our crash tests. For this reason, we don't generally recommend them."

Here's the article: www.which.co.uk/reviews/child-car-seats/article/best-baby-car-seats/baby-car-seats-vs-child-car-seats - Which?