Parent facing, lie flat, compact - does it exist!?

[abbaroony]

We are planning a holiday when our baby will be almost 3 months old and are looking for a compact pushchair that can go in the cabin on the flight.

As the baby will be so young I would like something parent facing and lie flat. At this age would a bassinet attachment be more suitable?

Any ideas greatly appreciated!

Baby zen yo-yo

I can’t say whether one exists or not but it’s a big ask!

We have a cybex mios - it’s lie flat and suitable from birth without the bassinet (though honestly I think for a very small baby the bassinet is much more comfortable for them) and it is very light and compact for a travel system but not sure it is quite small enough for an overhead locker.

It’s only parent facing up until 6 months IIRC

Don’t think this is parent facing is it? Though there is the sort of bassinet light attachment I suppose.

Sorry I meant the yo yo is only parent facing till 6 months!

Don’t think the baby zen yoyo is parent facing I meant to say

Cybex Eezy S Twist will do this, I think.

Bugaboo Bee is probably the best option though.

Why does it need to go in the cabin? You can take them right to the gate usually. Just take a carrier to save your arms between getting off the plane and baggage claim.

We were looking for similar when DS was about 5 months and the only one we could find at the time that was parent facing was the Cybex Eesy S Twist. Ours was for a UK holiday though so no idea about overhead lockers etc.

The YoYo frame would be fine but I don't know about the bassinet bit that you'd need for a tiny baby and to be parent facing. At that age - and it's such a MN cliche - I'd go for a carrier/sling for the airport and plane. Loads easier.

They certainly used to as I had one for my son, now 33. Thing is they have all gone for these enormous 'kits' that contain everything except the kitchen sink and cost the same as a small country's GDP.

Sometimes simple is best.

Sorry, OP not a lot of help!

Bugaboo Ant is like that. It’s a bit clunky to fold/unfold though. But it’s parent facing, flat position available and cabin size

Not parent facing but we have the silver cross jet and it’s amazing, folds really quickly into a tiny little cabin bag. Due #2 and we’ve got a holiday booked when baby will be 3 months. We’ve just got the baby jogger city tour 2 double and again isn’t parent facing but I think there’s a window to watch them through like on the jet so you can still see them. You could take a carrycot for a light buggy like that which would make it parent facing

Sorry I should have been more explicit. The yo-yo has a newborn pack like the bugaboo cocoon type thing - which means that the baby can lie flat and front face. It’s not as sturdy looking as the bassinet but the buggy still folds up to fit in the cabin. If that’s what you want.

newborn pack

I just used an umbrella buggy, it went to 3/4 flat and I had a head rest, was forward facing through. Built in sunshade. Parent facing normally means heavy

Agree with this. At 3 months old this would be way easier then buying a whole new pushchair, of which I think you’d struggle to find one with a bassinet attachment that can go in the cabin.

The babyzen yo yo you can get either the bassinet (which doesn't collapse) or the 0+ pack which folds with the chassis and fits in an overhead locker.
Both parent facing and I think is lie flat. Might be worth trialling in John Lewis or something to see if DC still fits the 0+ pack. The 6+ pack is forward facing and doesn't lie flat, I don't think.

Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful.

Said baby hasn't actually been born yet and will be our first, so questions like whether it actually needs to go in the cabin, or indeed parent face are things that I'm just assuming at this stage - very happy to be told that these things aren't important though!

I had heard horror stories of prams getting battered in the hold so I was thinking that being able to keep it with us in the cabin would be better - that was the only reason for that requirement.

The baby zen YOYO with the newborn attachment seems like the best bet so far but is pretty expensive considering we'd have just bought a full travel system just a few months before.

I do think that having a lightweight, compact option will be useful long term so happy to buy something new but just didn't want to spend £500+ ideally.

Do you think that being able to lie completely flat is important with a 2-3month old?

This was the cheapest lie flat option we found for a holiday. (Isn't parent facing.)
www.playpennies.com/prams-pushchairs/fisher-price-black-and-red-pushchair-with-footmuff-gbp-3499-argos-172418
Looks like you might have to find it on eBay nowadays though.

This looks good re lie flat
and the sort of thing you will use they're 1 year + when most people get rid of the big travel system

www.littleangelsprams.co.uk/Mountain-Buggy-Nano-TM-Stroller

www.littleangelsprams.co.uk/Mountain-Buggy-Nano-TM-Stroller

I don't think it needs to be an actual carrycot, I think a flat seat will be fine. But it would be better for it to be flatter than say a car seat.

Second hand babyzen yoyo?

We have a Yoyo as a second pram. It's mainly used for travel and I leave it in the car for short trips in to shop etc. I used the newborn pack rather than the bassinet as it folds so well with the pram. It does fit in the overhead locker with the newborn pack. You can pick one up second hand if needed. The quality is very good compared to many of the small prams on the market and even in the normal pram part my child naps very well (even without the lie flat and extra comfort of the bigger pram)

They used to do a decent lie flat umbrella stroller in Aldi baby events. Think it was about £30 so obviously if it gets battered it's not a major deal. Compact isn't so important though as you can take pushchairs to the gate so maybe just look at something fairly robust incase you want to off road? I've heard good things about outnabout and mountain buggies.