Which travel system did you get?

[Aglassaday]

Helping my Dsis pick as she’s expecting!
What travel system did you get and would you buy again or wish you’d bought a different one? Any regrets in aspects such as colour choice, fold, canopy etc?

Thanks x

I have a mamas and papas ocarro and I adore it. My wee one is super comfy in it, it looks gorgeous and it deals with all sorts of dirt tracks and potholed pavements like a dream.
That being said different prams suits different people and lifestyles and my biggest piece of advise would be to go to a store where she can actually try the ones she’s considering before buying them!

I bought the Ickle Bubba Stomp Urban with different Maxi Cosi car seat, the car seat in the travel system had bad reviews, if possible try and go into a store to do a demo on prams, I bought mine blind….based on reviews ,YouTube videos, and budget. But if I did a store demo, I would have known it doesn’t fold down with the seat attached and you need a huge car boot for it to fit.

Do you think this is suitable for a tall baby? Her husband is 6’4 and she is 5’10!

Good to know, thank you

We’re a tall family and have the icandy peach travel system with the maxi cosi pebble 360 car seat. The bassinet is bigger than a lot of prams and approved for overnight sleeping as well (so I used it in the house for naps as well). Very good suspension, so good on most terrains.

Very expensive to convert though if they might have another with a small age gap

Uppababy Vista, adored it. Used it for about 6 years I'd say across two DC. I'm 5'2" and DH is 6'2" and we both found it comfy to use. Really well made.

We had an Uppa baby vista for DC1&2, big old beast but so easy to push and to convert between the car seat/ bassinet/ front/ rear facing pushchair. It had big wheels and a wide chassy, meant I got stuck in a few shops and narrow doorways, but it could literally hold a full week food shop in the basket! Took up a bit of room in the boot, but the wheels clip off very easily which makes it much smaller. Adjustable handle bar too so great for people of all heights, and my DC didn't grow out of it as the seat is wide and deep.

I had an ikkle bubba stomp for DC3, we're a short family (I'm 5'2, DH 5'8 and kids have all been 25th %ile for height) and she grew out of it before she was 2 - head right up to the top of the hood, so if expecting a tall baby I wouldn't bother. It was a shame because it was a great little pushchair and good value for money compared to others on the market.

I switched to a Cosatto Whoosh stroller for a few months, as we do a lot of walking and needed something to be able to put her in when her legs got tired. A beautiful print and again easy to push and fold, but the positioning was dreadful. The most upright was slightly reclined back which angered DC3 greatly! The straps were fiddly as well, not ideal when trying to restrain a wriggly toddler!

My wee one is pretty average length wise so I couldn’t say for certain but she got too old for the bassinet before she outgrew it so I would think so

She’s considered that, though heard it’s quite heavy and awkward?

So hard to find the balance between sturdy and clunky🙈

Really useful to know, thank you!

Thank you so much, this has been so helpful! She liked the Whoosh but had heard mixed things so this has definitely helped narrow down!

It's big and heavy but that's not an issue when you're pushing it, I was pushing it uphill with a two year old and shopping at nine months pregnant, and I'm a weakling.

If you're putting it in the boot all the time that would be a bigger issue but I did that reasonably often too and it was fine.

ETA it's not awkward to push at all.

I'd always encourage them to find their nearest centre and go and have a push of some of the different prams. Most of the stores will be happy to demo things and there's usually no pressure to buy straight away because they know you'll want to go away and think about it. The prices can be really high so it's worth going into store to see what kinds of features they like and what might be useful for them, then go away and research/think about it a bit and see what's available. The problem is that the sheer number of possible models is overwhelming and there isn't a good starting point. If you go with what's constantly reviewed and touted by influencers or in baby magazines, then it will be whichever brands have the highest marketing budget. If you go by what is stocked by your local store then you're limited by whatever brands they stock. You can search online and find a dizzying array of potential options. So it's useful to start with what features you like and work from there.

Second hand is a good option too - but difficult to buy without knowing what models are out there, so still needs the research step of a local store.

The Stroller Workshop is great on youtube. They are EU based.

I would recommend choosing a popular brand like Cybex/Maxi Cosi and looking on their stockists page online and see what shops are near you - sometimes you'll find a huge warehouse type place you'd never have heard of before and they tend to be really good.

What we ended up doing was making a shortlist of a couple of models we liked which were on the pricier end which we kept an eye out for good condition second hand, a couple of models which were a bit out of our budget which we kept an eye out for sales and discounts, and a cheaper model which did most things we want but was a better price.

We ended up with the second hand pricey model and DH was initially sceptical, although then pleased because he said he would be worried about scratching a pristine one but the one we got was in good working condition, but a bit scratched already and it made him feel more relaxed.

The main downside with second hand is if you want to use the buggy through 2-3 DC, most brands aren't built with the structural integrity to manage this. Some of them are, but tend to be £££ in the first place.

It is always a balancing act between sturdiness and light/compact. To get a really robust model you do need bigger wheels, bigger tyres and a larger frame. Whereas the lighter, smaller models won't do that well over rough terrain or with loads of bags hung all over it all the time. To an extent you need to consider lifestyle and what is important.

The best one I ever had was Bebeconfort Loola Up but that was 16 years ago! Absolutely loved that buggy, never seen anything remotely like it ever since. It does look clunky compared with the fashions today though and it did have downsides like the front wheels would get caught on things and it was really heavy.

DH is 6'2 and I'm 5'8 and we love our Uppababy Vista - currently on DD2. We tried the Bugaboo and the Mamas and Papas Ocarro and I found them too low. My eldest is 75th centile for height (although she was 0.4th for weight) and lasted until around 6months in the bassinet. They've just released the new v3 so there are amazing deals on the v2, or you could see if the v3 is lighter.

Alternatively if she's not worried about using it as a double, she could try the Uppababy Cruz, which is a smaller lighter version. Don't buy the uppababy car seat though - i read really poor reviews. Uppababy do adapters for all the car seat manufacturers but especially those like cybex, maxi cosi, besafe, britax so you can get a much better car seat to go on the uppababy chassis.

If you can find a big john lewis or an independent baby shop with lots on show, you might be surprised if she goes for a try out. I had my heart set on one of the others and hadn't even considered the vista until I pushed it in the shop.

I’m currently helping a relative find a suitable travel system too and would definitely recommend going round a few shops and picking them up and folding them. My relative is quite petite and regularly uses public transport and we found that the majority of travel systems although looked great instore were too heavy and bulky. The Mamas and papas Occaro was so heavy and bulky, it would be very difficult to hold as well as the baby. I would definitely recommend going to a store and asking them to recommend one based on the requirements and usage. We were recommended the Nuna triv and Joolz 2 as both were lightweight, folded down fairly compact, suitable from birth and you could make into a travel system.

I have the bugaboo fox cub and love it. My little one is just 2 and tall and they are beginning to outgrow it though. The fox5 was out of my budget but I know that has the ability to extend the seat as the child grows. The fox cub is light, basket fits enough stuff in and my baby has been super comfy in it. It folds with seat and bassinet attached or you can remove them for a more compact fold. We’ve done a lot of walking with it, both in towns and on rough terrain/sand and it’s been amazing on all of them. Only thing that’s a negative for me is you need two hands to tilt it and collapse it. But in 2 years that’s never really been a huge issue as I don’t use public transport with it.

I find taking my Ocarro on public transport easy enough. It’s really easy to fold one handed and the hinged handle is good for squeezing it into tight spaces. It is heavy to lift though but I manage andI’m 5,2” and about as far from a weightlifter as it gets

That being said we’ve another on the way and we’re probably going to go for a Nipper plus with the switch seat/bassinet to replace both the ocarro and our running buggy