Top of the range travel system vs 400/500 system

NicsM

rob316 wrote: »

Hi

We are expecting this year and I wanted to ask can you buy just a car seat that slots into the buggy frame. We had a travel system for the 1st and we never used the carrycot part. It was a bit impractical for us as we live in the city, door is up steps.

Ideally I was hoping you could buy a stroller for 6 months plus, and then a car seat that fits it. Does anything exsist?

If you’re looking for something lightweight you might consider the Babyzen Yoyo with newborn insert – you can also get car seat adaptors for it. It probably wouldn’t be recommended to just have a car seat on a frame as your sole mode of transport as newborns shouldn’t be in a car seat for more than 90 minutes at a go (or thereabouts, I’m opens to correction).

We live in a first floor apartment with no lift and the babyzen has been brilliant, folded up it weighs 6kg so pretty easy to get up and down stairs. The newborn bassinet is very neat (people do a double take and say it’s like a toy pram!) but our baby loved it. It converts to a front facing stroller from 6 months. Only downside so far is that the front facing seat doesn’t recline all the way so naps were a bit tricky in it at first. The Ergobaby metro and Joolz Aer are both able to recline flat and the Metro does a newborn set too.

jlm29

I have an uppababy minu. Would highly recommend. It's a compact light stroller, it takes a car seat with adaptors (I have a maxi cosi). There's also a new born attachment, up to 6 months I think (I never got that, but I would have if it was my main buggy, I was using the double most of the time). You can fold with one hand and it has a strap to throw it over your shoulder to carry. It's so handy. Great little buggy and feels solid. I bought mine at half price, somewhere in the uk, it's pricey at full price!

LillySV

Cokezero wrote: »

I bought last year's version of the uppababy vista for 899 on littleangels.ie they have a great deal where you can then buy the car seat and isofix base half price. Give them a call. I did a lot of shopping around in person

I wanted a different maxi cosi seat (tinca) which they ordered in especially for me becuase it was lighter and has the side protection too. I had tested it in another shop. Saved me about 350 euro!

Hi u don’t happen know if there is much of a difference with suspension between the vista 1 and vista 2? We do a lot of walking in roughish terrain and know the suspension is supposed to be improved but just wondering if by much ?

Cokezero

I don't know about the difference but what I do know is that friends living in country areas with the original model were very happy with it and recommended it. The difference of the 250euro would go a long way for a three wheeler buggy when they are older too.

rob316

We just ordered the Infababy travel system, its our last kid, I just can't justify the money on something to push a baby around in that isn't used much after 6 months.

thanks for the suggestions.

marizpan

rob316 wrote: »

We just ordered the Infababy travel system, its our last kid, I just can't justify the money on something to push a baby around in that isn't used much after 6 months.

thanks for the suggestions.

Totally agree.
Baby no.4 due in December and I can’t justify the prices.
I know I’ll want a travel system for only the first 3-6 months, after that’s I’ll want a good running buggy and a light city stroller.

jlm29

marizpan wrote: »

Totally agree.
Baby no.4 due in December and I can’t justify the prices.
I know I’ll want a travel system for only the first 3-6 months, after that’s I’ll want a good running buggy and a light city stroller.

I’ve said it a good few times on different forums, but when I had my 4th I bought an uppababy minu stroller. It has adapters for a maxi cosi. As a stroller it’s only suitable from 6 months but there’s a newborn attachment that you can put on instead of the seat from 0-6 mo. It’s pricey, but I bought it half price online from a UK site. Definitely one of my great buys!

mirrorwall14

Just to belatedly pitch in another vote for the out n about. I bought it for my first at around age two for walk/jog with. Used it from birth with my second with the bassinet. Worth every penny. I’ve had it nearly four years now going strong.

Edit: also had a step on the back of it for long day trips and it still pushed well with the 4 year old on it

blue note

We went into a shop for a first look in person. To us to be honest, they all pretty much look the same.

I suspect we'll go with the uppababy vista. The only 2 advantages I could really see with it were that the basket is certified for overnight sleep and that it can convert to a double (I assume the conversion costs the same as a mid range travel system). The jump in price for these features seems crazy. Am I missing something? Are there features I'm not seeing or things they do better than others?

And in relation to the certification for overnight sleep. Who certifies it? Basically, is it a real cert or a makey uppy one they use for advertising?

shesty

Push them around a good bit...see do they all have handle height options to suit you. Swing them in circles:D Stop, start a few times, put the brake on with one foot, undo it, bring a big handbag and put it in and out of the storage baskets a few times. Bend up and down to the seat, see does the difference in seat height matter to you. If the shop let you, bring it out and try it in your car boot, in and out a few times.



At a certain level, the cost is pretty much all the same. But this thing will be an extension of your arm for the next couple of years, and these are the things you will be doing hundreds of times over with it.

Cakerbaker

If I remember correctly it cost me around €50 to convert my uppababy to the double. That was the cost of the sets of adapters as you use the bassinet and seat that come with the buggy.

With the age gap between mine I moved on to a buggy board for the bigger one when the baby grew out of the bassinet. If I had wanted the extra seat (the rumble seat) that was about €200 I think.

kyomi

I don't really get why people expect to spend such huge amounts just to get something that lasts. As someone else pointed out, it's not like you have to choose between a 1800€ Bugaboo travel system and a 150€ umbrella buggy. There are plenty of sturdy sets available in between. We got an Uberchild (now Infababy) travel system for not very much - maybe around 350, including the car seat, three years ago - and it was incredibly sturdy (we did a lot of off-road with it while dog-walking) and lasted perfectly with no problems. Our child is an only but if there was ever a younger sibling it would be perfectly usable a second time - there's almost no wear and tear on it. It's got all the bells and whistles (forward/rear facing, carrycot is big enough for baby to sleep in, easy to fold and set up and not too heavy) but for a much lower price than Bugaboo/Uppababy.

blue note

I'm back from the shop. I pushed a few around, folded them, lifted them. I looked at the uppababy, icandy, bugabee, joie and nuna. They're all easy to push around, wheels looked fine on all of them, they all fold easily, fold to similar sizes, weigh roughly the same. I think the icandy was slightly heavier than the others.

So really I think our decision just comes down to do we want one that can convert to a double, in which case we're looking at uppababy / nuna or not in which case we'd probably go joie because it was a few hundred cheaper. And as far as I can see the very same other than that. I was trying to probe the girl in the shop to understand the difference better, and the more expensive have better ventilation and mattress, but really she seemed to struggle after that. The more Iook at it, I think people want to pay more for peace of mind.

rob316

kyomi wrote: »

I don't really get why people expect to spend such huge amounts just to get something that lasts. As someone else pointed out, it's not like you have to choose between a 1800€ Bugaboo travel system and a 150€ umbrella buggy. There are plenty of sturdy sets available in between. We got an Uberchild (now Infababy) travel system for not very much - maybe around 350, including the car seat, three years ago - and it was incredibly sturdy (we did a lot of off-road with it while dog-walking) and lasted perfectly with no problems. Our child is an only but if there was ever a younger sibling it would be perfectly usable a second time - there's almost no wear and tear on it. It's got all the bells and whistles (forward/rear facing, carrycot is big enough for baby to sleep in, easy to fold and set up and not too heavy) but for a much lower price than Bugaboo/Uppababy.

Just got delivery of our Infababy Ultimo today, looks a fine kit. €500 including isofix base. Its for pushing a baby around for 6 months, I wouldn't spend anymore.

Antares35

rob316 wrote: »

Just got delivery of our Infababy Ultimo today, looks a fine kit. €500 including isofix base. Its for pushing a baby around for 6 months, I wouldn't spend anymore.

Second this. We got the infababy ultimo 3 in 1. So happy with it. All terrain (three wheels) and includes pram, buggy for six months plus, car seat and isofix base. It's very sturdy and nice high bars too (we are both tall!). We checked out lots of brands in store and tbh we feel this is superior to many of the bundles for 1000euro and upwards

shesty

Tbh, it could just be as simple as Uppababy is American and aimed at a certain American market, the others are closer to home.I seriously doubt it has much to do with safety specifications.

annoyedgal

Don't know if this is a plus or a minus but our uppababy brake is gone again! Last time it happened the shop took it back, sent it away under warranty and we got a brand new chassis.
The shop have taken it back again for repair/replacement and it's almost 5 years since we bought it.
Also gets a free yearly service and will replace wheels etc for free. Not sure how long this warranty lasts but i think its pretty amazing!
Def ask about warranty and aftersales service.
Brake also went on my brothers so could be a design fault. That was repaired too free of charge.

shesty

Odd, we have had 2 models of it (still have the older one) and never had that issue.They have replaced the adaptors for the toddler seat for us alright, when one rolled out of the boot and got lost one day when we were loading up.

lazygal

kyomi wrote: »

I don't really get why people expect to spend such huge amounts just to get something that lasts. As someone else pointed out, it's not like you have to choose between a 1800€ Bugaboo travel system and a 150€ umbrella buggy. There are plenty of sturdy sets available in between. We got an Uberchild (now Infababy) travel system for not very much - maybe around 350, including the car seat, three years ago - and it was incredibly sturdy (we did a lot of off-road with it while dog-walking) and lasted perfectly with no problems. Our child is an only but if there was ever a younger sibling it would be perfectly usable a second time - there's almost no wear and tear on it. It's got all the bells and whistles (forward/rear facing, carrycot is big enough for baby to sleep in, easy to fold and set up and not too heavy) but for a much lower price than Bugaboo/Uppababy.

It depends on what you want.
I hate the doubles with a child sitting on top of another child. So that was a load of them off the list immediately. And there are very, very few (actually can't think of any besides the Donkey) that convert from a double to a single and back. So it isn't that you want the top of the range one, but maybe that's the only one that ticks all the boxes. We bought a cheap Mothercare one with our first. It didn't give us 10% of the value for money the Bugaboo has.

GreeBo

For me one, based on experience, one of the most important aspects is storage underneath and access to it.

We have a bugaboo and tbh its pretty crap in this respect.
It has a very small swinging basket that is hard to get to when there is a seat in it, its ok with a bassinet.

the other thing for me is ease of folding, I find the bugaboo a pain in the ass.

It just seems to collapse into a finger chopping mess when you hit the buttons and you have to manually close the front wheels. If the buggy is dirty when you are doing this then you end up dirty.

In fairness I have an older model (Camelon 3) so maybe this has been addressed but the ones I see out and about look the same.
I wouldnt buy again and am glad I bought this second hand for < 200.

Cakerbaker

GreeBo wrote: »

For me one, based on experience, one of the most important aspects is storage underneath and access to it.

This is one of the reasons I love my uppababy. We live in a town and are a one car family which my husband would often need for work.

I could walk to the supermarket, do the weekly shop using the basket and walk home. It was a heavy push on the way home but thankfully is downhill.

Even now if we’re heading out I can just throw random things we might need in so we have them just in case and it’s no bother cos they just fit.

While it’s not a complete necessity, it has made life easier in the 4.5 years we’ve been using it.