Best Travel system

Sarah1916 · 23-01-2019 10:48am #1

Hi all,

We want to be organised and start looking at the more expensive items early on so that we can pay a deposit and pay some money off on it monthly.

I was wondering if people have some personal experience they could share on the prams they used.

Our criteria so far is:
- Good quality and sturdy (but still lightweight If possible)
- A pram that is built (with air holes as far as I know) to allow baby to sleep in it as we plan to use this for baby sleeping downstairs due to our small house
- Flexible/easy for walking as I plan to walk a lot if possible
- easy to fold down (into one piece if possible)
- we will require the iso fix and car seat - but I think that comes with most travel systems anyway
- possible to convert to double buggy as hopefully we might have a second baby within a few years

Maybe this is a big ask to have all of these requirements in the one system but no harm in asking.
So far I have been recommended the Uppababy vista and the bugaboo bee. I have also seen the Icandy and silvercross which look nice - any other premium travel systems I am leaving out?

shesty · 23-01-2019 4:14pm

Open to correction but I don't think the silvercross converts to a double?
I think the ones listed are your options really.Bugaboo donkey might be the other??Phil and Ted maybe-they don't have a pram basket exactly but might be worth a look.
Check your car boot size and house door widths for buggy fit when buying.We are Vista users here and I have to say it is an excellent buggy but it's personal choice really.

Sarah1916 · 23-01-2019 5:13pm

Thank you Shesty.

Yep, a good friend has the Vista and recommended it too. She is on her third child and it is still in perfect condition. I think I am swaying towards that one.

I had a look on the Tony Kealey website and noted that the Silver Cross Wave can convert to a double but I will definitely double check that with all of them before deciding.

shesty · 23-01-2019 8:50pm

Oh maybe it can.I have a friend with a silver cross that didn't convert but I don't know which Silver Cross one it was.
Baby no three here too and the vista is going strong.None of them are hugely lightweight but I find it a very good buggy anyway.

Jocasta · 23-01-2019 8:55pm

I have just started looking at travel systems too, and looking for similar to you! We have been leaning toward the Uppababy Vista too. As far as I know the Vista is the only one that the bassinet is cleared for overnight sleeping, which saves space on a Moses basket.

Mothercare said they were getting in a new one this week called the Quinny Hubb which is adaptable to a double buggy. The base of it is meant to be narrower than the Vista, which most reviews seem to say is the Vista's biggest downfall. The Hubb was only launching this week so I haven't been able to find reviews of it online yet, but could be worth looking up for you too!

Mollieor · 23-01-2019 10:21pm

I was between the Silvercross Pioneer and The Uppababy Vista. Both are cleared for overnight sleeping. In the end we decided on The Vista, the lady in shop put a fake toddler weight in each and I couldn't even lift the silvercross pioneer with it, so glad we went to look at one in person because I probably would have chose it over the vista if not. Vista very easy to move about and to fold up etc delighted we picked it

lazygal · 24-01-2019 10:52am

Bugaboo donkey. Ours is on child number three and I love it. I don't like the Vista style doubles, I prefer side by side.
If I was buying a single buggy I'd buy the Bugaboo bee and then sell it and buy a donkey if you need a double.

Cakerbaker · 24-01-2019 2:56pm

I have the vista and love it. Have used it as a double (it’s a bit heavy as a double alright) and at currently using it as a single with a buggy board. Theres 2.5 years between mine so I didbt mind the baby being underneath the seat my toddler was in. However, if I was planning on having a smaller gap between them I probably would have preferred a side by side.

catrionanic · 24-01-2019 3:20pm

Silvercross pioneer was a dream of a pram for me, but doesn't convert to a double. I didn't think we would have two kids close in age so I didn't think it would be an issue... Mother Nature had other plans though!

In hindsight, I wish I had gone for the Vista.

Toots · 25-01-2019 5:09pm

Another +1 for the Vista here. My little girl is nearly 1 and I use the Vista every day, and I love it. I’ve a lot of loading and unloading it from the car because of the school run, and I live in an apartment, so I can’t just leave it in the car overnight. It’s good and sturdy but without being too heavy. Very easy to fold and unfold and the massive basket underneath is so handy.

Nerd Queen · 23-04-2019 9:49pm

Not due til November but can’t help but start to do buggy prep now! Hubby is quite tall and we tested out a few buggies today. Leaning very much towards the silver cross pioneer Orkney with the uppababy vista in 2nd place purely for the future proofing element. Anyone had a pioneer and able to pass on any info on it?

catrionanic · 24-04-2019 7:07am

Nerd Queen wrote: »

Not due til November but can’t help but start to do buggy prep now! Hubby is quite tall and we tested out a few buggies today. Leaning very much towards the silver cross pioneer Orkney with the uppababy vista in 2nd place purely for the future proofing element. Anyone had a pioneer and able to pass on any info on it?

I have a pioneer and absolutely love it. On my second child with it now. Super easy to navigate and a fantastic basket for shopping. Also so pretty! Only downside is the bassinet size isn't huge so baby may grow out of it early. I also don't find the silver cross simplicity car seat great, and would upgrade to the maxi cosi if buying again.

catrionanic · 24-04-2019 7:08am

catrionanic wrote: »

I have a pioneer and absolutely love it. On my second child with it now. Super easy to navigate and a fantastic basket for shopping. Also so pretty! Only downside is the bassinet size isn't huge so baby may grow out of it early. I also don't find the silver cross simplicity car seat great, and would upgrade to the maxi cosi if buying again.

Also, bear in mind that you can't adapt it to a double. Our second baby came along sooner than we had planned, so we had to buy a double buggy then too.

Interested Observer · 24-04-2019 7:16am

lazygal wrote: »

Bugaboo donkey. Ours is on child number three and I love it. I don't like the Vista style doubles, I prefer side by side.
If I was buying a single buggy I'd buy the Bugaboo bee and then sell it and buy a donkey if you need a double.

This is what we went with for twins. The price nearly gave me a heart attack but it seemed the best one of all the ones we checked out.

jlm29 · 24-04-2019 7:16am

I don’t have a pioneer, but I did buy a silver cross travel system when I had my now 8 year old, and it’s going strong on my third child, so I’d say it’s a great brand! My kids are all tall, and it’s not the best in terms of size -not the bassinette, the buggy part, so check that out if you’re buying, in case it’s a theme with the brand.
There’s only 18 mo between my second and third, and I did kind of wish I’d had a single that converted to a double for convenience!

Nerd Queen · 24-04-2019 8:45am

Thanks so much for the feedback great to know! Ye the only thing that’s making me consider uppababy is that additional capacity element - not a massive fan of the colors available in it. They have got rid of the navy which is what I’m looking for. I don’t particularly like the silvercross wave which has that additional seat feature. We aren’t planning on no.2 immediately either. We have been trying for 3 years for no.1 so want to enjoy them for awhile!

In terms of the height issue I’m very sure in the push seat the salesgirl showed us a way to fold up the bottom for taller kids.

It’s so hard to know the right call.

lazygal · 24-04-2019 12:36pm

Have a look secondhand for the navy. There's loads of people trying to offload travel systems. If I had my time again I'd have looked for ours second hand.

mylittlepony · 31-05-2019 8:46pm

What the oldest model of a secondhand uppababy vista you can safety buy that not outdated?

Bunnyslippers · 06-06-2019 11:05pm

You needn’t go for super expensive, after looking at all the buggies around for my little fellow I went for a much cheaper option the Uberchild buggy, I was delighted with it and it was a fraction of the price of the others and I thought actually better quality than the uppababy. Plus now that my lo is 2yrs old I’m glad I didn’t fork out a fortune as I used a sling and he spent a lot of time when out and about in his lie flat car seat, which wasn’t uberchild, but did fit onto their buggy.

Definitely go for a lie flat car seat, and buy new or from someone you know to make sure it isn’t too old or that it hasn’t been in an accident, the bucket baby car seats are so dangerous and a lot of babies have suffocated in them, or got serious hypoxia, plus you can’t leave them in for more than 20mins at a time which is daft as most car journeys or time in the shops are more than that, how they are allowed to sell them when they’re illegal in a lot of countries I don’t know!!
I went with the kiddy evo lunafix car seat and loved it, it lasted my tall little fellow until he was 13 months, that was the bit I would splash out on rather than the actual buggy body, you can get adaptors for the car seat to fit the buggy anyway. It made a huge difference when shopping etc as I didn’t have to wake him up to put him in the carry cot or buggy when bigger and he could stay asleep in that without me worrying!:)

As others have said if you are set on one brand then do look second hand for the buggy itself as so many are barely used and as everyone wants new ones they sell for a tiny fraction of what was paid!

SmallgirlBigcity · 11-06-2019 5:51pm

I went looking at prams over the weekend and one that caught my eye was the Venti. I saw it in Baby Elegance. It's much cheaper than the other models mentioned here but seems to be good quality. Has anyone any experience of the Venti themselves?

Skybirdjb · 11-06-2019 10:08pm

SmallgirlBigcity wrote: »

I went looking at prams over the weekend and one that caught my eye was the Venti. I saw it in Baby Elegance. It's much cheaper than the other models mentioned here but seems to be good quality. Has anyone any experience of the Venti themselves?

I have the venti and it's brilliant !! So strong and sturdy . It folds up so easy to put in the boot and it's really light which I needed with my back issues . My fella is a mad 10 month old and he loves it . The package with the car seat is great we also bought the isofix base for it . Great value

Best Travel system

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