| Archive for The Motor Forum talking cars since 2006 |
| Frank Bullitt |
Travel SystemOK, so what have we all got?We've just bought ours which is made up from: Quinny Buzz 3 in Gold/ Black with Carry Cot, Foot muff (?), Shopping Basket, Umberella and (in true BMW style) mounting point which needs to be bought to use the Umberella Maxi Cosi Cabrio Fix car seat in roasted peanut Maxi Coxi Easy-fix ISOFIX base Thankfully our parents both went half on that lot otherwise it would have ben a truly wilt-worthy moment! |
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| gonnabuildabuggy |
You'll not be suprised to hear that Bangernomics ruled in the Sticky Household as depreciation on a 3 in 1 made and Aston look a good investment.
Maclaren car seat and three way pram/buggy bought "as new" from a girl in the welsh valleys supplemented by a car seat holder/pushchair conversion frame bought off ebay. The aim of the game is to get into a pushchair as soon as is safe so the pram/buggy were hadly used after about 6 months. Does the Maxi Cosi seat fit into the Quinny somehow? We found that the only thing we used later was the car seat with buggy conversion frame as that saved waking them up when putting them into a buggy and was relatively low space vs the larger pram/buggy we'd used at birth. |
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| Frank Bullitt |
Glad to hear you are sticking to form Colin!
Yes, the Maxi Cosi fits straight into the Quinny frame - for short visits etc. junior will stay in the car seat but the pram will be used for longer trips, walking around our town, weekends away etc. where we may be some time. I'm not a fan of keeping kids in car seats as they don't tend to give the baby the right support for long periods of time. The Quinny frame is incredibly small though, leaving loads of room in the boot of the A2 although it does require the false floor to be removed to stand upright. The Quinny also has a 'pushcair' seat that comes with it which just snaps home; when junior is big enough we'll use that and it's very slim so will just go in the footwell! |
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| Matt |
For those of us who are about as likely to need a Quinny any time soon as we are to move into Chernobyl, what the heck do these items look like!? | ||||
| Roadrunner |
The Quinny was on our shortlist, but eventually ruled out because of its wide track width. This meant that we would have to remove the wheels to get in the boot of the Fester. Instead we went for the iCandy Apple, with carrycot, pushchair seat and Maxi Cosi Cabrio Fix. Have been very happy with all of them, except the iCandy can be difficult to fold sometimes. | ||||
| Roadrunner |
iCandy: 
Quinny: 
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| Frank Bullitt |
Just for you Matt, and this is in the colour we have specified: 
This is it with the Maxi Cosi Cabrio Fix car seat in the Quinny 'chassis' 
It is wide, but we were looking for something that was 'shallow' when folded - it is also incredibly light when folded and easy to fold. Light weight is my mantra, and Myleen Klass shows why the Quinny comes up trumps! 
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| Rodge |
We have two twin buggies. A Mclaren lightweight umbrella folding thing and a Mama's and Papa's buggy.
We use the Mclaren most of the time as it's smaller and is easy to store. Seat wise, we have two Isofix seats that we got in the USA for $55 each and Zoe has a Graco booster seat with back on it. The buggies were both given to us by friends who's kids were out of them and we'll pass them on when we're finished too. When it was just Zoe, we had a 3 wheeler jogger buggy which was great and my sister now uses. We also bought a cheap stroller for when we went away, it was light and put up with alot of airline abuse. Think we got it in Boots. |
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| Matt |
Those Quinnys look good, thanks for posting. I'd likely have one of them and a Recaro car seat for the sprog. Brum. | ||||
| Roadrunner |
The iCandy is certainly not light weight. You have to be built like Geoff Capes to lift it into the car with the push chair seat attached. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
I'm not likely to be needing one any time soon, but that Quinny is a nice piece of kit. Though of course it should offer the option of a carbon frame. Or even a Scandium one. Pimp My Baby's Ride, anyone? | ||||
| Blarno |
I can't remember what we had for Phoebe at first, but it was a couple hundred quids worth of all-in-one guff. She's now too big for it all and has an Eclipse car seat (x2) and 2 Mothercare strollers.
Pretty soon, they'll be in the loft when she gets her arse in gear and stops fannying aorund with this learning to walk lark... 
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| gonnabuildabuggy |
sounds a good combination then. interesting to hear your views on support for baby - sounds like us, but things change: Baby 1 - support when possible do all the right things. Baby 2 - get them in buggy asap and managing a toddler and pram is hard work. Baby 3 - chuck them in the boot, keeps the noise in the car down. |
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| Frank Bullitt |
We tried a pram that folded down really slim (Cossatto I think it was called) but it needed to fit in across the car and the narrowness of the A2 just ruled it out as the wheels would have to come off, something we wanted to avoid. I'm amazed how many people don't try the pantecnican in their car first! Rodge, I look at those twins-prams with fear; how they fit into anything short of a Transit gobsmacks me! 'Mod my pram' - interesting thought Nick. Most 'Quinny' offers are on the black with black and a bit more black option - however, the one we picked was a 2008 colour scheme (I know, I know...) so had been reduced in price; when we bought the whole lot seperately it was still only £3 more than a 'black' package! Some of the colours are truly lurid... |
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| Martin |
We had a Quinny system with all the FG possible, so just like the FB chariot, but the original model. | ||||
| Mrs Skyhook |
I think we're going to go for the Mothercare 3-wheeled system (can't find it online) in red - lies flat so suitable from birth, parent-facing (I have um... issues with all the forward-facing pushchairs on the market. I'm partially deaf, so I hate not being able to see the person I'm talking to), fits a Maxi-Cosi car seat, folds quite small, doesn't weigh too much and has washable everything. The only thing that bothers me is the pneumatic tyres - am I going to have to take a puncture repair kit with me everywhere I go?
Once the Maxi-Cosi is too small, we have our eye on a Recaro 9 months - 11 years child seat. Shouldn't look too out of place in a Panda! |
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| Roadrunner |
How is 'Bump' progressing, Mrs S? All well I trust? We have only ever had one pucture in 21 months of using ours and that includes a lot of country lanes with hedge trimmings strewn everywhere. The pneumatics give a much smoother ride and are easier to push, so recommended. |
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| Mrs Skyhook |
Bump is doing well thanks RR, am 19 weeks now so halfway already! Lots of wriggling when I'm trying to sleep, which is very reassuring. Next week is the big scan and an appointment with the consultant (which will hopefully be a quick and never-to-be-repeated visit). Expect Mr S or myself to bore you all mindless with scan pics...
And thanks for putting my mind at rest about the pneumatic tyres - when you got your puncture was it easily repaired or did you need a new wheel? |
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| Roadrunner |
Easily repaired with a bicycle puncture repair kit. A ten minute job. You could use some of that gunge we put in our wheelbarrow tyres and that would prevent any future punctures anyway. |
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| cbeaks1 |
But at what cost to ride comfort?
Think of the kids. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
Are we talking a BMW-style runflat debacle here? | ||||
| cbeaks1 |
Exactly, including bouncing backwards through hedges on rural b pavements. | ||||
| Jasper |
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/pram-push...ler/mothercare-my3-travel-system/ Good system, does what it needs to and we've had no problems with it (except two punchures but it is a ten minute job to fix), the one we got came with a car seat too, so no need to buy an additional one. We've now got this for Kyle. 
Whch is the one you're thinking about I think. It's a quality piece of kit, can be a bit tricky to get him in sometimes as the harness straps are a bit on the big side, but since that's what holds him in I really can't complain. I do feel he's really safe once strapped in and he has good support for his head, handy at snooze time. |
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| Mrs Skyhook |
Dat's der bunny! Thanks Jasper, don't know why it's not on the Mothercare site. I was told by the sales person at Mothercare that although it has the Mothercare badge on it it's actually made by Quinny, so should be quality stuff. The review on the site you posted was good although the reviewer did have a problem converting it to forward-facing. I won't be doing the forward facing thing until l'il un is tall enough to be kicking my shins (or gets travel sick!). Why do parents have their tiny children and babies in forward facing pushchairs? I rarely see any parent-facing ones, even with very young children - the ones I do see are nearly always chatting away to their child even if the child can't talk back yet, whereas none of the parents with forward-facing pushchairs ever seem to talk to their children as they go along. Seems very sad to me. /soapbox
And yes, that's the Recaro we're thinking about. It's pricey, but from looking at the catalogue it's the only one on the market with that type of head support. The rest have a shallower angle which makes me worry about what happens if we get T-boned. I'll keep in mind your problems with the straps though - is this something that will improve as Kyle gets bigger? |
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| Jasper |
It's really easy to switch from forward facing to rear facing. Hold in two buttons, give it a wiggle to release it, turn it round and push it in place. Really easy and quick.
It's also easy to fold and, if required, take the wheels off to fit in a boot, although there is no need to do that with the Golf or the Bora. The straps are getting less of a problem now that Kyle has learnt to pull his arms in when placed in the seat. He's a clever little chap don't you know. If it's a help I can get Recaro seat through VW but it would still cost £135 and you'd need to get it from Edinburgh. |
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| Mrs Skyhook |
Thanks Jasper, that's very kind! It's not a great deal more than that locally, and we are a looooonng way from Edinburgh, but thank you for the offer. | ||||
| Big Blue |
Beginners!
Birth: three rear facing infant car carry-seats (Graco); a double lay flay stroller and a single lay flat stroller which converted to face forward sit-up when the boys were strong enough. Next up: three face forward seats up to 3 y-o (Graco again); in-line triple stroller which only just fitted in the back of the Sharan! Next up: three face forward rally-style seats that convert to booster bases only (which is what they sit on now) - I think they're Graco or Recaro, but can't remember. I still have at least one of each as I STILL want a daughter....... |
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| scamper |
I spent my formative years strapped in a ruck sack. This is possibly why i'd be keen on the maternal ethos of carrying our kids rather than pushing them in these huge 4x4 style buggies which they can't see out of. Anything from a simple wrap around shawl thing for short journeys to a `back' or `chest' system. At a push a simple recycled buggie from friends.
. No doubt i've got a lot to learn. |
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| Mrs Skyhook |
One of these? http://www.thebabasling.co.uk/
It's the next thing on my list to get. L'il Skyhook also spent most of his formative years being carted around in various forms of sling or rucksack, including a superb metal-framed back carrier from Millets which has been got down from my parents' attic in preparation for the new arrival. It's only recently that I discovered small babies should not have their weight on their hips, so the rucksack type is not suitable for newborns. The above is just about perfect. |
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| Frank Bullitt |
I'd never get a cary-bag thingy because I have a fear of crushing the baby if falling over.
Anyway, looking out of the pram baby can interract with the person pushing. |
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| ALF |
Car seat wise, we've always gone Recaro and loved them. Especially the first, rear-facing seat which is incredibly light and can easily be removed from the car and carried about short distances - rugrat still inside!
Buggy-wise we bought a cheap chinese three-wheeler with a fixed front wheel and big wheels/dimensions generally, that we just liked at the local baby-kit place. It had a cot insert for the first few months, we fortuitously got one of those new on Ebay for pennies. This buggy was a PITA on the rare occasions we took it into town, but it spent a lot of time being pushed at speed across country- including off the beaten tracks through woods - which I would suggest would have trashed some of those pictured! When Lu was young I took her for a couple of one-hour walks a day, usually off-road, whenever I could, to make up for having no time to cycle! Gave R a chance to (nearly) regain her sanity, too... First Recaro seat: 
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