Help!!!!! Can you recommend a travel system?

hi, my little girl is 25mnth now but we found the graco tour deluxe good value for money. although mine was a little bulky i have seen the newer model & it looks very smart.

with mine i got the carrycot & the base for the car seat base is so handy you can litrally get carseat in & out with 1click. however it is quite heavy & you would need quite a big boot on a car.

i still use it now, it is so roomy for a toddler, although i did buy a stroller for holidays etc.

good luck there is so much to choose from!

we have ordered the Mothercare MY4. it comes with a carry cot (flat for a baby) and then sits up as a push chair that faces towards or away. It also comes with a car seat!

Brilliant!

that was £500 at the baby show

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Hi there,my boys are lder but when Tom was first born we had the silvercross linear sleepover,proper sturdy pram,converts to a pushchair forward or parent facing.

Have you considered e-bay? I appreciate everyone would love new for their newborn,but there are bargains to be had,then perhaps more spends for other items? Good luck and happy pram shopping!

I bought the Silvercross 3D when Merlin was born,it's the smaller and cheaper, I think ,version of the linear sleepover.It was lovely for a newbornOnly fault to it was he outgrew the carrycot very quickly and by winter he had to use it forward facingThere are a lot of pushchairs with a similar  idea,fitting a carrycot,fabric or solid to a lie back pushchair,but the seat unit itself doesn't come off and turn round,which would be nice both to be able to see and chat to an older baby,and so he doesn't get blasted in the face by the wind.So with hindsight,I should've got the bigger one.And next time I will.Oh,rubbish shopping basket on the 3D,but it's still a nice pushchair.

I have also got two Gracos,I've got the tandem which I can't fault,and a single,the Graco Mirage.It's a smaller,lightweight version of the tour one(which I secretly want and may well appear in my house while hubby's at work one day).It is a lot cheaper,and a lot more basic,but I've had mine 7 years now,and it's still going strong.It folds flat,you can pick it up with one hand it's that light,easy fold.I bought mine without a seat,I already had one,but I've seen them sold with now.Big shopping baskets on these.If you're short of cash,and also if you're short of space in your car or wherever you store it,this one's a cheaper alternative.

Look for online bargains.A couple of years ago,I saved loads by buying a pushchair new from Germany.It was also a nicer colour than the one Toys R Us were selling.I also got a bargain on the car seat by shopping around on line.

Ebay's good too,but I haven't tried that for a pushchair yet.Kiddicare are a very good baby store,you can often get a bargain there.

Oh enjoy your pram shopping

Just realised pram I suggested wasn't travel system so sorry,can't even say it's baby brain-youngest nearly 2!!!!!!!

I'm just thick!!!!!

Someone mentioned the P word.Been coveting a blue Loola today at the school,and there was something black as yet unidentified,must ogle some more tomorrow.

Meant to say,might be worth a visit to Kiddicare or another big store similar to try a few out.Also see if the car seat and its base fit your car.We have a base for our Graco car seat that won't fit our van,but the seat itself fits very well without the base.Shame I bought a base,we only used it a few times in our old car.You can go have a play in the shop,you don't have to buy there and then,but remember which makes you like and look for a bargain later.

Also sign up to Freecycle,you'd be suprised what people give away for free.

Home shopping catalogues(I have Kays and Very) are a massive help too if you can get one,cos you're spreading the cost.Some give you cash back on what you buy so the difference in price balaces out in theend.You sometimes pay more,but  it's a credit facility I've been using for years now.Saved my bacon many a time when we need something.They have a fair choice of baby stuff,lots of big names included,right down to the lower price ones.

First Wheels City Elite excellent.

Lovely big chunky pump up tyres but not very wide chassis so you can still get on public transport, through doors etc. Folds flat. Good on any terrain.

Comes with carrycot for proper new baby pramness.

Then converts to rear or forward facing buggy. 

Also, with adaptors,  it is compatible with the Maxi Cosi car seat.

If you bought a First Wheels from ebay you could then buy a Maxi Cosi car seat which are excellent.

Bought lots of our baby stuff off ebay.

I'm going to be a kill joy now, we've had 3 little ones now, and I'd say frankly I'd get a baby seat for the car, preferably one that converts through the later stages to save a bit (so long as it fits your car well, get them to fit it in Halfords or where ever, and look out for end of line offers, often there's quite a reduction), and a maclaren or similar buggy that lies flat for a new born - if you're lucky this will last til they can walk far enough to not need one (about 4 years!).  if you're in the countryside and like walking, the 3 wheelers can be fab, but as others are saying, you can be lucky on ebay/freecycle etc for these, bide your time.

They grow out of everything so quickly, and you just don't need most of the lovely stuff firms try to sell you in all these baby magazines... It's lots of fun if you can afford to "play", otherwise don't feel bad, get the most reasonable basics that you like the feel of that will fit your car if you have one and flat/house/doorway.

No kidding we still have hundreds of pounds worth of changing table/pram/3 way travel system, etc etc etc,more or less completely unused (and pretty useless) clogging up our loft  - if you live near enough you can come and have it!

If i could do it all again, I'd spend more time relaxing with my precious lovely tiny ones, and a lot less time and money worrying about getting the latest must have baby gumpf.  Ah, sigh, rose coloured spectacles etc etc....hope it all goes well for you, enjoy

I also did what Karen did and bought a car seat (the type with the carry handle, think it is class 1) and a pushchair that lies flat for a baby.

I had the pushchair from Toys r us and it was their own brand, Bruin. At the time it came with a footmuff and raincover all for about £70. Think I paid £30-40 for a Graco car seat from Mothercare.

To be fair, the pushchair was brilliant but has now fallen to pieces (after 3 years of medium amount of use), so maybe invest in a better one (like Mclaren) if you want it to last for more that one child!

Forgot to put that loads of people I know spent hundreds on fancy travel systems and then found the pushchairs too bulky and had to spend more money buying a smaller stroller a few months later.

 GOOD LUCK!

Hi

I'm probably a bit late now in saying this but like you I'm on a very tight budget.  When I was pregnant we went into one store to look at travel systems some of them were so expensive I nearly gave birth there and then!

In the end we went for the Mothercare Xcursion Travel System.  It converts from a pram into a pushchair and also has a detatchable car seat.  It cost us around £350.

It might be worth looking on the internet as there are a few useful sites.  Baby things 4 u and also Baby's Mart are just a couple that do reasonably priced baby things

Hi Laura,

We had a M&P Ultima on the mpx chassis - it came with a chassis/carry cot/puschair unit and car seat - i think it comes as an 8 in 1 now with special stand. It was very expensive and the raincover was extra.

We got it in 2005 and it was fabulous it was used very day for about 2 and half years and it's still in the attic and friends use it when they come to visit - it is as good as new. I walked for miles including off road. It was really easy to steer in a busy street and the carry car seat was easy to install in the car (i think it is slightly different now though),it is simple to clean and all the different seat units and the car seat fitted directly onto the chassis without any special adaptors.

I can't recommend it enough but as i say it was very expensive and we were lucky as my parents offered to buy it

Good Luck not long now

 Karel x

 Hi my youngest is 6 months and i like you was watching my pennies. I was lucky a friend spotted a second hand mamas and papas travel system  was in lovely condition came with covers and change bag . Check the small ads in local paper and charity shops - amazing what you can get.

It was just what i needed as i wanted a carrycot pram for when he was really young but as i don't drive and use a lot of public transport knew it wasn't worth spending a lot on as wouldn't be pratical for long term - also have learnt by my mistakes from number 1 son and would difitly recommand spending more money on a buggy as you will need that for longer. I got a baby jogger city mini which can be used from birth which is brilliant as i can fold one handed with baby and bag in hand! Still use mamas and papas espically going to local shops as has a nice sized basket.

Hope you find something for you.

can any one tell me where i can get a travel system really cheap as not got much money and am desperate