A lightweight 3-wheeler buggy, the Nurse Dakar Piccola travel system has lockable front swivel wheel, inflatable aluminium wheels with ball bearings for very easy turning, height adjustable handle, multi-position reclining seat, quick release wheels when you’re short on space and even an adjustable rear suspension depending on the terrain.
It also has a basket, pump, 3 in 1 foot muff, pram bag and raincover, too. Phew!
Nurse do the Dakar in four options: the Dakar is a pushchair, and can be teamed with a choice of three car seats to make three different travel systems, the Piccola being one of them. A lightweight car seat at just 2.4kg, the Piccola it easily attaches to the Dakar chassis and lasts up to approximately 18 months, meaning you can rear-face your baby for a lot longer than other car seats on the market.
What we love
It’s a smooth drive, and living in a place with cobbly streets, this is very important. The Nurse Dakar Piccola certainly comes into its own when cruising round town with my daughter Tippi. Once she is asleep I don’t have to worry about the steep curves, cobbled pavements and other obstacles that stand in my way, as the Nurse Dakar Piccola glides over them with minimal disruption.
It’s also very easy to manoeuvre, turning corners without much effort needed from myself. Always a good thing! And when removing the Piccola car seat from the chassis, this is relatively smooth, too, though I have to lift the seat one side at a time.
Always important, the Nurse Dakar Piccola folds down easily, and the wheels are extremely easy to remove if going on holiday.
We tried the Nurse Piccola car seat as it rear faces up to 18 months. In light of recent research that it’s safer to be rearward facing for as long as possible this is a big plus, although you’ll still need to buy another car seat at 18 months.
Tippi loves looking at the Tube map design on the hood interior and peeping out the rear window to see where she’s going when using the Dakar in pushchair mode. The harness is easily adjusted.
One final feature that was appealing to us was the height adjustable bar. My husband is a lot taller than me, so this meant we could both push the Nurse Dakar Piccola with ease.
What to watch out for
I wouldn’t say it’s the most comfortable seat. The material isn’t very soft on the Dakar pushchair or the Piccola car seat. Alongside this, the harness pads on the buggy and car seat look clumsy, especially for a newborn. They’re quite big and seem to slide up and down the straps too easily.
The harness on the Dakar pushchair itself is not perfect either. The straps are too big for my 1-year-old Tippi, and it’s slightly complicated pulley system needs quite a bit of fiddling around with.
If you have a small car, you might want to check the Nurse Dakar fits. Even though it does fold down quite small, it’s a wide pushchair. This is good for longevity as your child grows, but can be a bit of a problem with limited car space. The width of the pushchair was also a slight problem for me in a city with narrow streets.
Other slight concerns, which didn’t worry me, but may do for other mums is that the Nurse Dakar is forward facing only and the shopping basket is rather small.
Who is the Nurse Dakar Piccola travel system best for?
Mums after a value for money and have a bigger car.
The 3-wheeler Nurse Dakar Piccola is a good light pushchair and car seat combothat boasts all the features and accessories you would expect from a travel system. It’s a smooth ride and easy to manoeuvre, but it isn’t the most comfortable and the pushchair harness is a bit fiddly.
