What we love
The Nurse Hello Piccola travel system is a chic looking travel system. The fabric has a Tube map design, which is unisex and urban-looking. The Nurse Hello Piccola comes with matching accessories, including a pram bag with cute foldaway changing mat that can be hung from the handle, and a raincover, which comes in its own bag.
The Hello pushchair can face forward or rearwards (also known as parent-facing). I like being able to see and talk to my baby, and some childcare experts recommend it. But, it also useful to face you baby outwards once they hit toddlerhood, or even just for a change of scenery.
The Piccola car seat looks smart and is very light so it’s easy to carry with your baby in it. My friend’s 3-month-old son, Raef, was my tester, and he looked really snug in it and wasn’t too upright, as some car seats seem to be. Raef seemed very comfortable. The Piccola comes with a hood, rather than as an extra like some other brands. It also has a rocking position for use outside the car.
What to watch out for
I had a hard time following the instructions. The pictures weren’t clear, and adding to the problem was that the translation from the original Spanish wasn’t good. Because of this, I took about an hour to figure out how to put the travel system together and practice installing the Piccola car seat.
In the UK, the Hello pushchair seat is recommended for use from 6 months, which means that if you buy only the pushchair and Piccola car seat, your baby will be in the car seat whenever you’re out and about, which isn’t ideal for a newborn. I think you’d need to buy the Nurse Capazo carrycot as well, and in fact this combo is fairly widely offered as a package deal, called the Formula travel system.
The UK distributors told me that the Hello pushchair was suitable for use up to 3 years. My daughter Martha was far too big for it, and she’s 2. Although the Hello has multiple lie back positions, it doesn’t actually get any longer, so her legs dangled off the end, and to rest her feet on the footrest, she had to bend her legs until her knees were up near her head. The seat of the Hello pushchair also didn’t seem deep enough – I felt that Martha was sitting on it rather precariously. Martha’s 18-month old cousin, Evie, had a go in it and her legs were also too long, although Evie did seem to like it and wanted to go out in the Hello.
I found folding and changing the handle position two of the worst aspects of the Nurse Hello pushchair. There are four handle positions and to fold the Hello, the handle needs to be in the shortest position. You then have to turn the centre of the handle with one hand and use the other hand to pull up a hook. Your wrists have to be very strong, and I found I struggled with it. I folded the Hello a couple of times, but sometime around my third folding attempt, I simply couldn’t do it. I gave myself blisters trying. Raef’s mum and dad tried (and failed). Finally, me, my husband and a screwdriver got it to work.
One time when I extended the handle fully, it took a number of attempts over the following two days to get it back into the lower positions again. The handle also wobbles up and down a lot when you’re walking along, which I find quite annoying.
I had a few problems with the connectors that attach the accessories such as the Piccola car seat to the Hello chassis, but if they’re working properly, the seat slots in relatively easily. That said, you almost need three hands to remove it again – two to unlock the connectors and one to hold the handle steady and pull the seat out.
When putting the Piccola car seat into the car, it was fiddly to get the seat belt through the guides, especially at the back. You almost have to fold the seat belt in half to get it in. Getting the seat belt back out again was equally difficult and I couldn’t do it without pulling the seat around (which could wake a sleeping baby). The Piccola car seat also seemed a bit loose in the car – I could easily pull the handle and move it.
Who is the Nurse Hello Piccola travel system best for?
Parents after an urban-looking buggy and a car seat with a longer life span than many.
Nurse Hello Piccola travel system has the looks, but isn’t as user-friendly as it could be. The difficulty folding, unclear instructions and fiddly cars seat installation are all downsides. However, the car seat does have a possible 15-month life span, and you could add the Capazo carrycot if you don’t want your baby to be in the car seat for the first six months.
