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Maxi-Cosi Mura Carrycot
by hlb2009
We bought this as part of our 'travel system' before Baby B was born. A travel system is basically a pushchair that does everything- it is a set of wheels to which a car seat will attach, a pram and then a seat for a pushchair. It means that it will accommodate all ages and stages of your baby. This carrycot is designed for the first few ... months of life.
The carry cot
The purpose of a carrycot is to be like a pram. Babies are supposed to lie flat for the majority of time and so instead of putting them in car seats and pushing them around a carry cot/pram is ideal as it keeps them flat and they can sleep away or nosey around as they're wheeled around. Usually they stay in this until around 6 months old when their backs are stronger and they are able to sit up and be in a pushchair. Often, though your baby may be too big to be comfortable in this for all that time so you may switch a bit earlier.
How it looks
Our carrycot was blue. It had dark blue on the outside and pale blue inside which we chose because we thought that it was more interesting than black and so that when our baby was lying inside it, there was a nice colour for her to look at. It is quite long, the same length as a moses basket and is robust. It is not flimsy at all, I have seen other prams such as the Silvercross 3D which is so soft and flimsy it's good for squashing ito a car but perhas not as good for being robust and protective.
It has quite hard, plastic sides and a plastic bottom with a hood that pulls up. Although it sounds fairly hard this doesn't effect the baby as it's lined with a waterproof fabric and has a mattress on th ebottom. The mattres is the same size as a moses basket mattress and so getting a sheet to cover it is no problem at all. The hood that pulls up has a window in the back which lets a bit of light in but it's got a mosquito type cover on it so it wont dazzle the baby. The hood actually stays up very well too, it doesn't flop back down- once it's up it stays up!
How does it work?
Well this is probably the most technical bit of the review and even then it's simple so you don't have to worry about if you'r enot a technical person, it is still very easy to use.
The wheels come with two slots which you just have to pop up and then these slot into the base of the carry cot. You have to align the carry cot up with the slot sand then pop it and there you go! This is around the middle of the carry cot and you can see without having to bend down and look underneath where exactly it is. Once it's in place and you push it in it will click so you know it's in properly. To release it you press a button on either side and pull it up. This can be a little difficult if you have a sleeping/heavy baby inside it as it does take some strength.
Comfort
I always thought that this pram body was very comfortable indeed as it was cosy with the hood being pulled up and the sides being lined with a nice pale blue. Baby B certainly thought it was comfortable, in fact it got to the point where we would take this off the wheels and use it as her moses basket as she would sleep better in this than she would the basket!
Practicalities
This is practical in that you can take the carry cot off from the wheels so if your baby is asleep in it whilst you're on a walk but when you get in you want to take your baby into a room which the wheels can't go in then you can simply unpop it from the wheels and carry your baby through still fast asleep inside it. It's also practical as we would use this as the pram and the moses basket if we went away so it meant we only had to pack this and not the basket as well. It is practical as it is wide too, compared to some other prams this is definitely full of room which meant that we were able to use it for longer than our friends used theirs.
The negatives I can think of us that it does take up a lot of room so if you have a small car you will have the wheels to accommodate and then this as well and it doesn't collapse down any smaller. In our case the boot would have the wheels in and the back seat would have this and so there wasn't very much space but if you do have a bigger car then this shouldn't be a problem!
Conclusion
I was very happy with this. It looks sturdy, comfortable and different and it works really well. The hood stayed up, it was easy to unclip from the wheels once you had a little practice and I think that Baby B enjoyed being in it. I liked how she would sleep well in it and would enjoy looking up at the pale blue inside the hood as we walked along with her in this.
It is expensive compared to others; we bought the entire travel system for £600 and this was on an offer too but it's comfortable, it works well and it was worth the money for us!
Review written by my husband
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Baby Bjorn Cover for Baby Carrier
by jo1976
I was heavily reliant on my Baby Bjorn baby carrier when my youngest son was a baby. During early Autumn, my little one was very snug within the carrier, clothed in a warm padded snowsuit but as the weather became colder, I did start to worry that my son was a little too exposed to the elements and might need a little extra protection. ... The turning point came whilst heading out for the school run one afternoon, with perfectly clear skies on the horizon. And then out of nowhere came this enormous rain cloud and both my little one and I ended up getting absolutely drenched by the time we got home! I decided some form of cover was essential to keep my little one warm and dry whilst out in his sling.
Fortunately, a quick search online revealed that Baby Bjorn do offer a product specifically for that purpose, although I found the selling price to be pretty high, with prices around £25-£30 for the cover alone. There are different colours available, to match different colours of carrier, but for some reason the 'City Black' shade was considerably cheaper (and more widely available) than other shades, so I purchased that version, even though my carrier is a navy blue version. Fortunately, when in place, the cover only leaves the straps and back of the carrier visible and the difference in colour isn't a real issue. It certainly looks more stylish, with a simple colour scheme and the distinctive Baby Bjorn logo and reflective silver piping, than attempting to wrap blankets around the body of the carrier, as I've seen other parents do.
What you get for your money is not a great deal, in all honesty. The cover is simply a rather thin piece of shaped fleece fabric which is elasticated around the sides to fit over the front of any Baby Bjorn carrier. Mine was used to cover an original Baby Bjorn carrier and I found the sizing and fit to be perfect, with more than enough room to ensure that the cover can be used up to the point that baby will outgrow the sling itself.
The cover does come with a detachable fleece hood which fits on the cover itself using a series of secure poppers. This is quite a clever design as it means that the cover can be used when baby is faced inwards or outwards. The removable aspect makes the cover more versatile, especially as I always favoured hooded padded snowsuits or hooded jackets, so being able to remove the hood was a useful feature for me. In all honesty, the hood, despite its soft lining - like the fleece itself- is not particularly thick, so it is more likely to be used during milder weather with a thicker head covering needed for Autumn and Winter months.
Just as with the Baby Bjorn carrier itself, the fitting instructions are printed inside the cover itself which is a very useful addition, especially if the cover is purchased second hand or the original packaging is mislaid. The fitting instructions are given through simple pictorial diagrams. I was a little confused at the first attempt at attaching the cover, as I was trying to fit it over the wrong points. The cover has two holes, which are securely oversewn to ensure that they don't stretch or tear at all, which simply fit over the clip sections of the front of the padded carrier. (This is more intuitive than it may sound!) Once attached, and the carrier is clipped back into position, the cover is securely attached and cannot be removed without unclipping the front, although this is very easy to do without disturbing a sleeping baby.
Once in place, the cover acts as a kind of snug cocoon for a little one. One major advantage of using this cover is that it offers a covering for baby's arms and legs, as they are normally left exposed out of the carrier itself. I liked to tuck my son's arms and legs inside the cover, just leaving his head peeping out of the top. This was obviously a warm and comfortable environment for him and he tended to fall asleep like this much sooner than he would do without the cover in place! There is plenty of space within the cover, so my son's limbs were never restricted even towards the end of his time using the sling.
The main issue with the cover is that the fabric is not actually waterproof. The fleece is slightly 'water resistant', so it doesn't necessarily absorb water in the way that similar materials do, and offers some limited protection during wet weather but is not suitable to ward off heavy rainfall. I was also slightly disappointed with the thickness of the fabric, particularly given the high selling price. I found reviews on Amazon suggested that this cover could be used in the absence of a coat but, realistically, that would only be the case during warm Summer months or if the carrier was being used primarily indoors, so for a short dash from a car to indoor shopping centre. I used my carrier during Autumn, Winter and early Spring and certainly never felt confident about using it without also clothing my son in a substantial padded coat or all-in-one. Nonetheless, this does offer the benefit of being able to remove an added layer of warmth without the need to remove baby from the carrier and disturb them by undressing them.
At the full RRP of £34.99, this simple cover costs as much as some cheaper models of baby carrier! Fortunately, I paid much less than the full RRP but I do still feel that paying over £20 was paying over the odds. This cover currently costs £25.99 from Amazon. Despite the high price, I was able to justify the additional cost because the addition of the cover allowed me to feel more confident about using my Baby Bjorn carrier during unpredictable, windy and very cold weather as my baby wasn't so exposed to the elements.
The other advantage is that the resale value of second hand Baby Bjorn products is very high, given their reputation for good quality products, so I was able to sell my cover for only slightly less than the amount I originally paid for it. Fortunately the cover remained in as 'as new' condition, despite being machine washed at 40 degrees repeatedly, thanks to baby dribble and the odd spell of sickness!
Despite the high cost and the thin fabric, this is still a worthwhile purchase for anybody owning a Baby Bjorn carrier as it offers that extra element of comfort and reassurance, particularly during cold and windy weather. The high purchase price is offset by the quality of the product and the possibility of selling it on after use for a similar price.
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