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Graco Quattro Tour Duo Orbit
by princesschickpea
I bought this pram, as well as two Graco Logico S HP car seats, when I was expecting my twin sons. At the time, we didn't have a car, relied on public transport and didn't want a side by side buggy that would be difficult to get on buses and trains. We used it solidly for about two and half years and in all honestly, it was a god send. ... It has well and truly be pushed to it's limits, and has been used on city pavements, grass and 'off road' in country parks and is still in good working order. We regularly travelled from Scotland to Ireland with this pram, taking trains and the ferry and involving a lot of transfers, and it was indispensable.
At first we used it with the detachable car seats, which were really easy to click on and off the frame. The front seat is designed for an older baby or toddler (from 6 months), and the back seat can be laid flat for a newborn baby, so it would suit siblings of differing ages, but if you have twins, you'll need at least one car seat for the front seat. Each seat has 5 point harnesses which make it really safe. The back seat has 4 recline positions and the front has two. Our children were always comfortable in the pram. The seats are nicely padded, and the straps never cut into them.
The pram is roughly the same width as a regular pushchair, so you should have no problems getting through shop doors and aisles. Obviously, there is going to be a bit of weight to a pram of this size, but I could manoeuvre it with ease, sometimes even one handed. The wheels are definitely up to the task of frequent use, and though it might require a little bit of elbow grease to get it up high kerbs, other than that, it genuinely felt no more difficult to use that any other pram. One of the great things about it, especially for those without cars, is the generous basket underneath, with you can raise and lower for easy access. We could fit a huge amount in it (to be honest, we over filled it regularly), and only after over two years of use (and abuse!) does it seem to be showing any wear, with a few minor tears appearing in the fabric. Sometimes the mechanism for raising or lowering the basket can get stuck and be a bit tricky, but for the most part, we had no problems with the basket. There is also another, much smaller storage basket under the front seat, and two cup holders on the handle for parents.
But, I would mention that even folded up, this pram is very large, and might not fit into every car boot. The front wheels are designed to be easy to take off (which did help us fit it in tight spaces now and then - and they don't ever pop off when the pram is in use.) Some people might find it too heavy to lift in and out of the car boot as well. Also, some lifts might be too short to fit the pram in, but I only ever encountered this once. The only other problem we had with it was that the raincover (which we had included in our package, but I believe costs about £20) was unwieldy. It was large (obviously) and difficult for one person to get on if it started raining suddenly. It also took up a fair amount of space, even when folded. Ours also ripped, but only after a few years of use.
Overall, I would highly recommend this pram. It was really put through it's paces with us, and held up brilliantly. It outlasted our need for it with no major damage other than minor wear and tear, and performed as well as much more expensive prams on the market.
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Mamas & Papas Sola 2 In 1
by msannabella
When we were looking for a pram for our new son, we did a lot of research to try to find the best one for us. We wanted a travel system that wouldn't break the bank. We ended up purchasing the Sola in red.
The Product
The Sola is available in five colours (Denim, Green, Red, Orchid and Black) The frame is silver with ... black highlights. The seat can be faced forwards and rear facing. It is suitable from birth to 15 kg as the seat can be laid flat and then adjusted as the baby grows. The seat comes with a five point harness and a removable bumper bar for safety. There is a window on the rear of the hood so that when the seat is facing forward, you can still view the baby.
The frame is easily collapsible and folds flat. It can be locked in place when folded to make carrying easier. The front wheels can be locked in the forward position or can be unlocked for extra manoeuvrability. The set comes complete with a shopping basket and a raincover.
There is also a carrycot (available in black, denim and plum), a footmuff in matching colours and a car seat available in the same range. The carrycot and car seat can easily be slotted into the frame to replace the pram seat although you will need adapters for the carseat (these adapters are suitable for mamas and papas car seats but can also be used for a maxi cosi car seat) This pram is available from mamas and papas and also most pram centres. The retail is around £300 for the basic pram but deals can usually be found especially if buying the other components.
The review
We purchased the pram, carrycot and car seat as part of a very good deal (coming to around £400 for everything) as we wanted a whole travel system. We have had good use out of it so far so in my opinion, this has been very good value for money especially when you stand it up against other travel systems which can cost around £1000. We haven't used the pram seat out yet as we have been mainly getting our use out of the carrycot and car seat while we can.
The colour of the pram is bright and gorgeous, we had a look at all the range and I can say there wasn't a colour I didn't like. I was a little bit disappointed that the carrycot didn't come in the whole range of colours though as I would have liked the whole system to match but this wasn't a major problem.
We have tried the pram seat at home to try to get our son used to it when he eventually grows too large for the carrycot. Between the soft fabric and five point harness, it looks really comfortable and even as a newborn, he sat in it really well. The adjustable seat means that when your baby grows, the pram will also grow with you and we hope to still be using this for a while yet. The fact it can be used up to 15kg means there is plenty of life still left in it! The window in the pram seat is a really good idea, meaning you can check on your baby when the seat is forward facing. In practise, it isn't the best, it's cheap clear plastic meaning it isn't the easiest to see through.
Changing the system from pram to carrycot etc was really easy. It was just a case of pushing both sides and lifting off and on. This was a plus as it means less disruption to my son when he is sleeping. The pram is also easily folded, this is just a push button and slide. It also locks in place when folded, I find this makes it easy for me to lift it into the car boot. It perhaps doesn't fold as small as I'd like, but it still fits into my boot well and as it's a really well made sturdy chassis, this doesn't bother me too much. I'd rather sacrifice space than quality!
The adjustable handle is also excellent. My partner and I are both quite tall and when test driving prams, we found that a lot of the handles were very low and we were stooping to push, hurting our backs. At it's highest this is a perfect height and ideal for tall parents. The pram manoeuvres really well and has coped with everything we have thrown at it, from country walks to city pavements. The wheels are also holding up really well and have hardly marked yet.
We had a problem with the manoeuvrability at first and were finding the pram wasn't as good at cornering as stated. After googling why this was, we found that the front wheels weren't fully unlocked. There is a lever to unlock these and even though we thought we had pulled the levers up fully, they still had to be clicked into place meaning the wheels were still locked. We found this had happened to several people and although easily remedied, could lead someone to think there was a problem with the pram if they hadn't researched this. I think a piece about this problem either in the instruction booklet or the mamas and papas website would have helped.
The system has a wide range of accessories to adapt your pram to all weather conditions including matching parasols and footmuffs, but we found these were very expensive, especially when they were part of the package of other systems. We purchased our own cheaper versions and although they say the pram is only suitable for sola accessories, these fitted very well.
I would definitely recommend this pram and would say it stacks up very well compared to the higher priced travel systems. I would say this is an excellent purchase for people who want style but at a reasonable price.
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Graco Mosaic Travel System
by Nursemum
The Graco Mosaic travel system is a pushchair with an attaching baby car seat. It Is suitable from the birth to 3 years. The Mosaic is made from a lightweight aluminium frame and has an umbrella folding mechanism. The car seat clicks in easily to the pushchair and the hood from the pushchair and car seat form a nearly complete canopy ... over the baby, keeping it draft free and cosy. When removing the car seat a red button is pushed and seat easily removed.
For older babies and toddlers the pushchair can be used on its own, it has a 5 Point safety belt and the pushchair an be reclined until nearly flat for those sleepy toddlers. There is a big shopping basket under pushchair and numerous pockets on the back of the pushchair, great for mobile phone or child's drink. The travel system also includes a rain cover which easily attaches and can be stowed in shopping basket when not in use.
The car seat can either be fitted into a car with a Graco base, sold separately, or can be fitted with the seat belt. As the car seat is slightly bulky I personally found that the seat belt wasn't long enough in some car makes and therefore a base was required, which at £20 is a costly extra.
I have found this travel system very sturdy and excellent for long shopping trips. A buggy boards attaches easily to the back for when kids get tired. However,the so called lightweight frame is pretty heavy and I struggle to carry it. Another slight problem is that when the car seat is attached the shopping basket is not useable as the weight of the seat compacts it to nothing. Apart from a few things I have found the Graco Mosaic travel system a very good buy at £150 and I would definitely recommend to anyone.
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