Travelling in Comfort (Bebe Confort Loola)

Member Name: lulu2004

Product:	Bebe Confort Loola
Date:	29/09/08 (874 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Windoo carrycot is comfortable, it is generally a very good system

Disadvantages: Doesnt always steer perfectly

I'm sure I must be slowly working my way around all the buggies on the market. When I found out I was expecting my second I couldn't decide what I wanted this time, having had five different ones for my first child. So currently I have a Bugaboo, which I had been using for my son and use with a Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix for my daughter, a Bebe Confort Loola system with carry cot (my current pram of choice) and a Phil and Teds Sport Double which I bought off Ebay as my eldest is only just two. Oh and I still have a Quinny Zapp in the boot of my hubbies car 'just in case' I should be ashamed of myself... most people go through a baby or two with the one pram. But in my defence I don't hoard them, when I'm bored they go straight on to Ebay to buy the next one!
I am going to review the Loola Pushchair, I have the whole travel system, although there are different sections to review the Car Seat and Carry cot so I will write more in-depth reviews about them although I will still give my opinion here as if you are reading this the chances are you are interested in the whole package.

When we were going out to buy the Loola we knew there were newer variations of it on the market- the Loola Up, which has one handlebar instead of two and the streety, but I have good experience in Baby prams from my job and I was quite settled on the good old Simple Loola in the Oxygen Black colour. I liked the black colour best as currently all the prams on the market seem to be a grey shade, but the Loola was a lovely intense black. I was fairly sure the baby was going to be a girl, but it wouldn't have mattered with black, either sex would have been fine.
The Features that attracted me
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I'm not your stereotypical 'follow the tribe' type of girl. Just because everyone in my town pushes Quinnys or Pramettes doesn't mean I'm going to do the same. I really wanted a system that was going to cover a few bases for me- somewhere baby could sleep safely, a pram I could front and rear face, a simple click-in system for a car seat so I didn't have to bother with adaptors and as compact a fold as possible. The Loola was the only one on the market that I could find that covered all this for me. I will work through these features for you one by one in case anyone is interested as to why I wanted those specific things.

1) Sleeping Safely
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The carry cot that you buy as a separate for the Loola is called the Windoo, and it is beyond fantastic for safely having somewhere for your little one to sleep. Many carry cots on the market are not ventilated and so are not deemed suitable for a baby to sleep safely in. The Windoo meets standards to allow an infant to sleep soundly and safely. I'm a real stickler for having babies lay flat on their back too, so I do not see the carry cot as a waste of money. It is roomy and sturdily built and I really see myself getting 5 months use from it.

2) Front and Rear Facing
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With my first born I bought a travel system that required he be placed forward facing as soon as he grew out of the car seat. I wasn't very well read on why babies should lay flat or why you would like your baby facing you when they were able to sit up on their own and so I ended up changing my system as soon as I found that he was very young to face away from his mummy. When I changed to a rear facing pushchair I found it nice to be able to see him and talk to him until he was over a year old. I have since read in one of my baby magazines that it is beneficial to children's development to face their parents until the age of 18 months as they are getting eye contact and security and the parents are usually talking to them too. This is why I most certainly wanted a system to face both directions.

3) Simple car seat solution
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Sometimes there are incidences when you just need to put the car seat on to the pushchair chassis for a quick dash into town and having had experience of fumbling with carseats that needed adaptors to place the car seat on the frame I just wanted something simple this time. The Loola calls this system the modulo clip system. It is so convenient.
The Issues you may face
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I still have not found the perfect pram. There are issues about the Loola that aren't fabulous by any means and I feel they are important to note as if you are considering this as a purchase then they might be something that would sway you.
It is no lightweight. When folded it can be rather heavy, and it is quite wide in shop aisles. I also found the fold was awkward to come to terms with in the first week but I have worked it out now.

The pushchair itself (not as a travel system)
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I don't have a lot of experience of using the system as a Pushchair as we are still in the Windoo carry cot for the baby but I have used the seat unit a few times with my two year old. He is a bigger than average child and has loads of space in the seat unit. This is a real problem I have as a lot of pushchairs don't give him much space, the Loola is different, he has more than enough space to sit comfortably.

The seat reclines in 4 positions apparently although I have only found three, but I'm sure if I concentrated on it I would find the forth. What I have found I am happy with. The raincover is fiddly as it zips, but its not too annoying really.
To change the seat between rear and forward facing you click the two grey modular buttons on the frame at either side of the seat and left the seat off, simply turn it around and clip it back in to the same grey buttons and that's how simple it is. Be warned that the seat is flexible when you lift it on and off, but it is meant to be; it flexed like a concertina because the frame can fold with the seat attached and facing forward. That sounds complicated, but if you bear it in mind you and take a demo of this pram at a showroom it will be easier to visualise. I thought mine might be faulty as it folded, but it's not faulty and I would have looked like an idiot if I had went back to the shop! You can take the fabric off the frame to wash it, although I have not tried this yet

Folding is simple, when you know how, there are two buttons on the handle which you press to release and then pull up the handle that is locate lower on the chassis. It folds into an umbrella style which is useful for small boots. There is a catch on the frame to keep it all together although I seem to have a mental block regarding that particular catch and end up cursing the chassis when I can't get it unfolded in the town. Sometimes I could swear I gave birth to my brain along with my baby as its really simple... I just always forget to unhinge it!
The handles have a little part where you can hang your bag on, although it isn't really all that useful, and on the frame there are little hidden hooks for a parasol. I don't have the parasol as I've never gotten on with parasols but it seems Bebe Confort have thought of everything. The shopping basket is rubbish though- absolutely rubbish! I'm used to not having a basket as my last pushchair was a Quinny Zapp but with a new born I do need a bit more storage and I find the cross hatch bars across the basket are a complete nuisance. I can't put anything in there bar a baby bottle or two. Getting things out of there is a pain.

Optional Accessories
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I haven't plumped for any of the optional accessories. You can get a parasol to match which is about £19.99, but as I mentioned above I just always find parasols never sit exactly where I would like them to. There is also a Bebe confort changing bag, but again I felt I got more for my money buying a Bag that I liked rather than one that matched for the sake of it. There is a very lovely footmuff that I may invest in later down the line as its only August and my little girl should be in the seat unit in the winter time so it would be nice and snugly for her.

Current Colours
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The 2008 Colours for the Loola are Oxygen Blue which is a fabulous electric blue shade, Optic Framboise which is quite pinky, Oxygen Red which is ok, what put me off is that it is more of a bloody red colour than a vibrant red, and Oxygen Black which is what I have. I have seen other colours such as a pistachio green, but Bebe Confort is a European Brand and not all colours are treated with flame ret ardency which is a must to sell in the UK and so if you wanted the other colours you would have to find a way to import them from one of the other European countries. I'm not sure how you would go about this.

If you are interested in buying a Loola you can find the information on their website which is www.bebeconfort.com.
I'm happy with it at the minute. I love the Windoo Carry Cot, and I like the Creatis Car Seat that we got along with it, although I do prefer my Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix carseat for the baby. Apparently there is a new adaptor to allow the Loola to take the Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix coming on to the market soon which might be worth looking in to. I do think this is a good system, but I know when she grows out of the gorgeous Windoo carrycot, I can see myself selling it on Ebay. But thats just my fickle pram disorder... I get bored very easily!

I hope I have covered everything. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section and I will do my best to answer them all!
Lulu2004 ©
Dooyoo and Ciao

Summary: One of my many pram systems; this isnt for everyone, but is a great starting point.