Car seats & prams help!

I’m looking at car seats/prams/travel systems & it’s pretty overwhelming. Do I need to buy the car seat & pram with the same brand for it be compatible? Whats the difference between a pram & a travel system? Any recommendations on exactly what I need. Prices also vary hugely which doesn’t help.

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10 years working in baby shops, I hope this helps but feel free to ask any more questions 💖

A travel system just means a pram that can attach a car seat to it, when you buy a "travel system" you're buying the pram and the car seat.

Car seats are generally interchangeable, a lot of brands sell their own but most of them use universal/Maxi-Cosi fittings so most car seats will fit onto most prams.

Personally I am buying the Oyster pram, but not their car seat as I want one with a higher safety rating.

If your pram brand allows you to "upgrade" to a Maxi-Cosi or Cybex car seat I'd recommend that over own brand generally. I'm going for the Avionaut Pixel Pro as it's incredibly lightweight and I prefer the position baby is in, it's great for tiny babies.

Try and go to a showroom and try them out. Lots of pushchairs can lay flat and be used from newborn. You don’t always need all the accessories, bassinet etc.
Push them, fold them, see how heavy they are etc.
Agree with above about car seats. I just left mine in the car and got baby out each time anyway, but if you really want to put it on a pram frame, most of the time you can get adapters to fit your pram.

Thanks! Thats helpful & makes sense to me now!

Avionaut cosmo or pixel pro are 2 of the best on the market. They use maxi cosi adapters so if your pram is compatible with maxi cosi it’ll be compatible with those. Also more budget friendly is the maxi cosi cabriofix i-size. I honestly wouldn’t go for any other infant carriers over these. We borrowed the cybex from my cousin as our car seat arrived the day after our baby did and although it was good it’s so much heavier than the others! Xx

I had a slot booked at mamas and papas today and they were incredibly helpful with car seats and prams etc. their pushchairs also are compatible with maxi cosi but also others.

You can book a pram appointment at John Lewis, 60 min or something where they go through all the prams and show you how they fold etc.
The appointment is free and you’re not obligated to buy anything.
Also look at reviews on YouTube, check both male and female ones as they tend to look at different things.

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