Yeti's and push chairs/prams

[Steve Humphreys]

So my wife and i had some fantastic news recently, baby #1 due in december!

 

I'm just doing some home work on prams/pushchairs and wondered if anyone on here could share thier experiences, namely how well they fold and fit into the yeti boot and compatability with car seats. (we're sold on the maxi cosi cabrio fix)

 

At the moment we like the idea of a complete travel system from the likes of bugaboo, i candy etc but the prices are eye watering!

 

Any advice greatly recieved!

 

Thanks

[Cornishman53]

Just had a week in Dorset with Yeti daughter and baby. She has Icandy buggy system. The safety seat fits into Icandy chassis, and into isofix base in Yeti and Golf without having to disturb baby. The chassis and pushchair fits in boot with spare wheell along with baby tut. She says in her searching before purchase the Icandy system folded the best. The chassis and pram top also fitted in boot, in first few months. If you do not have spare then there is more depth  by about 4 inches. Whilst Icandy is expensive the overall package works well. I'll stick to the Yeti though!

Edited 26 June, 2014 by Cornishman53

[BobbyG79]

Our Bugaboo Cameleon fits in the boot no problem, along with the bassinette.  We also have the Maxi-Cosi Family Fix base with Pebble seat/carrier which works very well and hasn't caused any damage to my leather seats.

 

We bought the car seat/base brand new, but the travel system used from eBay (saving over £300) and would do the same again

 

Something I'd consider however is how easy it is to lift the basinette/seat off the pram frame as we don't usually wheel the pram through the front door with the baby in it, and therefore lift him off whilst still in situ.  Personally I find this a little fiddly on the Bugaboo, and the release catches (there are 2) can be tough on the wrists (my wife is now wearing a wrist support as a consequence!).  Some friends visted recenty with (I think) an Uppababy travel system, this was MUCH easier to release and the basinette lifted off the pram frame via a single button on the carry handle itself.

 

And congratulations!  Our first arrived in December last year :clap:

[muddyboots]

Haven't any specific experience with the Yeti to add, but I would say if the budget stretches to a travel system where you can lift the seat straight off a base in the car, and clip it directly to the pushchair, then go for it.

When they're asleep, last thing you want to do is wake them up by faffing about with straps and lifting them in/out of different seats.

 

We had a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix seat, an isofix base in one car and a belted base in the other car, and a Quinny Buzz pushchair with adaptors so the Cabriofix just clicked on.

All worked beautifully, but as you note, not cheap if you buy it all new.

The Buzz frame folded up really really easily, and although I didn't own the Yeti at the time, I can't imagine you'd have a problem fitting it in the boot. Even if it was tight, the two rear wheels pop on/off easily anyway.

The other thing we changed about the Buzz, was swapping the standard front wheel to an "offroad" version with pneumatic tyres instead of the solid rubber (quite appropriate I guess for Yeti owners ). It's a genuine part made by Quinny. Much smoother ride, better on rough surfaces or sand, and much easier to steer on smooth floors like in shops etc, where the standard ones slid around and didn't steer properly.

 

Later on, when #2 arrived, we switched to a tandem pushchair, a Jane PowerTwin Pro, and we also bought the matching Jane carseat & base - but they were nowhere near as easy to use as the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix; the seat was heavier to carry and it was harder to click on/off the base in the car.

 

Hope this helps, and congratulations !

[weasley]

My experience follows.

 

I have two kids, now 3 and 6, but had the Yeti from when it was 1 and 3.  We had the Maxi Cosi Cabrio Fix infant seat, with a base in each car we owned at the time.  Great seat, great system (and the seat can be used on its own in any seat with a three-point belt and no airbag, for times when you can't/won't use a base).

 

We bought a buggy that is no longer made, but we bought it for practical reasons - it had to be properly off-road capable (not faux-off road like the Bugaboo and Quinny) as well as supporting the Maxi-Cosi seat.  We got an XTS Twister (image below) with adaptors to fit the seat.  This is not light or small when folded, but it went in the Yeti fine (and with the wheels (easily) removed it freed up more space if needed).

 

 

We subsequently found that this buggy was a bit big and heavy for light-duty use, so we supplemented it with a 'stroller' for town use - a Silver Cross Pop.  This folds down 'umbrella' style and, again, easily fits the Yeti.

 

Being sold on the Maxi-Cosi brand, we upgraded to the Priori-Fix when the kids got older - one of these is still in the Yeti for the 3yo and works fine.  My main observation from the Yeti is that the ISOFIX points are a bit awkward to get at in the rear - once you have done it you tend to leave it installed, so it's fine, but it's a bit of a fiddle to start with.  Plus, if/when you want to tilt/fold/remove the rear seats, the child seats have to come out first.  The rear door is plenty wide enough and opens to a good angle for access/egress and wrestling with belts.  The door also has good part-way 'notches' so the door stays firm at part-open angles when you don't have space to fully open it.

 

For trips away we used a roofbox and collapsed the buggies into that, along with other bulky gear (travel cot, jumbo packs of nappies etc) leaving the boot free for normal stuff.

 

Congratulations, and good luck!

[DonjSZ5]

We will have our Yeti (no spare wheel fitted so deep boot) at the end of next week when I can report back on the make of buggy.

 

Our grandson has advanced up to the next size, front facing, car seat which is a Maxi Cosi Priori XP (currently fitted in our Vitara). His first seat (rear facing) was also a MaxiCosi but I don't know the model but it was very good. I will find out soon.

 

The Priori XP seat was purchased recently from Halfords who were running an offer, buy 2 get 10% off. So we bought one for us and one for our son and partners car to save all that swapping out lark.

[Cornishman53]

Further to previous post. Whilst at present the Maxi Cosi seat is being used on the Icandy chassis and isofix, base rearward sitting, the next seat obtained in readiness is the Maxi Cosi Pearl. Whilst this is now the not so well recommended forward facing seat, having tried rearward facing seats in the car it was thought that the growing child would be cramped on long journeys with feet against seat back, but the child can at least be part of the occupants of the car, and see forward.

There are some good deals to be had on this seat at the moment.

[DonjSZ5]

This is what I will have to get in the boot, iCandy Peach 2

 

http://www.pramworld.co.uk/icandy-peach-2-stroller-black-magic

[Dinski]

We also have the iso fix family fix base and we we have the maxi cosi pebble. Fits in the yeti perfectly!

As for the pram we have a silver cross surf and that when folded takes up half of the boot.

We went away for a week with the boot loaded up and the pram in the back plus loafs of toys for my boy and we only filled the boot as far as the parcel shelf.

Hope this helps.

[Steve Humphreys]

Thank you for all the replies, we went out yesterday and looked at loads of prams and travel systems. We're pretty much set on the uppababy vista, seems to be very highly rated and is over £200 cheaper than the equivalent icandy/bugaboo version and. Folds neatly and I think will easily fit into the yeti boot upright,  on its side or even laying flat.

[Brijo]

Congratulations, Steve and Mrs Steve! We look forward to your Christmas present news :-)

As far as we can see, anything with 'baby' in its name is going to be expensive. That's our experience and we've got plenty -

just dumped our last, much used car baby seat. Mind you, it had served four grandchildren well :-)

[DonjSZ5]

 

[skomaz]

My experience follows.

 

I have two kids, now 3 and 6, but had the Yeti from when it was 1 and 3.  We had the Maxi Cosi Cabrio Fix infant seat, with a base in each car we owned at the time.  Great seat, great system (and the seat can be used on its own in any seat with a three-point belt and no airbag, for times when you can't/won't use a base).

 

We bought a buggy that is no longer made, but we bought it for practical reasons - it had to be properly off-road capable (not faux-off road like the Bugaboo and Quinny) as well as supporting the Maxi-Cosi seat.  We got an XTS Twister (image below) with adaptors to fit the seat.  This is not light or small when folded, but it went in the Yeti fine (and with the wheels (easily) removed it freed up more space if needed).

 

 

We subsequently found that this buggy was a bit big and heavy for light-duty use, so we supplemented it with a 'stroller' for town use - a Silver Cross Pop.  This folds down 'umbrella' style and, again, easily fits the Yeti.

 

Being sold on the Maxi-Cosi brand, we upgraded to the Priori-Fix when the kids got older - one of these is still in the Yeti for the 3yo and works fine.  My main observation from the Yeti is that the ISOFIX points are a bit awkward to get at in the rear - once you have done it you tend to leave it installed, so it's fine, but it's a bit of a fiddle to start with.  Plus, if/when you want to tilt/fold/remove the rear seats, the child seats have to come out first.  The rear door is plenty wide enough and opens to a good angle for access/egress and wrestling with belts.  The door also has good part-way 'notches' so the door stays firm at part-open angles when you don't have space to fully open it.

 

For trips away we used a roofbox and collapsed the buggies into that, along with other bulky gear (travel cot, jumbo packs of nappies etc) leaving the boot free for normal stuff.

 

Congratulations, and good luck!

I would echo all of the above as it is exactly what we did. Maxi cosi cabrio in red plus xts twister in red. Both went through two kids and were fantastic. The pram was the best I ever came across and, whilst not the lightest was brilliantly engineered, well built and easy to push in all weathers and terrain. We laughed at most of the other families with other systems and whilst many of them thought our choice strange they soon changed their mind when they had first hand experience. Fitted easily in a Fabian estate or octy estate so should go in a yeti easy too.

[Nick P]

We have recaro isofix baby seat and toddler seat in our yeti. We have a baby jogger city elite buggy and a recaro travel system that the baby seat plugs into. Both fit fine in the boot. Not having a spare wheel helps massively.

Really highly recommend the baby jogger BTW. Picked it up second hand. Really great for tall dads, very rugged, easily the best fold bar none, awesome off-road.