Review of the foldable carrycot

It's been a sad time with the Quinnycaster project coming to an end.
That hasn't stopped us enjoying our Quinny and we even treated ourselves to the foldable carrycot for our Easter holiday.
The foldable carrycot is amazing and I'd highly recommend it as an addition for newborns for any of the pushchairs it will work with (the label says it will work with the Moodd, the Buzz and the Senzz). The fold is great making it very flat for storage, it's large (larger than the Dreami) and very well made.  To fold it all you need to do is slide the catch from one end to the other, it can even be done when the carrycot is on the frame though I personally find that far more difficult that hubby does.

The size is very generous and Ewan still has some growing room left in it at the age of 4 and a half months. He's a lightweight but still a long baby. In comparison he is completely filling the baby nest now if he does go in it so there's more use with the carrycot as he's still a little drowned in the seat without the baby nest.

In the recent sunshine it's generally provided good shade without having to add a parasol. The pullout additional shade is a helpful bonus.

We went for the blue reflection and in my opinion it looks great.

Misson Accomplished

I'm sad to say that the Quinnycaster project came to an end a month ago.
It was really fun to test out such a fantastic pushchair and seems appropriate to add a few more pictures to the blog showing what it can do, especially as we took the plunge and purchased the carrycot back in early April.

Mission 3

Over the last couple of weeks we've been taking part in our third mission - a Moodd montage - shots or video of the Moodd out and about where we live.

Part 1. Setting the Moodd for the day - how easy is the Moodd to use. This was taken using a camera that can take many shots quickly, and you do have to be quick as it is up in a flash! :-)

Next is the everyday Moodd - how we use it. For us it's my favourite view looking down at Ewan in the baby nest.

Part 3 was cafe day. Eating out. Now that doesn't happen too often near us being in a big city as we don't have a good coffee house/cafe or even any daytime sit down restuarants within walking distance - we always have to go by car to the far side of the city to meet friends. However, with family up during the time I knew about the mission, we did have a day out shopping which was a perfect chance to stop for some lunch in the city centre.

Ready for a close up - we were challenged to take a pick of the Moodd outside our favourite store where we'd love to spend as much as we wanted. For me that would have to be a travel agent both to do exotic sun holidays and the child focused ones such as Disneyland.

The last pic needed was of a promenade - be it the park, a walk in the fields or woods.  For this one it is easy. We have been celebrating that we now have a play area we can walk to rather than having to drive in the car. It's been open a month now and we are regular visitors. It's great to have a chance to show it off. I must say that this pic is my favourite out of the ones I took.



It's been great fun doing the third task, though it would have been nice if the weather had been more co-operative in the rain stakes!

Picture the Moodd

It's been a fun couple of weeks with the Moodd. The (generally) nicer weather has meant more trips out (more admiring glances and interested comments from people) and our little man is finally starting to pile on the ounces.

This means I've been able to take out the foot hugger from the baby nest as his feet are near the end for the moment. I do love the simplicity of this - being able to zip them out is a fantastic idea and keeps it all rather neat.




I've also been able to test out the raincover which is fantastic. It's the best raincover I've ever come across as it's doesn't just rely on the clear plastic and it also doesn't rely on dodgy straps or unrealistic stretching to get it to stay on! The black fabric panels at the top and bottom (shown in the pic below) make it feel more substantial and stylish, while the clear plastic is enough to be able to see in/out and provide ventalation through the air holes.

My 3 year old (who's over the recommended weight limit) has had a couple of occassions to use it too when we've been out and about. He really loves the pushchair too and quite surprisingly he's still able to fit in the seat pretty well. Going from the extreme of pushing a newborn to a heavy toddler is going to require more effort but it is surprisingly little additional effort needed compared to some I've had. This is a fabulous bonus that rarely gets thought about when buying a pushchair but is really rather important considering how long pushchairs are in use for and that children are generally up to 5 times the weight by the time they don't need it compared to when they start.







As we settle more into a routine with younger son and the weather is improving we are finally able to really put the Moodd through its paces and I do really love it still (bar the issues and concerns with the baby nest).  I'm looking forward to when our younger son is old enough to get rid of the baby nest and enjoy sitting facing me in a more upright seat.

A pics post to follow soon, along with an interesting car boot challenge.

The secret mission to 'walk your way'

Sorry it's been a while since the last post. Time to finally write about the secret mission that we had over Christmas.

When the email arrived shortly before Christmas saying that we needed to do a video of our own version of the Moodd dance my heart sank quite a way. Being 7.5 months pregnant with SPD bad enough I was walking around on crutches when going more than a few steps, standing in front of a camera trying to do a dance where the moves would cause a lot of pain was not how I fancied spending my Christmas. Sooo, it was time to get my thinking cap on.

Thankfully an idea came quite quickly. Ever since the first photo of the Moodd came out with this model in her heels pushing the Moodd it's made me think that to me that's not what the pushchair should be about as there aren't that many Mum's who are like the woman in the picture. Given that the dancers in the demo video are all in little black dresses and heels it really re-inforced that the image being presented wasn't me. Therefore why not do something that showed how it's possible to walk MY way. That's where the shoes came from as high heels and being a mum don't always easily go together.
The different shoes are the different types of Mum's and to me represent the different Mums that the pushchair is for and how they can all walk their own way (including Dad's as did manage to get a pair of hubby's shoes in there for good measure).

Thankfully just after Christmas I had one free day while my eldest was at nursery so I grabbed my standard digital camera (not a camcorder), cleared the table and grabbed various pairs of shoes from the cupboard. The positioning of the shoes is all taken from the dance moves (with a little artistic license) so I just kept moving them around to what would represent the dance. Having edited it up my main gripe with it was the heeled shoes could have done with a polish (couldn't find it). It didn't take too long to do and I was pleased with the results.

I was even more pleased when I heard from Quinny that I'd won a prize in the Quinnycasters competition for creating a dance video.

Here's the video - see whether you like it.

Now the competition has been launched for everyone to enter (as a caster I can't enter the main Quinny competion) and given some of the complaints and gripes that have been appearing on the Quinny page I really wanted to write up how I thought about mine to give a different perspective on the possibilities. The prizes are great with both individual and group categories (with prizes) available. Closing date for submitting videos is 15th March.

Give it a go - if I can do it then virtually anyone can do it. Link is below. I'm looking forward to trying to watch as many of the entries as I can. (facebook link below to the Quinny page)

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/quinny.uk?sk=app_157331111041892

Snow day

Today we've had 2 - 3 inches of snow so it was a great opportunity to try out the Moodd in these difficult conditions.

Overall I was pretty impressed with the way the Moodd coped. Initially we just headed into the back garden with it while DS1 built a snowman with his Dad. Going over uneven grass with snow it did nearly tip over once so it's not ideal over rougher terrain in snow, but that isn't a surprise.

After the snowman was built it was a trip down to the shops to see how it faired on the pavements. I was quite surprised how well it did. It didn't try and tip over once and was easy to push once I had locked off the front wheel. The front wheel seemed to make light work of the snow while the back wheels crushed down the snow in their path.

As a comparison we did pass someone with a Mothercare Spin (or it was the silver cross one that looks very similar) and they were having to drag their pushchair backwards on the back wheels only, and the child was being carried as they didn't seem able to cope with pushing it with them in.

All in all rather a successful trial in the snow. :-)

Daddy with his big snowball over the pram - Ewan couldn't be left out as it had been held over the rest of us by then.

Going back to old ground, the baby nest which has been rather a thorn in our side since we got it has really started to annoy me again. I just can't get DS2 in a position where his face isn't covered by the front panel unless I undo the button and find a way of holding down an extra fold in the fabric (today we used his arm after the 'weight' kept falling off which isn't ideal in this cold weather). It's getting to the stage where I am thinking twice about whether I use the Moodd or grab out my P+T with caccoon as it's something that I really don't like about the Moodd and that rather defeats the object of giving the Moodd as thorough test drive as I possibly can.

I'm seriously contemplating whether it's going to be worth investing in a carrycot so I can use the Moodd in my preferred way and avoid the baby nest. It's either that or taking the button off and adjusting it once (if not twice as he grows bigger) so the nest is of more use. Such a shame to be saying it, but I really would be quite cross if having forked out £600 for the pushchair I didn't feel comfortable using with the babynest due to babes face being covered by it all the time.

Store the strap

The other little niggle that has cropped up over the past few uses is the strap that holds the frame together. I love the addition of the strap as it does stop the frame from opening BUT I don't like the way it hangs when not in use. It got really wet today and it's a pain having to bend down to the ground to do it up so it doesn't drag on the floor. One thing that for me would make life better would be to put a clip on the round end of post that the strap is attached to. The strap could then be pulled up and tucked behind the clip out of the way. Stops it hanging, getting dirty or wet and needn't necessarily be done up to stop it from dragging a lot of the time.

Cabriofix-tastic

I'd forgotten how useful the Cabriofix and isofix base were since we used them for DS1.
We've done several trips in the last couple of days where it's been invaluable and reminded me just how easy it is to use. I don't think I could do without a car seat like the Cabriofix as it's such a good car seat and when adding in the option of being able to use it with both the Moodd and many other pushchairs it's a real winner.

It's a godsend for nursery runs. Taking the car seat out takes one pull on the lever and the car seat is released. When I'm only taking it out for 5 mins in order to walk DS1 up the drive and into nursery it means there isn't any faffing around having to fiddle with straps or taking DS2 out of the seat.

Putting it on the Moodd frame is as easy as anything. The 2 adapters slot into their correct sides then the car seat slots onto the adapters. For short shopping trips when DS2 is already sound asleep it's great to be able to use the car seat. With the car seat on the frame the Moodd remains as light and as easy to push as with the main seat. The car seat is in a good position with baby facing parent and at a nice height so you don't have to bend over too far to reach them.

Video time

Thanks to my wonderful step father I now have the video edited up from when we put the Moodd together when it first arrived:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efhBrp-yu7Y&feature=youtu.be

A warning that it is a long video at over 12 minutes, but does cover all the stages of putting together the Moodd from taking it out of the box to testing it out.

If you're just interested in seeing what it's like once it's up then jump to around 9 minutes in where our eldest is giving it a test drive and we get to grips with how it works.

Helps if you look!

Finally found 2 minutes today to have a proper look at the baby nest and found the second set of strap guides that resolves all the problems we were having with positioning Ewan in the nest!
There are a second set of strap holes just under the head hugger which bring him up to the right level so his head just abouut sticks over the top when it's zipped up.

Makes far more sense now - one of those things that we missed it while trying to balance being new parents and juggle a toddler and sort out a new pram.

Time to bang my head against a brick wall!!!

More trips out

A couple trips out today. One to Mothercare to get a buggy board for the Moodd where we ended up having a chat about the Moodd as a pushchair with 4 members of staff including the manager. He was suitably impressed with the developments made over the Buzz having given it a quick push round the store.  It's certainly easier to get in and out of the car with the strap to hold it together.
We have had it in parent facing mode today which I like more with a newborn, though I'm still not that impressed with the fit in the baby nest. Ewans head doesn't sit in the headhugger properly so logic suggests that he needs to be moved up (which would solve the problem of the front covering him up) yet because of where the straps are located I can't yet see anyway to move him up without the straps having to go halfway up his back to go over the top of his shoulders which is not good.
One day when either hubby or I have time we'll investigate whether there are any options for strap positioning (don't remember there being any when we unpacked it) and baby position.


Our other trip was to pick up elder son from nursery which gave us a great opportunity to test it on our 'fun' road and across the grass in the park. It coped really well with the dodgy pavement. It's so bad as all the trees are quite old and the roots are so large they are pulling up the pavement next to them so you have to go up and over the roots, and it's generally very uneven. It's not necessarily a 100% 'smooth' ride but it moved easily at the different angles needed and didn't get caught once which was great.

The grass in the park was a different matter. It's not very long at the moment and was very muddy, but the going got a lot harder (as it would with most pushchairs). I haven't walked over ground like that with a pushchair for quite a while so can't easily compare it to anything so suffice to say it was tougher going and I did admit defeat and hand pushchair over to hubby to get it to where we needed. This isn't normal for me but I will give myself a break considering I haven't walked more than 100mtrs without crutches in nearly 4 months. As my muscle strength returns I'll look forward to making mincemeat of the park.

Special deliveries

What a week for deliveries.

I’ll spare you the details of the first part, but needless to say our second son Ewan was delivered safely at 7pm on Tuesday 17^th January, 2.5 weeks early. We were released on Wednesday at lunchtime and arrived home to find a massive Quinny box sitting in the dining room. J

2 deliveries in 2 days, was rather nice. I don’t think Ewan could wait to try out his new pushchair!!!

The box is certainly big. If you’re planning on walking out of a shop with one then it’s seriously worthwhile thinking about whether your boot is big enough as the box isn’t just wide, it’s very deep too. If you get a choice, get it delivered as that must be simpler and save some headaches of getting it into a car. At some point when we’ve got a chance we’ll get the box back down from the loft and try it in the boot of our car – I think it will go, but as it’s a big car I wouldn’t hold out much hope for many people unless you start putting seats down.

Opening the box is supposed to be like opening a gift. Nice theory but in reality it’s a box (especially when tired having recently given birth), it’s rather a pain to have to undo 4 sides and wiggle the top off. I can’t see that many pregnant women (most heavily??) fully appreciating the fiddle of having to wiggle the lid off.

Once the lid is off it was a case of wow. We’ve got the Blue Reliance and the colour immediately sprung out of the box to catch my eye. We got everything out and slowly hubby Andy put it together. – Summary video to follow when it’s been put together. It wasn’t too hard to complete, some of it is similar to the Buzz such as putting on the front wheel and shopping basket.  I think we had the whole thing up and ready for use within about 20 minutes.

First impressions after a visit out:

Looks wise I have compared it to the Buzz in the past and although it does clearly take inspiration from the design of the Buzz, the Moodd reinvents it and takes the style to the next level in class. The back wheels are particularly striking in matt and gloss black with lovely shaping.   The chassis is in principle like the Buzz but has slightly different proportions. Once moving it around, I immediately noticed that the handlebar doesn’t come up as high. It’s still more than enough for most people but I did like the tiny bit of extra height I got with the Buzz as it made pushing it with my wrist problems a little easier when they were going through a bad phase.

The seat is lovely to look at. Rather futuristic but practical. First son who’s a big 3 year old can still get in it (pic will follow another day) and do the straps up so it will take children of most sizes. Having the single hand recline function is lovely and much easier than the 2 handed approach needed with some (Buzz included).

Handling is brilliant. I seem to remember that it’s heavier than the Buzz in actual weight but it felt soooooo much lighter, it was an absolute dream to push around the shops. The easiest pushchair I’ve ever manoeuvred with one hand.

Baby Nest:

This is an interesting one and something that I did want to post about fairly quickly. Looking at it my first thought was that it looked fantastic. The colour highlight is beautiful and the button detail a nice touch. Open it up and there’s a young baby head support and another that pads out the bottom so it’s a snugger fit. A great bit of design work is that these are both zipped in so they aren’t going to go wandering yet can easily be removed as babe grows bigger. For use with the pushchair you do have to put the straps through so baby can be strapped in before it’s done up.

My bugbear with the nest is how it does up. Pull it shut and do the zip up fully and the head of your young baby is virtually completely covered. There isn’t any scope to adjust this as the straps holding the nest in position mean there isn’t any leeway to move baby up so they aren’t covered. I think this is a big flaw as I certainly don’t want my baby’s face covered, and if you don’t do it up completely and try to create an additional fold so it’s not covering their face; it does need regular checking to ensure that it hasn’t sprung back up over their face.

There is a simple solution to this and I hope Quinny do take this on board and make the adjustment in future production runs. It needs a second button further down. This would then allow it to be fixed into position (where I’d want it to end up is in the pic below) that is more appropriate for a younger baby.  At some point I will get my friend to try it with her 5 month old to check that this issue doesn’t exist with older babies.

Having said all this about the baby nest, if I was buying the Moodd I would buy the carrycot as well as I prefer young babies not to need to be held in by straps. That’s just my personal opinion and preference as if out for a long day I’d rather they were not restricted by straps in their pushchair/carrycot having been restricted when in the car seat to get to wherever we’re going.

I'm so far very impressed with the Moodd and looking forward to put it through it's paces in the coming weeks and months as we settle into our expanded family life.

More pics from our first trip out:

Nearly time for my Moodd to change!

Happy New Year!

It's the middle of January, the Yezz has hit the shops (comments I've seen so far seem positive) and the Moodd is starting it's way there now!
I've gone for the Blue Reflection which will hopefully arrive in this country next week so I'm still waiting for mine to arrive. Quite useful for me as still trying to sort some of the house out ready for the fun of having toys and gear around for 2 children rather than 1.

If you're itching for an advance look there's now an intro video that Quinny have posted on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll1eABAsL7g&list=UUq_TW6Qh7tciu1IuKLynsFQ&index=1&feature=plcp


I'm really looking forward to giving the Moodd a good workout once baba mc 2 arrives. My Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix is down from the loft and raring to go. It's such a bonus that it's a full travel system (if you have the extras) as I do love the flexibility travel systems offer. On the other hand I'm pretty sure we're not getting the carry cot to test as it's not part of the core Moodd package so it will be interesting to try it out without that option. This means I'll be relying on the layflat option of the seat and the baby nest which is provided with the UK version, and the car seat where it's potentially appropriate or necessary to use it.

At the other end of the scale, my 3 yr old still wants and needs to use a pushchair at times - the way he ran off in a shop today strongly reminded me that he's not ready to be a dutiful walk by my side son yet!!! :-)  He is currently around 17kg so above the weight 'limit' set on the Moodd (yet under that of the Buzz). It's becoming rather a bugbear of mine that so many pushchairs are not being tested and approved to higher weight limits and it's disappointing that Quinny have decided not to get the validation up to the higher weight to match the Buzz. If I was choosing a pushchair it would be one thing that would push me towards the Buzz rather than the Moodd.

Having seen the Moodd in the video it does remind me more and more of an upmarket Buzz, and having owned a Buzz in the past it will be interesting to compare the two, along with the comparisons I'm sure I'll end up making with the Phil and Teds Verve that we got for our double pushchair, and the Baby Jogger City Mini that we've had for a couple of years.