In today’s post I wanted to talk about our 2018 Nuna travel system and a bit about why I chose it and my thoughts on it after using it for almost a year now. I know that this particular brand requires a little investment and while I did quite a bit of research on Youtube about this, I didn’t really see any blog posts explaining more into detail.
So whether you’re just curious or seriously considering this for your new baby I hope you find it useful! First I’d like to share some of the basics, the good old facts, and features about it…
Nuna Pipa Car Seat Features
- lightweight; car seat weighs 7.9lbs (average weight is 10-20lbs)
- car seat base weighs 13.8lbs
- car seat dimensions 26.1″ x 17.5″ x 25.2″
- the car seat is airline certified
- made of naturally flame retardant fabric (aka not chemically treated)
- machine washable (I always wash cold and let it air dry)
- breathable canopy drape to help keep out sun and rain
- fits babies 4-32lbs; up to 32″
- 3 harness height positions
- 2 crotch strap positions
- this particular one can be installed without the base (in case you ever forget it or if you are traveling)
- base offers lower latch installation or seatbelt installation (it is not recommended to do both at the same time)
- adjustable load leg; here is a video I found on how much of a difference the load leg makes in case of an accident
Nuna Mixx2 Stroller Features
- 6 months to 50 lb.; accommodates babies from birth with Pipa Infant Car Seat
- stroller weighs 24.9 lb.
- stroller dimensions: 43.5″ x 23.2″ x 33.7″ unfolded; 18.6″ x 23.2″ x 35.5″ folded.
- can fold down no matter what way the seat is facing
- adapters to Nuna Pipa car seat are included
- rear-wheel suspension
- foam-filled rear tires
- five-position recline function with True Flat reclining seat
- lockable
front-swivel wheels with front - Three- or five-point
antiloop , no rethread harness featuring quick-click release button - One-touch rear-wheel braking system
This was the first thing that I genuinely started shopping for after I found out I was pregnant.
I’ll be honest the first thing that attracted me to this car seat was the look of it. It looked sleek, black and gray (my two favorite colors), and simple. It showed the car seat base with a load leg – something I had no clue even existed because I had never shopped or looked at car seats before.
A huge part in my decision of choosing an infant car seat over a convertible was the ease of portability. The Nuna Pipa is compatible with other strollers with help from their stroller adapters but we do currently own the Nuna Mixx2.
It was very important to me – especially as a new mom – that I would not have to stress about little things. I like to think I can handle my stress well, but I know that if there’s too much, the straw will break the camel’s back. And I truly did not want to be the sleep-deprived mother with the crying baby in the car seat, struggling to open a big clunky stroller with one hand and carrying a huge, heavy diaper bag off her other arm. It’s a picture I envisioned of myself very early on in my pregnancy and wanted to avoid at all costs. So when I first considered a complete travel system…
I wanted to know that:
- I wasn’t going to struggle to open the stroller.
- I wanted the stroller to be compact, I did not want to push a stroller the size of Texas… I see you moms out there with the double strollers! They are just not my cup of tea, I don’t care if I end up having two under two, Lily will have to suck it up and walk.
- Storage actually wasn’t the biggest thing on my mind before I purchased it, but later on, realized its importance.
- And I wanted to have a rear-facing or switchable stroller seat so my baby could be facing me.
We used this car seat for 8 months, though Lily – even as an all around 90th percentile baby – still fit into it when we decided to switch her to the next car seat up – the Nuna Rava, which also fits newborns as it is their convertible car seat. We made that choice to give her more room for comfort and because she was really unhappy laying back in her car seat and the Rava has 3 rear-facing recline positions… And we can talk about that one in another blog post.
The better money investment would definitely have been to purchase the Rava instead of the Pipa but I don’t regret the purchase one bit. On several occasions, I was able to move Lily around without waking her. I could even rock her in the car seat to help her nap!
I also loved the canopy drape. It saved her little eyes every time we went out during the summer time. But even without the canopy drape in use, I felt like the hood provided more shade than any other typical car seat would have.
Washing and removing the fabric on the car seat was super easy! It cleaned nicely too. I always washed cold and let it air dry overnight. Nothing ever felt crunchy or curled up around the edges, heck the safety and warning labels didn’t even crack!
We almost took a flight for our trip to Idaho, so I didn’t ever end up taking it through the airport or anything but it was nice knowing that I could. I did, however, on a couple of occasions, take advantage of the seatbelt installation, which made it that much easier for me when in another family member’s car. But I LOVED how easy it was to just click her car seat into the base. And installation of the actual base was also super easy.
I can’t tell you how many times Mark and I went to Nordstrom to look at
I remember we had stopped in at BabysRus and we were looking at another stroller system and I struggled with unclipping the car seat from the base. My husband gave it a try too – we were both confused and annoyed. We’re not entirely sure if it was just a faulty base or because it was just a display but we took it as a sign that it just wasn’t what we wanted.
Similarly, after a few runs with the stroller, my mechanic husband was super happy about the wheels on the Mixx2. Just as he hates when shopping carts have that stupid squeaky wheel that just gets caught or doesn’t want to turn in the direction you need it to – we have NO problems with the stroller. It is smooth as butter, you can easily turn it with one hand, it turns in the direction you need it to and the suspension is super nice!
We even took it camping with us, (we were able to remove the storage basket underneath as to not get it too dirty), Lily fell asleep easily and quickly in it! This was back when Lily was about 2.5 months old, so she was still in the car seat at the time.
Now that she’s gotten a little older, Mark and I on occasion have successfully strolled her to sleep! I love that the stroller lays all the way back, and it must be comfortable because Mark and I have pushed her around the mall for almost two hours as to not wake her from her nap.
I also wanted to mention that I easily fit plenty of groceries in the storage basket! (I did opt for a backpack diaper bag so that definitely gave me more room – you can see my most recent what’s in my diaper bag post here.) My husband actually took Lily and the stroller for a quick shopping trip for kitty litter and he easily fit two 20lb jugs. That’s 40lbs! He didn’t think about it until after he got home that it could’ve dented or popped some screws out or something with all the weight but the truth is – it made no difference, the basket wasn’t even out of shape!
I can’t speak on how it would do if it had been a longer shopping trip or an all-day event but if you’re consistently carrying an extra 40lbs, you might want to consider minimizing your diaper bag…
Now, besides cost, I don’t have very many cons to the car seat…
But I do want to say with full disclosure, that the canopy drape while one of my absolute favorite things about the car seat… It is also what I think Nuna can improve on.
The drape itself was prefectly fine, it covered and shaded my baby while allowing air to flow through during the hot summer days. But the magnetic closure wasn’t the best… I stretched that thing out as far as I could to try to get it to stick better and it just wouldn’t sometimes. It wasn’t really a problem for me until Lily got older and she started to kick.
However, two things I figured out later on… 1) Make sure that the zipper on the hood is opened all the way, this was by far the easiest mistake I caught myself doing. And 2) if you pull on the back of the hood away from the car seat, it velcros. You can adjust the hood to velcro up more so that the canopy drape doesn’t have to stretch as far to reach the magnets… That usually fixed any issues I had.
I can understand why Nuna wanted to use magnets because they are very quiet… And I’m sure every parent appreciates that with a sleeping baby. But I also feel that maybe an open hook of some sort would’ve worked better?
As for the stroller…
I hate piling. The fabric on the stroller is not my favorite. I’ll admit it is an easy fix though! This, I actually haven’t tried to wash yet, I’ve only spot cleaned so I can’t say much about that…
I also don’t like the straps. They feel cheap in my opinion, thin… I do have the padded cushions for them which I use but I find them annoying and unflattering. I also found that the straps would only adjust so much. I had to rig a tighter fit around Lily. She is ten months old, 20lbs and even at the smallest adjustment the straps are still loose.
And my last con is the bottom of the stroller seat. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I feel like Lily doesn’t have very much butt room… If that’s a thing? The seating space just doesn’t seem very big front to back if you can understand what I’m trying to say. Not sure how comfortable that’ll be when she gets a little bigger but I suppose we’ll see…
My final thoughts…
As you can probably tell, I love the car seat! I would most likely purchase it again if we had another baby. And I also love the car seat and the stroller together! They work wondefully and very smooth. However, I do feel that the stroller itself has a few things they could work on… They did just come out with the Nuna Demi Grow stroller, which is also their first double stroller (with separate attachments) and for that reason, they are not the exact same setup. Though, I do know that they have a removable back to the stroller, and it makes me wonder if the new Mixx2‘s and Pipa car seats will come with newer/updated features rather than just updated physical appearances.
Would I purchase the stroller again? To be honest I’m not sure. This is what I was constantly trying to find a less expensive alternative for… During my research, I found some moms used universal car seat carriers such as this one to stroll around the car seat. I actually got it as a gift for my baby shower, but I couldn’t figure out how to attach the car seat securely enough for my liking. It’s worth a try if you like the car seat as much as I do – you can always return the car seat carrier if it doesn’t work out!
You can also always consider purchasing second-hand. I personally don’t recommend getting a car seat second-hand unless you know and can trust the person you’re getting it from but it is possible to find the stroller in good condition!
These were the other two options I had for myself in comparison to the Nuna travel system:
- Evenflo Pivot Modular Travel System – I actually kind of liked this one! It had a very similar appearance to the Nuna travel system. I wanted to take a closer look at it at BuyBuy Baby but the wheels were what turned my husband off. And after looking at several reviews, it appeared that they did cause some trouble for some parents… However, it’s 2019 now and the newer ones might not have this issue so don’t let that hold you back from checking this out!
- Maxi Cosi Adorra Travel System – This was a more serious contender until I saw it in person, I personally did not like the fabric and I found that it would twist in certain parts where I felt it should have been sewn. Definitely take a look though, there was not much else that I found that I didn’t like and it seemed to be a happy medium price-wise. Nonetheless, I figured if I was spending that much already, I figured I’d go for the one I really wanted.
We did compare the Nuna to the Uppababy and I just did not care for the silver… It was a nice stroller and I did consider getting a double stroller but as I said before, I just don’t see myself pushing one of those…
So I think that you should definitely do your research on what you’re looking for in a travel system. Shop around, get a feel for them in person – make sure the car seat fits in your car (especially if you’re having multiples) and don’t feel the pressure to buy the entire travel system just yet! Often times you can get away with just purchasing a car seat alone for the first few months of your little one’s life.
Anyways, I hope this helped you make a more informed decision! If you have any questions whatsoever feel free to either drop them down below in the comments or send me a message! I’d be happy to answer.
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