Travel

Most Liked Positive Review

A mommy on the go with 4 children friendly product

This system is awsome, it features two good sized cupholders on the railing that arnt covered by a conpartment there deep enough so the drinks dont spill. There is a nice sized closeable. Read complete review

Most Liked Negative Review

Great Carseat, Bulky Stroller

The Graco Travel System was a gift item my husband and I had registered for when we were expecting our first child. My sister owned one and I knew they were safe and. Read complete review

The Graco Travel System was a gift item my husband and I had registered for when we were expecting our first child. My sister owned one and I knew they were safe and reliable. Also, I loved the pattern we found - adorable for use with either a boy or a girl! However, had it not been a gift, I'm not sure we would have been able to afford the travel system, as it is rather pricey (for us, anyway!).

The infant carseat/carrier is wonderful! With the carseat base, it is easy to remove the carseat from the car - taking all of about ten seconds to get her in and out of the car (if she is already buckled in). Typically we kept the carseat in the house, buckled her in before we walked out the door then snapped her right in place before heading out. If she fell asleep in the car, we could snap the carseat out, carry her into the house and leave her in the carrier (with our supervision, of course) until she awoke on her own - sometimes a half hour later! Also, my parents have an extra carseat base (found at a thrift store, but also available for purchase at various on-line retailers), so we knew they could safely carry her around if necessary.

In addition, the clips that hold the seat into place also make it a cinch to use this carseat in shopping carts without the fear of it slipping off the front of the cart, it just snaps onto the seat rails.

The canopy on the seat is extremely useful for keeping the sun out of baby's eyes while we travel. Altogether, the carseat is wonderful. She is seven months old now and we're still using it (although it stays in the car these days, as she prefers to be carried).

The stroller, however, is another story. There is nothing wrong with using it at all - it has a nice sized storage basket, the carseat snaps into place quite nicely when baby is still too small to sit in the stroller seat. Once baby is big enough, the harness is easy to use, the tray folds up and down easily and baby is quite comfortable.

The problem lies in the fact that my husband and I only own one car - a compact car (Chevy Cavalier) which, while not having an extremely small trunk, does not have enough trunk space to transport this bulky stroller. Thus, we have used it all of twice. Once we were able to use my Sister-in-Law's jeep so we could take it with us to an amusement park (and it worked great there!). Besides that, we can only use it for strolls around the neighborhood (again, it works fine for those jaunts, also). Other than that, we've had to purchase an umbrella stroller to carry in the car - somewhat disappointing when we have to leave the Rolls Royce stroller at home.

The only other downside to the stroller is that it is not quite a one-handed job unfolding the stroller - not something that can be done while holding a baby, that's for sure. And it can be a bit heavy when folded up.

To summarize the stroller, I think it would be WONDERFUL if we had a car large enough to transport it. So if you're driving a minivan or an SUV, this would a great travel system to own. If not, I believe Graco sells the snugride carseats by themselves, so it might be best to purchase the carseat and then a separate, more lightweight and less bulky stroller separately.