Baby Product Review: Mountain Buggy Nano

As many mothers may know, preparing for the arrival of a baby is pretty overwhelming. There's a million different things you need for your newest family member: crib, bedding, clothes, bottles, toys, nappies, bath supplies, carseats, strollers... the list goes on! And what brand to choose? What size?? How many??? Cue panic attack. 

I won't bore you with my pathetically hormonal story of how I ticked things off our baby wishlist, but stroller-wise we eventually ended up going for the Bugaboo Donkey for its smooth push, its quality and sturdy construction, its 2-child capability and its chic colour-choices (we went for the off-white hood and sand base). 

3 different seat-positions (including bassinet)

Maui sitting in the side basket after we found a stray fellow during our walk that I leashed

However three of the major downsides are the price, the width and it's overall folded-up size. For those reasons, we felt it unpractical to take with us on holidays - we didn't want to risk any damage to it and we also didn't think it very practical for navigating cities with dense populations eg. Seoul, Korea. I can imagine we'd clip more than just a few knees with our wider-than-normal Donkey. Eek. 

Taking up a lot of room in the boot

So I wanted a second stroller. A zippy, compact, convenient little thing that would be handy for  holidays but also those short-ish trips that I can't be bothered lugging around my Bugaboo for, but still need the Master strapped in so I can navigate a store without having him yank everything off the shelves or not fear him running off across the carpark. 

So after doing a bit of research, I came across the Quinny Yezz at Baby City (not available online). $400 makes it a very pricey travel stroller, but I was fond of how incredibly light it was and how pretty the colour choices were. What I didn't like was that you had to buy a separate carry bag for it, it didn't recline, it had just one small back pocket for storage (that only took 2.5kg) and the folding/unfolding of it was difficult.

Dimples

BUT THEN!!

Baby City brought in the Mountain Buggy Nano. Oh baby. ::clouds part, hallelujah chorus::

Mountain Buggy

For the same price, the Nano has a basket underneath that can take 5kg, it folds into a smaller size, comes with a carry bag, has the capacity for a baby capsule and the folding/unfolding is easy as pie.

Granted, the colour choices weren't as inspired, but I was happy to sacrifice that minor factor for a bazillion better features.

The stroller is black all over and the colour choices are only reflected in the sun shade - black, blue or red. I chose red.

It's only slightly heavier than the Yezz - at 5.9kg it's about the same weight as the Faux Dog, Maui.

In my opinion, the two best features would have to be it's compact size when it's completely folded up and it's easy unfolding magical qualities.

The stroller folds at 3 points into roughly a third of its length when it's compacted down - you press two buttons on the inside of the frame by the hood till it folds down completely and you hear the latch click. It's up to you whether you just carry it by the handles or sling it over your shoulders with the handy long shoulder strap (or cart it around in the carry bag that it comes with).

In various states

Fits in-between seats; fits in the boot with ample room for other things

Just look at how the Nano compares to the Donkey in the boot!

When we took it on holiday recently, it didn't fit in the overhead compartment of our tiny propeller plane so we had to put it sort of under the seat in front of us but I assume it'll fit in the larger overhead compartments of a regular plane - I've yet to see! But it was so handy to arrive at our destination and be able to throw our stroller into any car and just go. My in-laws had no problems using it for walks around the block and I used it to wheel him around town. It was fuss-free and ridiculously easy.

Our carry-on luggage: Nano for the hubs, Marc Jacobs baby bag for me, LittleLife Toddler Daysack for the Master

Now the magical unfolding process... for a bit of context, when I'm unloading the Bugaboo, I need to take out the heavy metal frame first, set that up, click on the seat, then click on the basket. With the Mountain Buggy I unclip the latch, hold the handle bar and fling it out. Out it pops. MAGIC!!

It's definitely come in handy even for use around our home town. If I'm running errands on a rainy day, it's nice to know I don't have to be getting drenched in the rain trying to assemble the Donkey; I just jump out of the car, fling the Nano open, pop the baby in and run into wherever I'm going. Or on slightly more adventurous outings where there are narrow walkways, it's nice to have a tiny little stroller that can sliver past big kids without having to squish them up against a wall. Or beep and scream, "WIDE LOAD!" when I'm reversing. 

Hello pukeko! Nano in action at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve (you probably can't tell from the angle but the Boss has his feet up)

Hello duckies! Nano in action at the Botanical Gardens - that's a loaf of bread resting on the hood haha (along with a polaroid camera)

Couple of other features: the front wheels can lock so they don't swivel - I'm not sure when you would ever want this but there you have it. Also, the foot-rest-y-bit can either be level with where bub's bottom rests (so he can cruise with his feet up like in the Willowbank photo, two photos above), or you can click it downwards and have his feet dangle. I like having it up when he's reclining to drink his milk :) 

Oh and here's another nifty bonus: it can take a baby capsule! I kid you not! Haha punny. Though it's unnecessary for such a big kid like ours, it's pretty cool knowing that one day for baby no.2 that this is an option. 

Clipped on with a buckled strap and two elastic ties around the capsule handle (thing with the red ends)

And for some added storage, I stuck on our SkipHop Stroller Organizer - it takes two bottles/cups/Starbucks (your call), has a spacious middle compartment that can hold frozen yoghurt no probs and that zippered compartment at the front zips off so you've got an itty bitty clutch. And in the corner of that itty bitty clutch is the tiny SkipHop asterisk logo made of rubber that expands to allow headphones to peek out - yet to be utilised by myself since I feel it's too dangerous to walk around our block without being able to hear cars zooming out of their driveways. 

Handy dandy SkipHop Stroller Organiser

In conclusion, it's a fantastic zippy little stroller. At times when I've forgotten to pack the Donkey, I'm extremely glad to have the Nano that pretty much permanently resides in my car. It's fuss-free and so compact, I forget it's there. I look forward to taking it overseas and see how it performs on a long holiday. Hope this was helpful blabbering :)

A.V