Maxi-Cosi - Zelia² Luxe 5-in-1 Modular Travel System

Yes, the stroller marker it insanely overwhelming. I had no idea how complicated it all was before I got pregnant! We went to west coast kids to check some out in person and left empty handed, feeling extremely overwhelmed. In the end we decided on a travel system - we bought the maxi cosi “new generation Zelia”

Maxi cosi zelia - the newest version is amazing! Mixed reviews are from the old version.

We love it! They redesigned it as of February and made the shock better and wheels bigger. It’s the only stroller we have and I’m not sure we’ll even end up getting a non-travel system since this has everything we need!

We did go into a store to look at them but besides attempting to fold one up, we never bothered lifting any of the components. I ended up getting the Maxi Cosi Zelia 5-in-1 car seat and stroller and while it did the job, that freaking thing was HEAVY. Especially the car seat. Lugging that into the store for a quick run, or even to/from a restaurant for ex, was a pain in the ass. And the sun protection cover extended right under the handle (flush) so if it was up all the way, which it often was, it made carrying more of a pain. In a perfect world I probably would have sprung for an all terrain type so I could have gone for walks in the winter or even on gravel with ease.

I have the maxi-cosi luxe and have been using for three months now. We use it all the time. The bassinet is fantastic for taking the little one out and about and having him sleep in it. The bucket car seat fits in my mid-size SUV and keeps him comfortable. The stroller seems to hold up well folding and putting in the trunk of my car.

I'm not a fan of the Maxi Cosi. The car seat it comes with is big. The stroller itself is annoying to flip from back facing to front facing mode. It doesn't handle very well when the wheels are wet.

I went to West coast kids, they had the largest selection, so we could actually try things out that were in our price point. I feel like we should have gone for a slightly more expensive one that can transition to 2 babies as we will likely have a second child quite quickly. Overall I am happy with the stroller we got though! The staff was super helpful in directing us to strollers in our price range that were suitable for our intended walks. I live in a small town, with paved and gravel roads. We ended up with the maxi-cosi zelia 5in1 travel system. The infant car seat was easy to install in the car, and the bassinet converts into a toddler seat, so there are only 2 attachments which I like! Both the car seat and the bassinet/toddler seat can be forward or rear facing. The storage basket is large as well.

Maxicosi Zelia Luxe!! It has everything you could need and for the long haul. It includes an infant seat for taking baby to and from the car easily and into the stroller. Bassinet mode and turns into a regular seat for when baby is older. It comes with the adapters needed.

We have the Zelia luxe system and love it (our baby is 3 weeks old). Very easy to set up and fits great in our trunk (we have an HRV so not huge but not tiny). The car seat is a little big but still fits totally fine in our car and will likely last our LO longer than some of the more compact seats anyways so for us was worth it!

If you decide to go the full crib route, definitely consider Ikea Sniglar. Very sturdy, minimalistic, excellent materials/no toxic paint and the cheapest crib you will likely find from a reputable source. Unfortunately it doesn’t have storage but you’ll save so much money you invest in something like a dresser instead possibly. We lowered the crib recently and it also converts to a toddler bed. In terms of Canadian brands, r/buycanadian has some good previous posts! Dorel is a Canadian company which owns Maxi Cosi, Safety First and Cosco. Could consider their stroller/car seat? I personally have maxi cosi Zelia and the Mico seat but I’m not super fond of the stroller - it takes some getting used to and needs two hands to collapse and is bulky.

One thing I would say is you may hear a lot of hype about the vista, but we really disliked it and ended up selling it on, it was a huge waste of money. Its heavy and incredibly bulky, and very unpleasant to use as a double, especially with a toddler and a baby. We do a lot of walking and it was honestly the absolute worst to try to walk with especially on even a slight hill with 2 kids. Its all style no substance. If budget is unlimited you might actually want to have different prams for different uses. WE had the maxi cosi zelia for our first but again found that bulky. We bought a redsbaby skip for travel and ended up loving it so much it became our daily use pram. So light and compact and easy to get around with. For a double after we ditched the vista we got the valco baby slim twin which is much lighter than the vista and only like 2cm wider so actually way easier to manouvre. It also folds up really small in a car boot which becomes important when you have multiple kids and need to drive more things around. The kids also love being able to see each other and hold hands. These two prams combined cost way less than the vista but were much more practical.

I went with the maxicosi zelia ( which includes the car seat ) as well as the bassinet which adjusts to a toddler seat. It has great storage, the seat / bassinet adjusts to face parent or outside. I believe it also came with a rain cover as well. I didn't use it for daily walks in the winter/snow however the times it was used, I had no complaints with how it navigated.