KeyFit 22

I didn't take mine to Japan, but I found the Chicco Bravo set was the best for travel when they are that little. The carseat clicks into the stroller. It doesn't really help with your storage issue, but it is airplane compliant. I would ask the hotel if they could help with storing it as you go. I never used it, but there is an app called "ecbo cloak" that looked like it showed storage options around Japan. That may give you some other ideas around where you're staying and that might be able to accommodate your 30 day time frame.

Somebody bought it for us, but the Chicco Bravo 3 in 1 travel system works well for us. Once we got the hang of it, its very easy to use. It is pretty heavy duty and should last us several years. Car seat clicks in/out of car and then clicks into the stroller. I feel confident in our LO being in it. It is pricey seeing it online ($449 US) but I think it was on sale when they bought it for us, maybe it was around $300? Today there are carseat-stroller combos that go for almost a grand. People had recommended the Cicco Bravo to us. Baby likes being in the car seat, which is a plus.

1. You’re right graco wheels aren’t very good for the snow. I wouldn’t shop a travel system bundle but I’d buy an infant seat then get an adapter to use it with the stroller. The top ones recommended by CPSTs are the clek liing, Chico keyfit and graco snugride. Once baby outgrows the infant seat I’d shop for a rearfacing convertible seat, at that point you’ll have a better idea of how big or tall your child is on the growth chart so it’ll be easier to pick a seat. You want baby to stay rear facing as long as possible. It’s safest for them. 2. Can’t speak to uppababy or nuna strollers but I will say do not get the uppababy messa car seat. It’s not recommended since baby tends to outgrow it by the 1” rule very fast and it can be tricky to install it. 3. I LOVE infant seats. They’re soo convenient going in and out of stores quickly. We used it at a hotel with underground parking as well and I found it convenient clicking baby in and out of the car. In the winter just toss a car seat cover outdoors and you’re good to go. 4. I can’t speak to those. I love the clek liing and bumbleride era combination. I rave about the bumbleride. Its wheels are air filled, has a full suspension and is a beast in the snow, slush, mud, gravel and grass. I do recommend buying a good stroller second hand used versus buying a brand new cheap stroller. Once you pick a stroller you can search for adapters or vice versa. Clek has a list of compatible strollers on their website. For reference it’s not uncommon for people to use the liing beyond 12-14 months before baby outgrows it. It does get a bit heavier but nothing stops you from just leaving it in the car at that point before switching to a rearfacing convertible. 5. Some strollers lay flat completely and are safe to use with newborns so you could skip the bassinet but it’s lifestyle dependent.

I would skip the travel system. Buy a car seat and a stroller that you like. A lot of brands have adaptors to fit whatever car seat you want (I think Chicco is the exception here - they don’t have adaptors for their strollers). We got a Chicco bravo/keyfit travel system with my oldest. He HATED that seat and we switched him to a convertible seat by 5 months. We reused it for my second and she ALSO hated it. I got a nicer Graco seat for her and it changed everything. We also weren’t huge fans of the Chicco stroller but it folded easily and was one of the few at the time that had an adjustable handle height. We ditched that stroller for a nicer one (mockingbird) with #2 (I suggest starting with a single to double stroller if you want to have more kids in the future) and the nicer stroller had a universal car seat adaptor, but we only took her in the stroller in the car seat a few times. I primarily babywore whenever we went shopping and the stroller is just for walks. You can skip the bucket seat all together if you want and go straight to a rotating seat (we have the Chicco fit360 and love it), the bucket seat is just convenient for taking into the doctors office or wherever when they’re super fresh or getting them buckled in inside in the winter/summer.

Eh my kids never slept through taking the bucket seat out of the car so that wasn’t really a concern of mine when swapping to a convertible seat. The bucket seats are just convenient because in those super early days you want to be able to set baby down somewhere (outside of the house) easily to fill out forms or do shopping but you don’t want to set your newborn on the ground in the doctor’s office, so having the bucket seat is really nice. My kids just hated the *chicco* bucket, my daughter loved her Graco one. The chicco one always had her chin on her chest even when the bubble level said it was in properly and I think she just couldn’t breathe well. It may have been that way for my oldest too but we were inexperienced and didn’t know better. For the stroller, I just suggest building your own travel system instead of buying one already paired up. Travel sets force you into buying a car seat you don’t like because you want the stroller or a stroller that’s mid because you like the car seat. But so many brands of strollers have adaptors to work with other brands of car seats so you don’t have to compromise on either. I only mentioned Chicco because they’re the only brand I know of that doesn’t have adaptors for other brands (Graco is usually their main competition but I think even Graco has adaptors for some brands)

Idk the age of your other two but I would skip a travel system and make your own. We got a travel system with our first (Chicco bravo/keyfit) and it was mid at best. Both kids hated the car seat. Stroller worked but that’s about the best I could say about it. Replaced the car seat with a Graco one when my second was about a month or two old and it made oodles of difference. Nicer seat, she was crying less, had more convenient features, and worked exactly the same with our upgraded stroller (ditched the bravo for a mockingbird since we needed to seat two).

Not all carseats fit your car. We have smaller vehicles so we needed a compact bucketseat that was compatible. Most strollers will have adapters so you dont have to stick with the same brand across the board. We have a Chicco keyfit infant bucket seat and a Uppababy stroller. We liked the UB strollers and got the bassinet that you can swap the seat with when they're small. Most strollers require babies to have some kind of head control before you can use them in a more upright position but the UB reclined back and paired with their infant insert made it usable from day 1 if we wanted. But as we do a ton of walking, we have the bassinet that clicks in and is also safe sleep rated. So she sleeps there at night as well at our bedside. Eventually I will probably get a smaller travel stroller to keep in my car but our OB Cruz2 is perfect for our neighbourhood and the long walks we do from home. It mostly fits into my trunk so I can take it places but it does take up room.

We went with Chico bravo stroller and car seat system and been liking it so far. We live in an urban/suburban area. It is pretty heavy, but folds up/unfolds quick and easy. I like how sturdy both the car seat and stroller are though. Not great for “off road” purposes which we discovered at an Apple orchard last weekend 😂 but I’m not sure there would be a stroller that would be good on unpaved surfaces. If I’m wrong let me know!

Car seats have 10 year expiration dates. The plastic goes through extreme temperature fluctuations being strapped in your car continuously for years. All of them have to meet crash test safety minimum specs. At a certain price point like Chicco and Grayco, you’re paying for your kid’s comfort above the bare bones models. At another higher price point, you’re paying for the branding, at another point, you’re paying for parent conveniences. I liked my Chicco infant bucket seat and then convertible seat. Graco has higher rear facing limits but feels to be less padded seats. Strollers, I prioritized large, thick wheels for being able to better handle gravel and grass. If you think you’ll go for a small age gap (shoutout 2under2), I really recommend getting a stroller capable of converting from a single to double stroller. I liked my Chicco stroller and the great storage in it… until we bought an old (i mean the OG 2010-2014 model old) uppababy stroller secondhand for cheap. It’s so freaking well built! I wouldn’t personally spend $1200 on a stroller as it doesn’t have that much value * to me *, but if you can get an old one secondhand, it’s sure worth a couple hundred more than a new, cheap one. I have a Larktale wagon, and I like it, but the thing is a behemoth and feels a bit oversized for festivals and neighborhood walks tbh. Great for the zoo though! Up to you how bougie you want to go on crib mattress. We got rid of the crib early and opted for larger beds with adult sized weight limits so we can snuggle the kids to sleep, so I’m glad we just got a Serra or something from Target. Do definitely buy a few sets of sheets and mattress protectors and do lasagna bedding. High chair, I got an infection seat with the storable tray that you strap in a normal chair for $20 on fb marketplace. Ditto a fisher price bouncer $20 on fb instead of $80 new, but this thing was worth its weight in not just gold, but in platinum. Best thing in the whole world according to both my babies. Tbh get most non-car seat, non-teething baby stuff used if you can. Most of it barely gets used before the kid outgrows it. And babies are little people who might hate the thing, and you’ll be glad you didn’t spend high dollar just to be the one to sell it lightly used on fb marketplace to get rid of it.