Clek - Liing

Someone gave a great advice once on this sub. Start with the car seat you want and then work your way to compatible strollers. This helps you pick the right travel system (same ecosystem == fewer adapters). We narrowed down to Clek liing (bonus points for made in Canada and being the safest seat in the market) and Uppababy Mesa Max but decided to go with Clek because Mesa Max doesn’t seem to have great reviews, especially the chin-to-chest problems people had. For Stroller, going with Uppababy Cruz V2. Wish Mexa Max had worked so we didn’t need any adapters for stroller

We're going with the Clek Liing for the car seat (it has a load leg which is a must for us, clean fabric material (flame-retardant free, green guard certified etc.) and it's made in Canada. There's also an option to get it with merino wool fabric. It meets and exceeds the safety requirements. From research it should be on sale for Black Friday and Boxing Day (around 20%off). For a stroller, we're leaning towards the Bumbleride Era or Indie. They're an eco-conscious company that uses OEKO-TEX certified fabrics, free of PFAS, flame retardants etc. It has an all-wheel suspension and air-filled tires which is great for city and trail walking plus it'll also make it easier to maneuver through slush and snow. I think the best way for you to pick one is to figure out your use cases (i.e city side-walk walking etc.) and go from there. For me safety and fabric material is very important and we're willing to spend extra for that. While yes all car seats meet the minimum safety standards, not all are made the same and some do exceed it as well. Another thing is to keep in mind your cargo space for the stroller some can be very bulky when folded down.

We loved the Cruz V2! We used it with the Clek Liing car seat and it worked out great. We just had to buy the separate adapters but chose it over the Mesa because I kept reading that seat gets outgrown early. I also just got a cheap Uppababy bassinet off marketplace and we mainly used that for the newborn period. The car seat compatibility and ability to transfer baby to stroller sounds great until you have a baby that never sleeps in the car anyways 🙃 So we ended up using the bassinet quite a bit in the beginning as it was more comfortable for baby than the car seat. We did travel with it quite a bit and it was never an issue for airlines or anything :)

I live downtown and have the a Uppababy Cruz as well and I definitely recommend it. It’s easy to fold, navigates the streets well and I’ve never had issues getting into stores. The only thing I haven’t done with it is take it on the street car (pre-baby I took the streetcar daily, now I always either walk or drive). Two considerations for you… Bassinet - I purchased the Uppababy bassinet separately because it doesn’t come included with the Cruz and my baby ended up hating the bassinet. We ended up purchasing the Uppababy infant snug seat which you can put in the stroller seat (fully reclined) and my baby preferred that SO much more. So you could look into doing that as well which would save you a little $. Car seat - we tested the Uppababy Mesa car seat in our car and it didn’t fit well. I also heard most babies outgrow it by height earlier than other seats. We ended up getting the Clek Liing car seat with adapters so it can still click onto the stroller easily. I would recommend you to go SnuggleBugz or West Coast Kids and test the car seats in your car to see what fits best. Hope this helps!

We got the bugaboo dragonfly with the clek liing car seat- lightweight, small and folds with the bassinet attached. Car seat is very safe, fits into my small car and lightweight.

We have the same combo - Clek Liing and Bumbleride Indie. We love how easy and compact the Clek is in our car, and wanted an all-terrain stroller with a bassinet option as we walk a lot and live in a rural area with lots of gravel and dirt paths. The Indie glides over roots and rocks amazingly smoothly and is easy to swap between the bassinet and car seat. I will note that the Indie is pretty big when folded (as I imagine all all-terrain strollers are). It fits fine in our Outback trunk but the Era might be better for a smaller vehicle.

Buy the car seat that gives you the safest install with your vehicle. Then look at compatible strollers. As others mentioned, the CPST Seats for Kids group is great. I did not get the seat that matched my stroller (UB Mesa with the Vista) because I wasn’t convinced it was a great seat for the price and my research determined it was a bad fit for my small vehicle. I ended up with the Clek Liing, which had added safety features, fit well in my car, and bonus was made in Canada.

My baby hates the mesa too but loves the Clek Liing. We got the adapters for our vista. To answer OP, we got the vista as our main stroller and the mountain buggy as our travel stroller. The liing and the vista both fit super easily in our Tesla which isnt huge inside (model 3) - we looove both.

The uppababy car seats notoriously are hard to install at the correct angle. The CPST we saw said she hates installing/ checking them. We have a Clek liing, is it better than other cheaper car seats? Probably not. We liked the fact it was a Canadian company and had the load leg so that’s why we went with it. Nurtured in Halifax is where we ordered our car seat and stroller (Uppababy Vista V3) from. Definitely worth a trip to the store to test things out. It’s about a 4.5 hour drive for me but it was worth it.

I didn’t have much problem with one set of car seats between two cars. The manufacturer dictates a lot of how annoying it is to get in and out. The Clek Liing took me about 5-10 minutes to transfer between cars, but the Foonf was big and unwieldy and took way longer. I ended up getting the Nuna Rava, which is still pretty big but is a 15 minute job. Most of the time is spent mounting the mirrors and not the seats. Personally, having four seats would have been a bigger PITA for us. I like having one car with nothing in the back for when I need to fold the seats down to haul stuff.

Clek liing in mammoth, bugaboo fox 5, nuna Unsure if they swapped pfas for pfcs or something similar but happy with our fox5, clek liing. Our nuna is just the pack and play

Many people buy a infant seat then buy a convertible ehrn they're outgrown. It is possible to use a convertible from birth if your baby is big enough for your seat specs. The downside to this is that you will have to load baby into the seat in the vehicle rather than just popping the bucket seat out. You'll also need to either babywear or purchase a bassinet attachment for your stroller or find one that can accommodate a newborn. Many strollers don't accommodate a child without a bucket seat until they can sit independently, usually around 6 months. You can buy travel systems. I preferred to buy the seat i wanted and the stroller I wanted, with an adapter to accommodate. I'm on my 3rd baby after a 7 year gap. I'm using the same stroller as a decade ago, but the carseats were expired so I got a new carseat and managed with an adapter. I don't have any input on the seats you asked about since I don't own either. In Canada, all seats must meet a minimum safety standard. When buying a seat, look for one that fits your vehicle and your budget. Consider future family as well (will you need to fit more than 2 carseats? Will you regularly have an adult traveling next to a carseat). I ultimately decided on the clek liing for my newborn. Pricey seat, for sure. Great extra safety features, long expiry, compact, and made in Canada.

We got the Clek Liing car seat and the Bob Allterrain Stroller!

With such a small vehicle, you’ll want to limit your car seat options to Clek Liing, graco snugride, or Chicco keyfit. I think travel systems capitalize on the whole “I only have to make one choice” idea but the best configuration may very well be different parts, particularly with a small vehicle. Do you even really need a stroller in the early days (I.e do you actually need to click in the car seat or can you buy a more compact stroller that doesn’t need the car seat once baby can sit)? Where do you envision using the stroller (do you need all terrain capability or could you essentially go with a travel stroller)?

Yeah I love my Clek Liing but it’s a big investment for a short time (particularly if you’re not planning on future babies).

I have the UppaBaby Vista with the bassinet + stroller seat and a Clek Liing car seat. I chose the Clek over the Mesa (and I love my Clek car seat) so I just use small adaptors to click the car seat onto the stroller when I’m doing short trips. Very convenient. My baby LOVED her UppaBaby bassinet and we used it every day for 4 months. I know some people say they aren’t worth it but they absolutely were for us. We also took it with us camping and to a friend’s cottage twice and that’s where she slept overnight since they are rated safe for sleep (not all stroller bassinets are), so for us this was a nice bonus as we didn’t have to bring a pack & play while she was still small enough to fit in the bassinet. But you can buy them on FB marketplace for like $50 so I wouldn’t buy a Vista just for the bassinet attachment. Bugaboo and Thule both make full size strollers with bassinets and are very high quality products and are cheaper than the Vista. You’d have to buy the car seat separately. I personally don’t think the UppaBaby vista is the holy grail. It’s nice and sturdy and great to push around, it has nice attachments like the rain cover and bug nets, etc but there are many other brands with comparably good quality products like Bugaboo and Thule, even Cybex makes a great stroller + bassinet combo.

FTM here! I’m going with the Bugaboo Fox 5 which comes with the bassinet and toddler seat and pairing with the Clek Liing (using the maxi cosi adapter). Personally Uppababy isn’t for me, and I haven’t heard anything positive about the Mesa from my circle. If I didn’t go this direction, I would’ve done a Nuna car seat.

I got the clek liing car seat, it is one of the smallest and most compact aside from the graco snugride and chicco key fit I believe and the Joolz Hub+ stroller which is European and very compact too.

Im 4"11. Got the lesser known BabyBee Mio because my sister had previously purchased a double from them and it was great value. No regrets...it is compatiable with th3 Clek Liing which I also purchased. The handle depresses to a comfortable positon for me which was one major factor. It is also priced very well! Cons is you can't try it anywhere expect for buying it and returning it within their 30day window.

Love my Clek liing!! We used it w the bugaboo butterfly and just used the snugseat w the Cruz.