Joie - Rue

The Joie Rue car seat and Ginger Stroller/Travel system. This stroller has a flat bassinet to use when you don’t use the car seat, and that bassinet transforms to be the stroller seat sitting up as they get bigger. 10/10 would recommend. The flat part (in addition to being an actually safe sleep space for infants) works great as a changing table when you’re out or in a place with no changing table in the bathroom. My husband and I rave about it all the time.

I'm personally buying the joie ginger and rue travel system, and to be completely honest I chose it because I couldn't find an extra carseat base for the graco travel system I wanted 🤷🏾‍♀️. I spent months refining my registry and by the time I got to the carseat/Stroller I was just over it and picked one that had good ratings, was cute, had a video on how to put it together, and had an extra carseat base I could buy

We love our Joie Ginger! We got the Ginger LX with the Rue car seat combo, which has a base. They also have an option to pair it with the Mint, which is a baseless car seat. The LX stroller has a few more features but if you wanna save a little bit more you could get the Regular Ginger. They have a few other stroller models that are also worth looking at that are all a little different.

We loooove our Rava, but are so glad we didn’t spend $400 (at the time) on an infant seat since our baby outgrew it at 6 months, so that is something to consider! The Joie Rue is also super light weight but so much more cost effective for something you will only use for about a year if you’re lucky.

Central Chidlom has loads but prices are going to be similar across the city, the one we got (can’t remember exactly which but it’s Joie and is whichever was the highest rated on which that was available here) was about 3x what it costs in Europe - this isn’t hyperbole, I actually bought the same seat in Europe when we visited for a month. Check FB marketplace and maybe some of the expat mum’s groups on fb although they are pretty strict on who they let in

I gave birth in February & this is what I use as well!! Love it!

Joie or graco are both fine. They do a lower level seat than the stages if you’re no longer rear facing. Other brands are also fine thanks to our highly regulated system. As a run-down of the rules here: New car seats are R129 compliant. Also known as I-size and are based on the height of the child. Some older style seats are still sold, but will be listed as R44. These are still completely legal and safe but the R129 moves from a weight based system to a height based system, includes more directional crash testing and longer rear-facing on models including the 0-15m age option. Child car seats in the UK are highly regulated and tested. Buying from Halfords, they won’t be selling any seats that aren’t tested and compliant so feel free to spend less than £100 if it suits the needs of your children. Children under 15 months / 74cm must rear-face. Children over that may forward face or rear-face. Children up to 105cm must use a 5point harness. Any child over that can use a seat-belt high back. Most children here tend to start forward facing somewhen between 2 and early 4 but rear facing is obviously safer etc. If you’re happy forward facing both kids, look between £60-£100 for a basic R129 seat that still meets all relevant regulation and testing.

Idk girl but I’m a FTM and its on my registry. Looked at joie then looked at nuna and we said “fuck it, we ball!”

I tried them both out in person! We did Joie first and it was fine absolutely would have worked. Then went to see the nuna and we could tell the difference in quality. My husband lovedddddd the Nuna Swiv and it was so lightweight and easy to move around compared to the others it made the choice really easy.

I know I sound like a broken record with the other comments but the joie car seat isn't the best. If possible, see if you can get an infant carrier (a good budget one is the maxicosi cabriofix or a spin option is the avionaut pixel pro or cosmo) and then get a next stage seat when they're older. Also, car seats go by height/weight, not age. Joie tends to be outgrown quite early (too early for a child to then forward face safely) and they are really bulky seats. I'd definitely go for a separate infant carrier. Pram wise. I regretted my travel bundle - Egg3. If I had my time again, I'd buy a cheaper pram and stroller and buy a better car seat. We just bought the Lejoux+ stroller for holidays and it's great. I see us using that now instead of the Egg stroller. So don't be like me lol

I do believe it is this seat which is a good budget one. If you're on Facebook, I recommended joining the Bump to Booster group. The admins are experts and are so good at giving good non-judgemental advice. This is a good seat once baby fits but all isofix seats have a set weight limit, usually around 18kg for low budget seats which doesn't tend to last children long enough so then it would be recommended to buy a longer lasting seat which is double the money. I got the maxi cosi cabriofix with base with my travel system (had to ask for others as the pebble wasn't very supportive or recommended) and now I use the Avionaut Sky. We switched around 6 months and love it so I can highly recommend that. It lasts until 25kg which should see my low centile baby until she's old enough for a booster. It was pricier at £300 but it lasts 10 years so we'll get lots of use out of it when we have our next one too. It really is a minefield so don't worry. I went down a rabbit hole when I was pregnant and had a panic attack that my baby would die if I would bought the pebble. All my friends have them and they're fine seats. My baby wouldn't die if she were in it but them hormones are brutal!

I got the Joie too! I don't have my own car but my husband has a small SUV. It was nice to turn the seat to the other passenger seats and spend the time getting him all secure in the pre heated car before spinning him to the rear facing position.