Mesa

We went with the Mesa (v2) to fit in our gen 3 Prius and Honda Fit, mostly because we knew it would work seamlessly with the stroller system (Cruz v2). It was a snug fit, but it worked. We had tested a bunch of seats out at Snugglebugz before buying and found the Mesa to fit decently in both vehicles. The Nuna Pipa straight up didn't fit in my Prius. 😥 The Aria had JUST come out when I was looking, and I liked that it was extra light and extra compact, but my son was very large and we decided to play it safe and get the regular size Mesa so that we could use it for longer. He was definitely over 22lbs by the time we switched him to a convertible seat, so he would have maxed the Aria out. I also ended up attaching the carrier to the stroller nearly all the time I had it out of the car, so the weight was a non-issue.

We were gifted an Uppababy Vista stroller with the bassinet and purchased the Mesa 2 car seat. I loved the bassinet because that was her bed downstairs for months. And the car seat attachment was really easy. All that to say, it’s huge. Like the stroller takes up so much space. We still have it and use it, though only used the car seat for 6-8 months before loving her to a larger one and the pram for 2 ish. ETA I don’t use it as a travel stroller if that is important to you. I have the Uppababy Minu (I think?) which I love.

We first had the mesa v2 and no issues. For the convertible seat I got the graco turn2me extend. I like that it can be rear facing up to 40lb and the ability to turn it to get baby in and out has really helped my back. Downside is that its pretty big and heavy, but i don't tend to move it anywhere. Baby gear lab rated it highly on their private crash tests.

For my first we used the Mesa V2 until she was 14 months, she was 15th percentile. For my second she has outgrown the seat at barely 7 months and she is 99th+ percentile. I would absolutely use any infant bucket until it’s outgrown instead Canadian winters.

Oh my gosh, when I tell you strollers and travel systems had me spiraling out of control, I’m not kidding. It was like weeks and weeks of hours of research daily and comparisons. I was losing dang mind. Ultimately, I went with the Uppababy vista v3 and the aria v2 lightweight car seat because if we have more kids it can be easily used as a double/triple. I liked all the different ways to use and co figure it even though most strollers on the market now also have similar features but the actual frame of this stroller felt more sturdy, long lasting, and of a little high quality. I wanted something that glided and was smooth and easy to push and this was definitely exactly that. Easy to collapse and throw in the car. As for the car seat I chose, I wanted something lightweight and easy to carry. Something safe, compatible with my stroller that I didn’t have to buy adapters for. It’s not big and bulky. I was pretty torn between the aria v2 and the mesa b3 but for my personal preferences, the aria seemed to work better for what I need. Now- I’m not the type to splurge on things at all but I got a hecccck of a deal on this so I pulled the trigger and bought it! 10/10 no regrets. I’m due in July! Hack: Grab a free crappy car seat off your local Facebook market place and go bring it in to target and get your 20% off coupon and then start your target registry if you haven’t already (even if you aren’t using it as your actual registry) and set it up so your due date is in like a month and you’ll get a 15% registry coupon that you can stack together. If you have a red card that will be another 5% off so you’re looking at 35-40% off your travel system of choice!!!

I've used both the chicco and Aria and honestly, the only good thing aobut the Aria was how lightweight it was. My kid outgrew it quickly (\~5mos) and because it's so light, it feels really kinda flimsy. The UB Mesa on the other hand feels really luxe but it is so damn heavy. Hauling that thing around to peds appts or even hauling it out of the car sucks.

We didn't skip the infant (aka bucket) seat BUT we did not have a stroller that it clicked into. My SIL gave me her used bucket seat so we trusted that it was in safe condition, but it's an Uppa Baby and we didn't want to buy the corresponding stroller. Even so, we did still find the bucket seat really handy and i would not recommend skipping. - handy when visiting people. Easier to be able to enter a house and put her on the ground in the seat for a sec while we unload etc. Gave her a moment to adjust as well before being handed off to someone. - handy when in offices and appointments; didn't necessarily have to disturb her by hauling her out when she was comfy/calm or sleeping. - easier to get her buckled in safely inside our home during summer heat and winter cold, rather than trying to do it outside in a parking lot. Just logistically easier to do this in the comfort of your own home, particularly in the early days when we weren't confident about the straps and took a little longer to get it right. Also in winter we knew we could bundle her up well inside our home and then just hustle to the car and click her in. No faffing around. - easier for quick errands like picking up a pizza or the like. Could bring her into a store in the seat, she was calm but got a little change of scenery rather than having to haul her out and then strap her back in. It takes like 5 mins to get a tiny floppy baby out or in, and they don't usually like it. It can get really flustered and reducing that stress is valuable. The bucket seat can be clunky to haul around but you get used to walking with it for the short distances you need to (home to car, car to store, etc). We had a lay-flat stroller (Bumbleride Indie) and I used a carrier alot for our June baby but nonetheless the bucket seat made a world of difference.