Graco - Modes™ Nest 3-in-1 Travel System, Midtown™ Collection

Just went through stroller buying journey also due in December! Ended up getting the Graco Nest Mode 3-in-1 (it was on sale so cheaper than the pramette) . My advice is once you've done as much internet research as you can handle, just go to a couple of stores to test them out (Snuggle Bugz / West Coast Kids for the higher end ones, Babies R Us for the more affordable ones). I found this subreddit swears by Uppababy and recommends used to stay budget friendly but I didnt find Graco to be as bad as the internet made sound. Testing in store will really help you figure out what feels the best to you.

just spent a month researching. my takeaway: Nuna - loved this one the most (mixx or trvl xl) but all of the carseats/accesories make it extra pricey. my fav uber premium option uppababy- i found these all to be kind of rigid and too large. didn't like the vibe but its obvs popular mockingbird - decided on this one and so far love the balance of quality and price point. truly feels strong but also premium, while not being huge, and almost all the features feel obvious instead of buried silver cross - if you really want to go with the most premium it is indeed very nice. graco Modes nest - solid budget option. felt a little on the light/fragile side for me but if lightweight with versatility is important, this one isn't bad at all bugaboo - maybe the one i tried was a janky floor model but i didn't think it was smooth at all. nuna/mock crushed it

Honestly, just my personal opinion, I never use it. I got one after doing tons of research and I find it more helpful/fun for us both to wear my baby on my back (now that she is big enough - I wore her on the front at first). For trips, walking/hiking, grocery shopping, literally everything. She loves it, I love it, and I don’t have to lug around a huge stroller. With that being said, I had made a few posts similar to this one and ended up getting the Graco Modes Nest stroller. It has a bassinet feature which was my biggest reason for getting it. I would’ve got one used and not brand new especially if I knew I was not going to use it. Lol I also probably would’ve opted for a more compact one. It breaks down but it’s still soooo bulky. Given - I may use it more when we decide to have baby #2. I hope this helps at all. Haha

Seconding the graco modes! I have the graco modes nest and love it, absolutely zero complaints.

I absolutely loved my Graco modes nest

Graco modes nest. Its 3 years old, goes into a bassinet for baby and a seat for toddler. Came with a car seat that attaches too. Nice sizeable storage basket below, cuoholder for mom, tray for toddler kiddo. And we paid less than $400.

I got a nuna car seat and stroller - Pipa RX and the Swiv. My baby is 4 months now and the car seat has been less useful and I wish I’d gotten a convertible car seat instead of an infant seat! You can’t leave babies in car seats for long anymore (30mins for newborns and at 3 months it goes up slightly, but still not like they can spend several hours in a car seat). To answer your questions: 1. I had a summer baby, so it was too hot to baby wear. However, I think I would have baby worn A LOT more if weather had allowed. People don’t try and touch your baby when you babywear. If you’re going to church and it’s cold and flu season, this will be a big consideration. That said, baby gets HEAVY after the newborn period. My baby is close to 18lbs now. I’m looking forward to getting something like the TushBaby, but you can’t use it until they’re sitting independently, which is around 6 months old. I babywore when we traveled. All in all, I find scooping up the baby and putting him in the stroller (I got the bassinet attachment) much easier than wrangling him into a carrier. 2. I have the Nuna Swiv and got the bassinet attachment, so I can only speak to that! The bassinet has been basically the only way we’ve used the stroller. I rarely attach the car seat. I like that the bassinet attachment is a safe sleep surface. We used it a lot for daytime naps and I loved that I could go on a walk with baby and leave him to nap in the bassinet when we got back (a key part of this is NOT needing to go up any stairs to get inside our house! I can wheel him right into the kitchen). 3. Most travel strollers don’t have the ability to face your baby towards you, which is definitely necessary. But I would say they’re all “sturdy” enough! They’re made for kids and babies. 4. If you’re going up and down stairs a lot, the nuna is light, but not THAT light. It’s easy to pick up and put in my car, but it doesn’t fit in an overhead bin for air travel or anything. We’ve since gotten a specific travel stroller to use for travel. I was told there isn’t a stroller that does *everything,* so ultimately plan to have 2-3 strollers. I also got a cheap Graco Modes Nest from RebelStork for when I visited my parents. I LOVED the Pramette, the huge storage basket, and the “slide to me” adjustable height feature. The nuna is kind of low to the ground, although it’s never been an issue and I didn’t notice it before I visited an UppaBaby-heavy area and noticed they all seemed to sit so high. The adjustable height was super useful when we were seated at a high-top table once, we could just slide baby up. Otherwise it’s probably not super necessary. The big storage basket was luxurious. However, the stroller is MASSIVE. Truly huge. It barely fit in the back of my parents SUV. I don’t think it would fit in the back of my small SUV. The nuna fits beautifully in my trunk. I take off the bassinet and leave it expanded and can still fit the folded nuna base in with it. My one issue with the nuna is that the bassinet attachment is low to the basket underneath, so the basket is hard to access. That won’t be a problem in like two months when we move to the stroller attachment. In terms of the Nuna vs. Graco, the Graco just can’t operate in tight city spaces. The Nuna turns on a time and is fantastic in the city. But is it necessary? No. There are plenty of cheaper strollers that I’m sure can operate in the city too. Don’t feel like you need to spend a fortune on a stroller.

I absolutely love my Graco Modes Nest

I love my Graco Modes Nest. Graco is apparently one of the cheaper brands but I love it and it was a hand me down. The bottom storage is huge which I love. It is smooth to me. I also like that any graco click and connect infant car seats are compatible. I keep it in the car as well as the bassinet/toddler seat but I have an SUV. Idk if both would fit in a sedan trunk

Second vote for graco modes nest. Absolutely love it. And both the kids did too

We had an Uppababy with our first and while I loved the setup, it was indeed too bulky and heavy. We sold that and got a Graco Modes nest for our second on the way. The nest has the toddler seat which converts to a bassinet so only one piece needed there. The car seat can also lock in instead of the toddler seat, just like the Uppababy does! We haven’t used it yet but my husband noted it definitely doesn’t feel as “high end” as the Uppababy but it was also a major fraction of the price lol