Nuna - SWIV Stroller

I’m in the same boat!! I just went to look at some today. My brother is giving us their lightly used Graco car seat with a basic click in stroller for quick newborn outings, so I feel better splurging on a nicer stroller for long term as long as it will be versatile. We don’t have a garage or anywhere to store it in our house so I want something that folds very compact. I also want it to have parent facing and world facing options, which limits a lot of the smaller travel type strollers. I’m looking at the Nuna Triv, Nuna Swiv, and Joolz Hub 2 primarily. I was able to go look at the Nunas today along with the Maxi Cosi Tayla, Uppababy Cruz, and Cybex Balios/Melos. They had bugaboo there too but those are more than I’m wanting to spend and the Fox is bigger than I’m wanting anyway. The Nunas weight, folding mechanism, and folded size were FAR superior than any others and I am heavily leaning that direction. It was just so smooth and easy and compact on both of them. The Mixx was gigantic to me and the folded package was cumbersome to deal with. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find anywhere with Joolz Hub2, but it looks very similar to the Triv and reviews say it’s more durable. The Swiv was ever so slightly bigger than the Triv but felt a little sturdier and less like a travel stroller, and I don’t feel like the extra 1-2 lbs was that big of a deal compared to the trade off you get for more storage basket space and what feels like more durability. However the Triv has more suspension and better wheels for all terrain, so I’m torn on that. The only hesitation I have with Nuna is the way the lady at the store talked about them. She said she herself would never buy one because they aren’t made as well as others of the same price point and the warranty is crap (2 years but limited to things that probably wouldn’t break anyway). She was really pushing the Cybex models but they just didn’t have the same smooth and compact fold and I didn’t like the buckles and seat material as much as the Nunas (the magnetic buckle was awesome). The Joolz Hub2 has a 10 year warranty and it has a toddler ride on board you can attach later on which makes it more versatile than the Nunas in my eyes. Not looking to get a double but having a little bit of flexibility with another kid when making such an expensive purchase feels nice. I just wish I could get my hands on it to compare! I’m almost leaning Joolz just due to the warranty and supposed durability. There’s just not as much info out there about them from people who have bought them. I went to Nordstrom, a local baby store, and Pottery Barn kids, which could be an option where you live! I’m also looking into the bassinet options with the Nuna and Joolz and that’s getting me stuck (nuna is expensive and Joolz doesn’t have a stand to use at home) so I might just opt out of using these strollers with a tiny newborn and just baby wear/use the car seat click on stroller when needed. I think past 4-6 months old these will have a lot of longevity so trying to think long term and not get a bunch of accessories I don’t need. Sorry for the info dump but tried to be detailed since you can’t see them in person!

We tested them all out this weekend and went with the swiv! Essentially paying for the triv but with 360 wheels which will be good for us in a city and tight spaces (plus comes with a few extra accessories). It felt much lighter and less bulky than the Mixx to us and we both have sedans so we needed something that I can easily pop into our trunks. We were also thinking of my mom who will watch baby and what she’d be able to easily lift and use.

The hands down best pram is Nuna SWIV (not triv). It’s carbon fibre and honestly feels sexy to push, as much as it is possible for a pram to feel sexy lol. Perfect for city life, works great on curbs & cobbles and can go off piste in parks as well. Light and easy enough to get in and out of car boot. Perfect amount of space for bags etc in the hold. The Swiv feature honestly really useful for squeezing between tables at cafes and out of lifts. The handle bar swivels for different heights rather than telescopes which I found made it look way better, the bugaboo telescope means that the handle is crazy long when it’s at its maximum length, whereas the Nuna just nicely swivels to a higher angle which looks less rickety. One hand fold with the pushchair is super easy and bassinet is overnight safe. The bugaboo we considered was one hand fold with the bassinet but honestly you only use the bassinet for a few months so this feature didn’t outweigh the other positives of the Nuna for me. Additionally, just so you know, John Lewis will tell you that only certain car seats are compatible with certain pushchairs (for the baby ones that go on pushchair) but they are all compatible. So you can get the 360 maxi cosi and it goes on the Nuna even though this is “off label”. Plus something else to think about with the miniature travel prams like yoyo - a nice big comfy pram means your baby can sleep when you are out and about and you can carry heaps of stuff in the pram. Benefits of being able to fit a pram in overhead luggage also limited - you can push any pram right to the door of the plane no matter how big and then collect on other side, either at door or at luggage belt. I never understood the appeal of trying to find space in overhead for your pram on a crowded flight when you can just leave it at the door! I also have never seen a single other person with it which is super weird considering how good it is!

General consensus is Joolz Aer usurped the yoyo for best lightweight travel stroller that fits in an airplane overhead. Swiv and triv are like light and easy to fold versions of the uppababy cruz. Triv/swiv allow the chair to face backwards towards a part which some people like during the transition out of the bassinet. Other parents don't care going straight to forward facing seats. The new joolz aer has a full recline which means you might be able skip buying a bassinet attachment if you feel comfortable strapping in the newborn. It seems like the hive mind 5 years ago was either yoyo or uppababy cruz. But these days it's definitely joolz aer, but a toss up between uppababy or nuna for the cruz/triv/swiv form factor. Cruz is harder to fold and bigger folded, but more durable. Triv/swiv is smaller folder, lighter, and has a one handed fold at the cost of durability. If you have an elevator building and storage space uppababy seems nice.... But if you need to carry a stroller up stairs in a walk up brownstone the lightweight nuna strollers might be a better option. I have both a swiv and aer+. I like having both for different types of outings. But probably should have gotten a used joolz aer to save money as a travel beater stroller.

I went to a store that had “baby weights”. Originally I loved the Nuna SWIV but the second you put a heavier child in there (25 pounds) you couldn’t use the side by side maneuver and you truly felt the flimsy-ness of the stroller. I’m going with an uppababy Cruz. I feel like Nuna is ok for the newborn stage, so not that long. I’ve heard from multiple ppl their customer service and warranties are bad.

Before you decide on the Uppababy…really play with it in person. I felt it was efficient on how it collapse/opens and was still very bulky. I remember there being pinch points when collapsing as well. I was researched and played with Uppababy, Nuna Triv/Swiv/Mixx, and Silver Cross strollers. Ultimately ended up with the Nuna Swiv with no regrets.

All the Targets, etc have their strollers locked down but I was able to find a local store that does car seat/stroller consultations where you get a clerk and they will let you try whatever you want. I had to pay $50, but it can be applied towards a purchase, but I would say it was totally worth the money. It was about an hour's drive away (ironically, had to leave the city and go to the suburbs), so maybe try widening your search area. We settled on the Nuna Swiv, which is very similar to the Triv. When we compared either of them to the Mixx, it was so much heavier. I think heavy can be good to balance the diaper bag hanging on it, etc. but we live upstairs in a condo so really preferred something lighter. The Triv seems great, but a few features of the Swiv made it more appealing to us, including the ability to unlock all 4 wheels so that you can 'crabwalk' sideways. Basically, going from 2WD to 4WD. I think this is really helpful in a city context where you're often navigating narrow or crowded spaces.

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.

We ended up going for the Nuna Swiv because I liked the feature of being able to move side-to-side and one of my in-laws bought it for us. I don't love how proprietary they are though- you have to use a Nuna car seat in them, whereas other brands like Uppababy let you use whatever car seat you want. They also never seem to go on sale whereas Uppababy and others do. I waited until Labor Day to buy mine hoping for a discount and they were the only brand that didn't go on sale! I'd try and find a place to fiddle with some in person if you can. For me the only places in my area that had strollers were Target for the cheaper brands and Nordstrom for the higher end. Some strollers like the Uppababy Vista were SO heavy I couldn't actually lift them so it was good to check them out since we were originally leaning towards the Vista.

Part of the problem is definitely that your wish list is too long lol if a stroller did ALL of that then we’d all have bought it already. It’s gonna be a pick 2 out of 3 situation. If being adaptable for 1 kid and convertible to 2 is the priority, then maybe uppababy vista or mockingbird. If being lightweight and foldable is important, then maybe Nuna. Multiple modes in one? There are some pramettes you can try like Graco. If you don’t mind switching between the basement, toddler seat and car seat then we’re back to things like uppababy, Nuna, and silvercross that all make sleep safe bassinets that connect on their strollers. Edit to add: We opted for Nuna SWIV. We prioritized easy folding, lightweight, reputability, something that had a dedicated car seat adapter or system (rather than lodging it between the seat and bar for example), and using the bassinet both bedside and on the stroller. I originally wanted a single to double stroller but they were significantly too bulky and heavy for me considering it will be going in and out of my car frequently. If you’re more in a pedestrian/public transport city then your needs will look different.