I receieved an email from MommyParties and MomSelect informing me that I had been chosen to host a Pregnancy 2.0 party. The next day, I returned home from the park to find a Britax carseat and stroller waiting by the door. I grabbed the kids out of the car as fast as I could and ran to the door to check them out. I pulled them out of the boxes and started playing with them and checking them out. My immediate response was how amazing they seemed. Compared to my old set that I had been using since my oldest was born 3 years ago, these were incredible. So, I decided to swap them out to give them a good test run before my party.
After using the stroller and carseat for a couple of weeks, I noticed some really great points and some things that I just didn't care for. Not saying they are bad things, just different than what I was used to with my old set. The Britax B-Safe carseat and Britax B-Agile Stroller were the first items to arrive. They are an awesome red ane black, which I fell in love with. The stroller is really lightweight and easy to manuever. The carseat seems to be a bit on the heavy side, but it also looks really safe. I love that it has the side impact safety feature. My old carseat doesn't have that, so when I put my daughter in the new one I immediately felt more comfortable. It also has a higher weight and height limit than my old one, which is a big plus. I have really long kids, so I had to change my son early because he no longer fit in the infant carrier. I think I will be able to get a few more months out of this one. The stroller also folds really easily.
A few of the things I don't quite care for are the way the carseat attaches to the stroller, the stroller buckle, and the way you remove the carseat from the stroller. First of all, the carseat sits into two attachments on the sides of the stoller. With my old set, the seat just sits on the stroller and catches at the back. This set you have to really line up the attachments and make sure they connect. It's a little cumbersome with the baby in the seat, since it's already on the heavy side. To remove the seat from the stroller, you have to press the buttons on the attachments on the sides of the stroller. Which means one hand on each side. Once you get them unconnected, it's difficult to either grab the handle or pick the whole thing up by the sides and then move it. I'm used to my old set, where you grab the handle at the back just like when you remove it from the base in the car. You can use one hand to unconnect and one to hold onto the handle. The other moms at the party felt the same way about using the carseat and stroller together. It wasn't too bad at first, but with the weight of a baby, it becomes a little cumbersome. The other thing I don't really care for is the buckle on the carseat. It is very difficult to get it undone. Maybe it's just because it's new.
Also included in the party package was a Britax infant carrier and seat insert. This is really nice. I'm not big on using the carriers, but this one seems pretty comfortable compared to some of the other brands I have at home. I let the moms try out both the Britax and a couple older ones that I had laying around and we were all in agreement that the Britax was much more comfortable. One mommy has an Ergo at home and really liked the Britax seat extender. She said it was similar to her Ergo and provided a better "ride" for her 14 month old.
Everyone was really excited to come and try out all of the great products. And they were even more excited when I handed them their amazing goody bags to take home. Every left with some samples of Spry Gum, Kid's Xclear saline nasal spray, Kid's Spry tooth gel, and some great coupons and product brochures.
I also received 2 Rashti & Rashti Snuggle Buddies prior to the party. One was a pink ballerina and the other was a pink owl. The only two girls at the party were my 6 month old and a 14 month old, so they got the toys! And my daughter hasn't put hers down!! I did receive 2 more Snuggle Buddies after the party. They are both in boy colors. So, they will be going to the 2 week old and the 3 month old boys that were at the party.
Disclosure: I was provided with products from Britax and MommyParties to review and use with my guests. No monetary compensation was received. Any and all opinions are my own. To learn more about MommyParties, please visit their website at http://www.mommyparties.com/ or click the link in the above post.
I would like to make a couple comments about the negative points that I mentioned in this post. While the way the carrier attaches to the stroller is still not ideal, I have gotten a little more used to it. I would still prefer something more like my other set, but this one isn't as awkward as it was in the beginning. Also, the stroller has really loosened up and is much easier to use. It still sticks a little, but it's not a 10 minute battle to undo any longer.
ReplyDeleteHello from BabyPlus! We are following up with moms who received the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System in 2011. Were you able to pass it on to a friend who could use it? We would LOVE to hear more details about her experience. Please have them contact me directly at shellyk@babyplus.com. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteTake care and best wishes to you and your family!