Joie Litetrax Travel System makes car and pram travel with baby a breeze
Without a doubt, one of the biggest purchases you’ll make with a new baby are those of your pram and car seat. They’re big purchases, not just because they tend to eat up the cash, but also because you’ll probably use them every day so it makes sense to get them right. Now one company has designed a system that makes the decision even easier.
UK brand Joie (pronounced “joy”) has a fairly simple philosophy – to bring a little bit of joy into the day-to-day lives of families through baby equipment that makes life easier. As a parent of three young children, that’s certainly something I can get behind! This philosophy has driven the creation of their Litetrax Travel System, an integrated pram, carseat and in-car base in one package.
The Joie Litetrax stroller has all the bells and whistles you’d expect in a high end three wheeler – great suspension, quality fabrics and colours, plenty of storage, as well as an oversized, adjustable sunhood. It’s also really lightweight, and has a compact fold that means it will fit into the smallest of car boots.
The stroller seat reclines flat, so you can use it with a newborn, but the beauty of the Litetrax Travel System is in its versatility. The system includes the Gemm bassinet carseat (also from Joie Baby) which slips straight out of your car and into the stroller without the need for adaptors. I didn’t bother with a bassinet with my first baby, believing (mistakenly!) that it would be no big deal to get him in and out of the car, even if he was asleep. Believe me when I say I didn’t make that mistake with my subsequent two children. Learn from my experience – you’ll congratulate yourself every time you don’t have to wake your sleeping child.
Joie have pioneered an amazing one-handed fold to collapse the Litetrax stroller which really has to be seen to be believed (and in fact, you can see it by watching the video at the bottom of this post). There’s no mucking about with releasing levers and remembering which bit has be moved before which other bit – you just grab the handle and pull.
If you have to fit a few car seats across the back of your car, you’ll be pleased to see the small footprint of the Gemm bassinet car seat, which is so slimline that it won’t pose problems for even very small spaces. The car seat simply clicks into the base and can be released by the push of a button.
We’d have to be mad not to draw your attention to the price of this system, and in fact, I was stunned by how affordable it is. The whole package comes in at just $749 – for everything. That price includes the pram, the carseat and the base to connect it in your car, and will all arrive neatly at your doorstep in one package. You can check at Joie Baby for a stockist near you, or buy online at Baby Kingdom, which at the time of writing had discounted the whole package even further to an astonishing $599.
(This post is sponsored by Joie Baby)