Car Seat Stroller Review

We look at expert tests and parent opinions on travel systems

Stroller/car seat combinations, also called travel systems, are specialty strollers that include or support infant car seats. Infant car seats are appropriate for babies up to 1 year old and can hold babies who weigh up to 22 to 35 pounds, depending on the model. These strollers usually include an older-baby stroller, a rear-facing infant car seat/carrier that fits in the stroller and a stay-in-car seat base, all in one set. The idea is that when the infant outgrows the car seat, the stroller is used alone. There are also a number of frames that come without seating of any kind in order to hold a separately purchased infant seat. For more information on car seats for newborns, see our companion report on infant car seats.

The best reviewer of car seats and strollers in general is ConsumerReports.org -- experts there conduct in-house crash testing on car seats, and they test strollers for both performance and safety. The book "Baby Bargains" also offers a wealth of information on baby gear. While editors don't conduct crash testing, they examine every other aspect of the car seats and strollers, with an interesting section on why you might want to skip a full travel system and go with a stroller frame instead. Of course, it's always a good idea to check owner-written reviews for problems that don't show up in expert tests. We cross-referenced parent reviews at multiple websites, including Buzzillions.com, Amazon.com, Viewpoints.com, Epinions.com, LilaGuide.com, Diapers.com and EliteCarSeats.com.

Travel systems are a good option if you're in and out of the car a lot, since you can remove your baby's infant carrier from the base and pop it into the stroller, all without waking her. In addition, since travel systems come with both the car seat and the stroller, you can usually save some money.

The downside is that travel systems can be bulky and heavy -- some weigh almost 40 pounds, and that's before adding a baby. Once the baby outgrows the infant car seat, the matching stroller becomes no more useful than any other stroller -- sometimes less so, reviews say, because the strollers that come with travel systems aren't always the best quality. Our Best Reviewed pick, the Chicco Cortina travel system (*Est. $275), is one exception: Its bundled car seat and stroller are judged excellent by both experts and parents. However, if you find another stroller you prefer, check to see if it offers a car seat adapter -- many do. If not, you could pair your separately purchased infant car seat with a lightweight, inexpensive stroller frame until your baby outgrows the car seat.

You can spend an incredible amount of money on a travel system, but should you? ConsumerReports.org says the infant car seat that comes with the pricey Orbit Infant System (*Est. $900) isn't even safe: ConsumerReports.org crash-tested six identical Orbit seats, and two of them detached from their bases in a 30-mph frontal crash. ConsumerReports.org issued a "Don't Buy" warning for the car seat, although the organization says it is safe to use the Orbit travel system as a stroller. The Orbit's main feature is its 360-degree rotating seat, which some parents love -- it's a favorite at Amazon.com, and New York Magazine says it "has replaced Bugaboo as the stroller most likely to turn up in a paparazzi shot."

Orbit has protested ConsumerReports.org's ratings, and ConsumerReports.org has responded (you can read more on ConsumerReports.org's Babies and Kids blog). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration replicated ConsumerReports.org's tests with two batches of four Orbit infant seats, and none of them detached from the base. But ConsumerReports.org's "Don't Buy" rating still stands, and another top expert source notes that you could buy a more reasonably priced stroller than the Orbit -- and plunk the $750 you'll save into your child's college fund.