Maxi Cosi Loola Review

Here we are, the final challenge as a Maxi-cosi reporter has been issued, so far you have seen :

* the unpacking of the Loola
* finding hidden treasures with the Loola
* taking a trip about town with the Loola

The final challenge was to provide you all with my expert review, what do I truly think of this pushchair and will I be recomending it to other parents?

Maxi-Cosi are part of the Dorel company. This brand makes car seats, pushchairs, baby carriers and all the accessories to go with these products.

I actually had a Loola way back in 2008, I have to admit, it wasn't one of my favourite pushchairs back then, so when I was chosen to be one of ten Maxi-Cosi reporters, I was very interested to see just how the Loola had been changed and adapted over the years.

What you get in the box


In the box you receive the chassis, the seat unit, the hood, a bumper bar, a raincover, a parasol clip and the instruction manual. I was also provided with the car seat adaptors and the baby nest. You can also purchase a foldable carrycot separately.

I was sent the Maxi-Cosi Loola in the modern black colourway but it is also available in origami rose and graphic crystal. I love the colour, keeps it neutral but the subtle pattern that covers half of the pushchair keeps it unique and adds that touch of style.

As you saw from the first challenge, putting the pushchair together was fairly straight forward, the wheels were already attached (one less job), so all that you have to do is unfold the chassis, clip on the seat and zip on the hood to the seat unit. This had me loving the Loola already, being a blonde at heart, the simpler things are kept the better!!!

The Chassis

The chassis is nice and sturdy, although with this sturdiness does come heaviness too. Myself and Daddy Hazelden have found the frame both heavy to lift, which you need to do to get it in and out of the boot and also quite heavy when moving up kerbs.

In the pictures I had seen, the four wheels looked quite small, so I was surprised when I got the Loola out of the box just how big the wheels were and they handle well on even the bumpiest of surfaces. 

One of my favourite features is how you can lock and unlock the swivel wheels. There is a button that can be slid up and down on either side of the chassis, this saves you from bending down and getting your hands dirty on the wheels.

The brake is simple to operate. There are two buttons, one white and one red at the bottom of the chassis. Press on the red to lock the brake and press on the white to unlock it.

The basket is a fairly decent size, I managed to get a lot of bags in there on the last day of term, you know all the projects they have accumaulated over the school year. The one thing that hasn't changed is the bars of the frame that run across the basket, this adds to the sturdiness of the frame and I think it allows for slightly heavier baggage.

The adjustable handle definitely comes in handy with myself standing at 5ft 1 and Daddy Hazelden at 6ft, it was nice to be able to move the handle easily when we swapped and changed who was pushing. I would like to see some padding added to the handle, the square shape of it actually began to hurt my hands, especially when I had to push down quite hard to bump the pushchair up the kerbs.

The Seat

The seat unit is extremely spacious, my 3 year old had a little try in there and she was more than comfy and still had a bit of room to grow too. It is well padded and I like the added padding on the harness too. I have to confess to letting Layla eat in there when we were up the park having a picnic, panic not, the seat was easily wiped clean after, phew, there is also the option to remove the seat covers so that you can pop them in the washing machine.

The seat is so easy to recline, you only need the one hand to pull the lever on the back of the seat unit and the seat really does lie flat, ideal for both babies and toddlers. My favourite part about the seat is just how upright it sits. Layla likes to be nosey and I find most pushchairs are reclined slightly even when in their most upright position, so to be sat up properly makes a nice change. 

You can have it parent facing or forward facing, I much prefer having Layla parent facing as I like being able to talk to her face to face. I noticed that the seat unit seems to be higher up than previously, this is nice as I don't feel like I am looking down to talk to Layla.

The bumper bar is really handy. Not only have we been able to hang toys off of it to keep Layla entertained, she has also found it a lovely place to rest her feet and hold on to.

The hood is amazing. Not only is it extendable, providing great coverage from the sun, it sits quite high up as well, leaving plenty of room for your little one to grow. There is even a see through part so you can keep an eye on your little monkeys.

The Raincover

I was pleased to see that the raincover came included, I hate having to buy everything separately. It is also nice to see that they have put a lot of thought into the accessories as well as the pushchair itself. 

Easy peasy to put on the pushchair.  Just placing it over the top, pull down and place the elastic band at the bottom behind the chair. No need to fiddle about with loads of velcro parts, no trying to stretch it over the frame. It fits perfectly, yet still leaving plenty of room for your child to move in the seat underneath it.

The Fold

I love that the folding and unfolding of the Loola is still the same as when I previously had this pushchair. It is uncomplicated, put the handle to it's lowest height, pull up on the buttons just below the handle and push up the pedal at the back of the chassis. The great thing about the Loola now is that you can fold the pushchair with the seat unit attached in either forward or parent facing mode. The only thing you need to rememember if doing it when in parent facing mode is that you need to recline the seat a little first. It really is as compact as they say, we managed to fit it into our zaffira no problem.

Conclusion

So would I recommend this pushchair to other parents, yes I would. It has so many features that make it very practical. The fact that it lies flat means that you can indeed use it from birth but it is also nice that there is the option to buy the extras, like the baby nest, the car seat adaptors and the carrycot. It is a great every day pushchair that will last your child from birth right up until they are around three years old. The only real negative is the heaviness of the frame but I don't think anything can be perfect and in this case, the positives certainly outweigh the negatives. 

Disclaimer :this pushchair was sent to me free of charge as part of being a Maxi-Cosi reporter however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The other end of town

Another week, another Maxi-Cosi challenge has been issued. So far you have seen me excitedly unpacking the pushchair and discovering hidden treasures in my town with the Loola as company.

This week, we have been challenged to take a trip from one end of our town to the other, seeing just how well the Loola copes with an obstacles on the way.

Now I am very lucky that where I live is only a 15-20 minute walk into town, depending on how many children I have with me at the time, Gracie with her little legs is slightly slower than the rest of us, bless her.

The kids were quite excited about what mummy had to do because the one thing at the other end of town is the library and seen as all of my children are little book worms, I couldn't think of a better place to take them.


However for this task, I found myself at a disadvantage because there isn't anything really exciting to look at along the way and of course I want you to be interested in my post, so what better way than to keep you looking than pictures with a funky background :)

The collage above shows our little journey, even Daddy Hazelden came along for the adventure. The Loola handles very well over normal paths, a very smooth ride for little miss Layla. Along the way we got to see the sights of our town including the police station where, as my kids will tell you, Uncle Alec made a visit too when he had a little too much to drink, he will never be allowed to forget this!! LOL.

One part of our journey that demonstrated the comfort of the Loola, was when we had to push it over a cobbled surface. You can see from the video below, that although shaky, Layla was not phased at all and infact thought it was fun to hear her own voice wobble as we went about our little ride.

To get up to the library, I had to push the pushchair up a steep ramp and around a couple of tight bends, this was easily achieved because of how light the  Loola feels when pushing it and the swivel wheels at the front allowed it to glide round the corners effortlessly.

Inside the library itself , there were three different surfaces to test out, carpet, tile and what I would describe as marble. The wheels never lost traction, no slip sliding around.

And of course at the end of it all, the kids ended up with a nice pile of books to keep them entertained for a little while atleast.

Another task complete and best of all, we managed to have another morning out as a family which didn't cost a single penny!!!

xxxx

Disclaimer : We were sent the Loola free of charge for reviewing purposes as part of being a Maxi-Cosi reporter however all thoughhts and opinions are my own.

Looking for hidden treasures

So whilst I was away on my jolly holidays, the second task for all us lovely Maxi-Cosi reporters was set.

This one was a tad trickier than the first task. We were asked to "rediscover" our own cities that we live in and find three places that we hadn't visited before. Coming back from holiday and not having any sleep, I was left looking at the task and drawing a big blank because I have lived in Dover for a long long time, so you would think that there would be nothing left to discover!!

This task actually came at a good time because Daddy Hazelden was off work, so he was able to come on our little adventure with us. We decided to jump in the car and have a drive around to see what we could uncover. This is where the compact fold of the Loola really worked well because with 6 of us in a car, it leaves very little boot space but the Loola slotted in nicely, no trying to fit it in like a puzzle piece.

We came across a lovely farm shop just on the outskirts of town. Somewhere that I had heard of but never actually visited.

We managed to pick up some lovely fresh cakes for the girls, I must admit I made them wait until we got home to eat them because I didn't want my shiny new pushchair covered in cake crumbs and cream. We also bought a little tipple of cider for mummy and daddy whilst we were there because it is nice to treat everyone in the family isn't it.

The whole place was easy to push the Loola around because it was all on flat ground and even though you had to step down to get into the shops, we didn't have a huge problem moving the pushchair up and down the steps, although I did find the Loola a little heavy when pushing down on the handle bar to bump it back up the steps.

Next stop on our tour of Dover was Dover castle.

I know what your thinking, you live in Dover and you have never visited the castle, well yes I have visited the castle but normally we just walk around the inside of the castle.

This time we decided to walk around the outside because this meant less steps to try and get up and down with the Loola.

It is quite a step hill walking up to the castle itself but the adjustable handle made it easier to push the pushchair up it.

It was surprising how well the wheels of the Loola coped on the cobbles around the grounds, a bit of a wobbly ride for Layla but she never complained and we still managed to steer in the right direction!!

Our last stop was the Western Heights, this is somewhere the kids have been with Daddy Hazelden before but mummy normally stays at home and lets them explore.

As you can see from the photo to the left, you get amazing views of the Dover port below.

There are quite a few paths that are fairly rocky so Daddy Hazelden actually carried the Loola over some parts, making use of his muscles but he did say that even with Layla seated in it, it wasn't too heavy, although he wouldn't want to be doing it on a daily basis!!

The hood came in handy with the sun beating down on us and also protected from the winds that were getting stronger the higher up we were going.

This task turned out to be a great one as it meant we got to spent time as a family and managed to discover a few things together and these are all places that we would definitely revisit at a later date, especially with another 5 weeks of Summer holidays to go!! Think we may explore further to see what other treasures we can find!!

xxxx

Disclaimer : We were sent the Loola free of charge for reviewing purposes as part of being a Maxi-Cosi reporter, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Excited to unpack the pushchair, must be a mum thing

I was EXTREMELY excited when I got an email last week to tell me that I had been picked as one of ten other people to be a Maxi-cosi reporter and that I was going to be testing the newly improved Loola pushchair.

Well those of you that know, will know I am a huge pushchair addict, infact at this moment in time I have four pushchairs in my house, Daddy Hazelden thinks this is absurb, I on the other hand think I could do with atleast a couple more.

Being a Maxi-cosi reporter means that we will get set four tasks to complete with our pushchairs over a 4 week period. Our first task was to unpack and put together the Loola, now I bet you are all thinking that this task is way too easy, well yes it is simple but when you are rushing to to piece it together without looking at the instructions first (I may be talking about me) well then it could take slightly longer than anticipated.

Firstly let me just show you the box the Loola arrived in.

I have to say I was glad my mum was around when the pushchair arrived because it was well and truly suctioned in the box.

To get it out was like a game of tug of war, my mum held the box whilst I held on to the pushchair and we both pulled.

Luckily neither of us fell over in the process and as you can see we managed to release the Loola from the clutches of the cardboard box, you can now all breathe a sigh of relief, phew.

Now to admire all the lovely parts that came with the Loola :

* instructions (important part!!!)

* parasol clip

* bumper bar

* car seat adaptors

* seat unit

*chassis

* raincover

* baby nest

*hood


In the email we received about the first task, it did say in the worst case scenario we could read the instructions, so I took this to mean that I really should try without them first. Having had a Loola previously, I found it simple to unfold the frame, first moving the handle bar up by clicking the button on each side of the handle. Then I pulled up on the other white bits on the side of the frame, I really should learn the name for those. I then clicked the seat unit into place, one side at a time. Then I was left scratching my head, the frame seemed a tad wobbly, so I may have had a sneaky peek at the instructions and embarassingly realised that I had forgotton to push down the pedal in the middle of the frame at the back, blushes.

As I was putting together the pushchair I was making note of all the features :

* the seat unit can lie flat

* the harness has lovely padding

* well padded seat unit

* gated bumper bar

* front wheels can be locked using buttons on the frame rather than on the wheels (no dirty hands or bending down)

* easily accesable basket

* one hand recline

* adjustable handle height

One of the stand out features for me so far, is the hood. In this lovely sunny weather we are having at the moment, it is important for me to be able to shade Layla.

The hood attaches by clicking it into the sides of the chassis, zipping onto the seat covers and poppering over the frame at the top, nice and secure!!!

As you can see from the photo to the right, it has many positions, there is even a zip in the hood to extend it further, see the last picture.

The hood itself stands up quite high, which not only gives better coverage from the sun but I think this would allow a child on the taller side to have plenty of room too.

You can also see there is a plastic section which allows you to keep an eye on your little one without having to disturb them, great if they are napping because trust me, you never want to wake a sleeping baby!!!

One of the accessories that came with the pushchair was the raincover, I am really hoping that I don't have to use this any time soon but I thought I best work out how to use it just incase.

So easy to put on, just place over the top and pull down. Your little one won't get drenched waiting for you to fit it if you get caught in a sudden shower!!

There is an elastic loop at the bottom that gets over and behind the seat, no more naughtly feet kicking it off.

It is elasticated at the bottom which allows for stretching and longer legs to have room.

Vent holes on the side allow good air circulation without the child getting rain drops on them.

And it folds down to be very compact, so fits in the basket with ease.

For the grand finale, I had to learn how to fold the pushchair. Easy peasy and before you think it, I didn't look at the instructions this time. It is literally the unfolding process in reverse, put the handle into it's lowest pushing, pull up those button things that I don't know the name of, push up on the pedal at the back and the chassis will slide closed. I was more than a bit happy to find out that the frame can be collapsed with seat unit still attached but not only that, this can be done with the seat unit in either forward facing or parent facing mode, amazing I hear you all cry!!

After all the excitement, my girls informed me that none of what I have written was the best part of unpacking, oh no the best part for them was the cardboard box, so thank you Maxi-cosi for not only the puschair but the packaging too.  Have a look at the short video below just to give you an idea of what I mean.

There we have it, task one complete, looking forward to the next few weeks, keep an eye out for what happens next.

xxxx

Disclaimer : this pushchair was sent to me free of charge as part of being a maxi-cosi reporter however all thoughts and opinions are my own.