Joie Chrome Plus Stroller Updated Review

If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know that the Joie Chrome Plus Stroller was the pram Ed and I decided to buy when I was pregnant with Harry. If you didn't catch it the first time you can read about why we picked this pram and our initial impressions in our unboxing post. 

Recently I received a request from a reader to do an updated review since we've been using it for a little over 6 months. I thought this was a great post idea and one that I would have found very useful to read myself before buying. 

That said here's an update on how we've been getting on with the Joie Chrome Plus Stroller. Please leave any other questions you may have about this pram in the comments and I'll be happy to answer anything I might have missed here.

Transportation?

Having now transported this pram in numerous vehicles, I can safely say that this is the biggest thing to consider before you drop your cash on the Joie Chrome. How big is your car? 

When we picked this pram, Ed's Ford Focus was our only car. As you can see from the pictures, the stroller comfortably folds down and fits in to the boot, leaving some room for shopping bags on top or around the sides.  

Since having Harry however we've moved from the city to the countryside and as a result I had to buy a car too. It's a Vauxhall Corsa and it's small. Whilst the pram fits in the boot, it has to be placed in on it's side leaving no room for anything else. That means that if you go shopping pretty much everything you buy has to go on the passenger seat or on the floor. 

It's not ideal, but I have to say not a deal breaker for me. 

On another note, and this depends on how you are with lifting things in general I guess, but this pram is heavy to lift in and out of a car. I don't mind this personally though. Saves me doing any extra dumbbell exercises you know...

Overall Performance?

Okay, 3 points. 

1. With the carrycot attachment, this pram is a bit of a shaky ride. Maybe it was just because I was a bit of a nervous new mum, but I did feel like more could have been done with the design to stabilise the pram when using the carrycot attachment. Harry slept through any shakiness though, it never woke him up even when going up and down curbs so make of that what you will.

2. As a travel system with adaptors for the Maxi Cosi Group 0 car seat which we had, the Joie Chrome Plus Stroller is amazing. There is no shakiness at all when the car seat is in place and it's so easy to take it on and off the chassis. I couldn't fault it. In fact we used this pram like this for the first 5 months (see Any Regrets? below).

3. Apart from not being a deep enough seat in my opinion the stroller attachment for this pram is great. We've literally been off roading with it, wheeled though snow, ice, pissing rain (rain covers are included) through puddles everywhere. 

As a pushchair for the countryside this is a good affordable option to consider because the large back wheels can go through anything. I mean I've even been over a cattle grid in this thing. 

Because we used to live in the centre of Newcastle I can also vouch for the fact that this pram fits in well with urban life well too. It looks the part and has a large shopping basket underneath to stash bags. I currently use that part to collect sticks for kindling though...how life changes.

Comfort for Baby?

As you'll have seen from the unboxing post, I decided to buy Joie Chrome Plus Stroller with the Carrycot from Boots for an extra £100. For a tiny newborn baby I would highly rate this carrycot in terms of comfort when static or on smooth terrain. In fact, Harry used to prefer sleeping in the Joie with the carrycot attachment more than he did in his moses basket, which he hated. 

The stroller looks less comfortable to me for Harry than the carrycot was when he was small. He doesn't sit too well in it yet and tends to slump to one side though that is more likely to be related to his general ability to sit unsupported at the moment. To my mind however, I will say that I feel this pram would be better if it had a deeper seat with sides that came out a little more so that babies had more support.

Breakages at 6 Months?

Minor. The hand rail on this pram extends via two buttons on either side of it. On my pram, when I slide the handle to extend it sometimes it won't stay up, sometimes it will. It's a little niggle bit then I'm ramming it into a Corsa on it's side all the time so perhaps that's to blame.

No breakages or repairs to the wheels so far and I have used this pram on all sorts of terrain and conditions (gravel, grass, tarmac, pot holes puddles, snow, ice).

Any Regrets?

Okay, my biggest regret is buying the carrycot attachment for this pram. I have to be honest it was a waste of money. We used it for 4 weeks until Harry was a little bigger and then immediately favoured using his car seat.

If you are looking to buy this pram for a newborn I would say do it, but don't waste your money on the carrycot, it's £100 extra and a car seat is a far better investment in my opinion.

As you'll have seen from my unboxing post, I'd also need to buy the sun hood and foot muff separately .

Hopefully that's been helpful for any one out there looking for an honest review of the Joie Chrome Pluss Stroller.

Kathy xx