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When I was pregnant with my third child, my husband and I vowed to buy as little as humanly possible. After all, our family already had everything we needed from our first two children, not to mention some hand-me-downs from family members. But the big item I did purchase — and that I would gladly buy again — was the Doona Car Seat and Stroller.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Doona, it’s essentially a car seat that unfolds into a stroller, making it great for travel and also just taking your baby in and out of the car with ease.
All of my friends who had Doonas of their own told me that it was life-changing. So even though our family didn’t need another stroller, I decided to invest in the Doona.
After using it for a year, I can say that I would 100% buy it again. That said, it’s not a small investment — so if you’re on the fence about buying one, here is my honest review of the Doona Car Seat & Stroller.
Super-convenient stroller
What is the Doona Car Seat & Stroller?
The Doona is a car seat that transforms into a stroller. It has collapsible wheels that tuck in behind the seat so it can click into a car seat base that you keep installed in your car. (You can also install it without a base if you’re using a different car or traveling — more on that later.)
After removing it from the base, you click a button on the handle and the wheels pop down, turning the car seat into a stroller. So essentially you don’t have to remove your child from their car seat to put them into a stroller — or lug a stroller base from the trunk and set it up every time you want to take your baby out of the car. The Doona is designed for babies that range from 4 to 35 pounds, according to the manufacturer, so it will last you for about a year or so, depending on your child’s size.
The Doona starts at $550, so it’s definitely an investment. A lot of parents opt for a more affordable car seat that can click into a stroller base; if you’re looking for one of those, check out What to Expect’s best travel systems.
Who is the Doona best for?
This hybrid car seat-stroller is really great for families that travel a lot — it can be used as an airplane car seat and saves you from renting one at your destination or bringing both a car seat and a stroller along on the trip. When you travel with a baby, there’s so much heavy gear that you have to bring, so it’s really nice to be able to consolidate a couple of items with the Doona.
It’s also great if you’re in and out of a car a lot for errands, especially school drop-offs and pick-ups. I remember all too well the painful (literally!) experience of dropping off my oldest son at school and having to carry my daughter’s car seat in and out of the building each time. This time around, school drop offs have been so much easier — thanks to the Doona.
As a suburban mom, the Doona has been great. That said, I don’t know that we would have used it enough to justify the price tag when we were living in the city. It doesn’t navigate uneven surfaces and cobblestone streets as well as some of the larger strollers, and we didn’t use a car that much in the city. So at that point, I would have preferred one of the larger strollers built for uneven walkways over the convenience of the car seat-stroller hybrid.
My honest experience — the pros:
- The Doona is a great option for travel. You don’t have to pack a car seat and a stroller — or find a way to rent one or both items when you reach your destination. You can push the Doona right up to the gate and then either gate check it or place it in the airplane seat and use it as you would any car seat. It’s pretty easy to install without the base.
- It makes quick errands with a baby more convenient. Rather than taking your baby out of the car seat for a two-minute task — or carrying a bulky car seat on your arm — you can just pop out the Doona and use it as a stroller. I particularly love the Doona for the big kids’ school drop-offs and pick-ups.
- It saves your arms and back from the weight of having to carry the car seat around. Lugging around a car seat, even if you do it properly, is heavy and hard on your arms and back. It’s also hard to do when you have other little kids running around.
And the cons of the Doona
- It’s expensive and only lasts until your child is about 1 year old. Our son was very long and outgrew it at 1. Other car seat/stroller options can be used until your kids are 4-plus.
- There’s no storage underneath. There isn’t anywhere to store a diaper bag or anything else, which can be annoying if you’re using it as your main stroller or you’re traveling and are out sightseeing or doing activities all day. You can get a bag to attach to the handle to hold a few diapers, wipes and a pacifier, but you can’t carry a lot on the stroller itself.
- It doesn’t maneuver very smoothly on rough surfaces. I wouldn’t recommend it for uneven sidewalks or cobblestone streets.
- It can be difficult to figure out how to install the base in the car. And it takes a little practice to get good at getting the car seat locked into the base and then removing it again. Once you’ve done it a bunch of times, it definitely becomes easier, though.
- It weighs about 14 pounds, which means it gets difficult to lift in and out of the car when your child gets bigger. This is especially true if you have a higher-up SUV like our family does.
- It’s not as comfortable as other car seats. My son preferred our UppaBaby Mesa car seat as a baby. Over time, he got more used to the Doona, and every baby is different, but our experience was that the Doona didn’t seem as comfortable.
Tips and tricks for using the Doona
The Doona is pretty easy to use, which is one of the best parts about it. We did learn a few tricks that helped us get the most out of it, though:
- If your baby is sleeping, I recommend putting the Doona on the ground before opening the wheels and then slowly lifting it up as you pop them open. If you do this, you can usually convert it into a stroller without waking the baby.
- If your baby has an older sibling (or siblings!), try lowering the handle all the way down. Then big brother or sister can help push the stroller — my kids loved doing this!
- Get the compatible storage bag for the handle to give you a place for diapers, wipes, cell phones, etc.
- Get the sun shade. You can’t tilt the seat, so the sun shade saved us on sunny days. Otherwise, even with the regular shade down, the sun would sometimes be in my son’s eyes.
So…is it worth it?
I absolutely think the Doona is worth it if you are in and out of your car a lot with the baby or if you plan to travel a lot with them. It was the only thing we bought for our third baby and probably the one piece of baby gear we used the most. We used the Doona so much that we got the cost per use down pretty low.
There's also not much else like it on the market. Evenflo recently introduced its Shyft DualRide, which is the most similar product. But that starts at $500, so it doesn't offer much in the way of savings unless you buy it when it's on sale.
I recommend the Doona to all of my friends who are expecting. With that said, it only lasted us for a year, so if you want a stroller that will be with you until your child outgrows strollers, there are plenty of options that are compatible with car seats that work great.
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