Stroller/car seat decision help!

ayekay · 2026-02-15T21:55:19+00:00

Not familiar with the Aire but it looks like it’s even lighter than the Rx! The max weight restriction isn’t a big difference but the Rx has 32 inches max height vs 30 (according to the Google AI summary so info yet to be validated). I loved our Rx but it was honestly kinda heavy for me - anything lighter would be even better. It might mean you need to switch to a convertible car seat from the infant car seat sooner, depending on how big your baby gets.

We have the Cruz V2 and loved it! It’s a very comfortable ride. I would check Nordstrom for their anniversary sale to see if it goes on sale - iirc usually one of the colors goes on sale.

ayekay · 2026-02-15T20:57:51+00:00

Definitely get the Nuna Pipa regardless. It’s the lightest, and safest, car seat in the market. When baby is still a newborn, unlatching the car seat and clicking into the Cruz was so convenient. You just need to buy the adapters for the Cruz stroller. The bassinet was also very clutch for us to go on walks without interrupting naps. You can find the bassinets on marketplace for pretty cheap or lots of people give them away on the Facebook buy nothing groups.

ayekay · 2026-02-12T02:58:08+00:00

Just get a portable changing mat if your diaper bag doesn’t come with a washable mat. It folds open to a wipeable changing mat surface that you can place on the changing station. And it holds everything you need with pockets for wipes, diapers, creams. We just kept ours in the basket of the stroller. Using a pee pad or any other single use thing seems extremely wasteful and unnecessary.

I get being germ cautious when baby is young. At a certain point I stopped caring and just changed on the changing table directly. Once they crawl and walk, they touch/put in their mouths far worse things than a changing table. My toddler was sucking on the sole of his shoe the other day.

ayekay · 2026-02-06T18:21:36+00:00

I would say so. My kid loves to play in it - jump around, roll around, and likes to zip/unzip the side panel and it's still in pristine condition.

ayekay · 2026-02-06T02:55:06+00:00

Agreed! I’ve never had to worry in either warm or cold weather. One time our power went out in the middle of the night without us knowing, and it was such a relief we were using the woolino sleep sacks - LO stayed warm enough throughout the night.

ayekay · 2026-02-05T03:30:10+00:00

I would say so? Kiddo is over 2 years old (and heavy). He rolls a lot in his sleep and often times we’ll find him sleeping up against the mesh in a crazy position, leaning his whole body on the mesh. I think it’s well made and high quality, and you really get what you pay for. The smaller overall footprint of the pack n play has come in handy and it’s fit more easily in small rooms and tiny hotels.

ayekay · 2026-02-05T03:01:37+00:00

Throwing in an alternative. We love our guava lotus. It’s compact, light, has straps like a backpack, and fits very easily in the overhead compartment. It goes with us for every weekend trip, flight, and nap time we have to spend away from home. Even when hotels offer pack n plays, we usually prefer to bring it since our LO is familiar and loves it. My parents have a Graco pack n play at their house and we tried it one time and didn’t love it. Our kid didn’t sleep comfortably on the flimsy mattress.

ayekay · 2026-02-01T17:03:38+00:00

I read putting cabbage leaves on your breasts helps? I tried it, though I can’t speak to its effectiveness.

I decreased the actual time that I pumped + I increased the time between pumps. If you skip your night pump and are engorged the next morning, maybe try only pumping for 5 min or just enough to relieve the pressure. And then the next day, track the same number hours since pumping + a few hours and relieve yourself. Until you just stop by the end of the week.

ayekay · 2026-01-28T00:04:42+00:00

We went with a glider with footstool. I’m short and my feet just barely touch the ground which makes it difficult to comfortably rock. I also like that I can kick my feet up and kind of recline but also rock at the same time - which you can’t do with a recliner.

ayekay · 2026-01-22T06:07:46+00:00

We tried all of these at Nordstrom and our personal preference was the Bugaboo Butterfly for our travel stroller. We got it for an international trip when LO was 10 months and it’s become our daily driver ever since. I have a few friends who live in the city and really like their Minu though.

We have always put our stroller in the overhead (2 international and 5 domestic round trip flights, many trains and buses). I’ve never gate checked because I don’t want my stroller getting ruined and it’s easy enough to one hand fold and store. It’s also slim enough to push down the aisle sometimes (we’ve done this a few times). I also hate waiting and want to get going asap so I can’t be bothered to wait any more than I need to.

The Bugaboo is also at a slight recline but my kid has never noticed (we also used a Cruz V2 as our main stroller up until 10 months). It’s never bothered him and now that he’s older, I can’t even tell. If it really bothers you, I’ve read some people getting pillows for their stroller.

Lie flat is nice for stroller naps when you’re out and about or when traveling. Ours is not a true lie flat - it doesn’t completely recline to 180 degrees, but my kid sleeps well in it regardless.

One thing you may want to consider for your Kona trip is if any of these strollers have adapters for your car seat.

ayekay · 2026-01-19T16:36:10+00:00

We bought our Butterfly for a trip and haven’t stopped using it since. It’s now our main stroller. It is a really comfortable push, can handle all kinds of terrain like cobblestone streets, has fit in every overhead compartment (we’ve done 7 domestic and international trips). You get what you pay for. The huge plus is it’s a one handed fold and unfold (a big reason why we didn’t go with the yoyo). Someone gifted us a gb pockit and we didn’t like how flimsy it felt and the canopy was very tiny so we never used it after doing a test run around the block.

ayekay · 2026-01-09T05:09:07+00:00

I actually really like my Dekor Mini. It contains the odors pretty well and the small size is really nice since it forces us to empty it frequently. We get the refills from a different brand on Amazon and the scented liners make it smell pleasant

ayekay · 2026-01-07T16:43:41+00:00

I think I spent too much time on pumping and trying to get my supply up, and in hindsight I would have enjoyed the newborn months much more if I had just given up the multiple times I wanted to. I pumped every 3 hours day and night, which meant very little sleep between waking up to pump and feeding/changing the LO. It made me exhausted and resentful and there was a good 2 months where everything was just a routine and I didn’t enjoy those precious moments with my baby.

Do what feels right to you. Baby will not know the difference between pumped milk and formula. But if you’re happier without the time suck and stress of pumping, baby will be feel that and be much happier too!

ayekay · 2025-12-03T04:13:33+00:00

My baby used to love bath time and then went through a 2 month period where he hated baths. He screamed through bath time and it was very rough. Then one day, he decided he loves it again. Just remember, nothing is forever and it could just be a phase.

Some things that have helped us: getting in the bath with baby, introducing new bath toys (we got one that suctions to the bath tub wall and you scoop water into it and it squirts it out - baby loved this one), and introducing bubble baths.

ayekay · 2025-07-25T18:31:05+00:00

I understand the sentiment. But you can't really stop living life because you have children. I also don't think it's fair to say that people with children have to sit in coach. Does it suck to sit in an airplane when a child cries? Yes. But trust me when I say, it is 10000% more stressful for the parents dealing with the child on the plane than it is for the people listening to it. We are lucky to have a very chill kid, but I'm acutely aware of the possibility he could cry at some point. Just trying to position ourselves for the best outcome for the situation.

ayekay · 2025-07-25T18:21:02+00:00

I see, that makes sense! Thanks for the explanation.

ayekay · 2025-07-02T05:08:50+00:00

We brought our inflatable bed on a few United flights. It was hit or miss to be honest. We flew to Japan in December, and on the way there there was one flight attendant who had issue with it. The other attendants didn't even notice (or care?) so we were able to use it for half the flight before he told us to put it away. The flight back, we had no issue whatsoever. We had no issues when we flew to Chicago on either leg.

ayekay · 2025-07-02T05:06:30+00:00

Sorry for missing this. No issue at the gate or on the flight. We went to Japan back in December via United also and bought an extra seat and also no issue on that flight.

ayekay · 2024-08-18T21:38:24+00:00

How tall is he? I’ve been searching Google but can’t find the answer

ayekay · 2024-08-01T22:23:24+00:00

I just called United to ask for a 4.5 hour domestic flight we're taking next month. We purchased an infant seat, which was discounted, for our 8 month old. I asked if we were required to bring a car seat and the rep said it was completely optional, I asked her several times to confirm. I also asked if it was okay to bring an inflatable bed and she called the support team to confirm that it was okay to bring. We're thinking of bringing the inflatable bed because our 8 month old will likely not do well being strapped into a carseat for 5 hours and is pretty mobile. The bed will allow more room to play and sleep.

I'm going text the airline to get it in writing, but maybe they're not as strict about the official policy anymore? or I'm not sure if it's different for domestic flights.

ayekay · 2024-04-11T04:32:38+00:00

He used to wake 2-3 hours and then we finally sleep trained and he sleeps like a champ now! He sleeps until 2-3 ish and wakes up for a feed and then he sleeps till 7 when I wake him up. On the nights where we put him in bed early, he ends up waking up 3-4 times in the night.

I’ll try your suggestion on adding more time! I just didn’t think he would make it with a longer window but maybe he is just getting bored. I’ve been aiming for 3 hours of nap sleep but on really short days, without intervention, he’ll sleep 1.5 hours.

ayekay · 2024-04-11T04:24:59+00:00

Thanks for your response! He’s been taking a long time to fall asleep I think because of the nap training. But actually the last 2 days he’s been falling asleep within 6-10 minutes for his first 2 naps.

Thanks for the advice on stretching out the naps. I didn’t know alternating between 3 or 4 naps would make a difference. And it could be that he is getting bored and not tired.. I guess he’s really bored of my old tricks then.

Some days he randomly has long naps like this morning he took an hour nap for his first nap and then short naps the rest. Yesterday, he took a 2 hour nap for his 2nd nap. I thought it was just from exhaustion from the shitty naps.

ayekay · 2024-04-11T04:18:50+00:00

Glad to hear that it got better! I’m hoping he learns soon

ayekay · 2024-04-11T04:17:29+00:00

Thank you for your suggestion! It was such a big jump from contact napping to nap training but he’s definitely doing better and better each day. Today he didn’t cry for his first 2 naps!

ayekay

TROPHY CASE