One of the best categories in this year’s Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (in my opinion) is the baby gear section! Almost every single “big” item we own for the kids is included in the NSale this year, which is pretty amazing. The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale officially starts today for Icon Credit Card holders, if you’re not sure what Nordstrom Club Status you have, you can find out here – just log in and click My Account.
I researched all of these baby items for hours and hours before making my purchases, and I can confidently say that they are some of the best on the market! Below you’ll find a thorough review of each item, ranging from car seats to strollers to our high chair. Let me know if you have any specific questions!
Uppababy Vista V2 Stroller
The Uppababy Vista Stroller was the #1 stroller recommendation from our family and friends when I became pregnant with Kennedy. They all told us that it works really well and lasts for YEARS, so multiple children all got to use it – and guess what – they were right! This stroller has held up amazingly well over the last couple of years. We have used it for both girls and it still looks brand new! It comes with a bassinet (with a ton of cool features) and a reversible toddler seat that can be positioned upright, reclined or anywhere in between. This stroller is incredibly smooth, even when there are bumps and cracks in the pavement, making it the perfect stroller for everyday use. It does fit in our car’s trunk and is easy for me to unfold and fold up by myself, although it does take up quite a bit of trunk space.
When your baby is very small, you will want to use the bassinet feature. This is what Collins currently uses – she has taken some very long naps in the bassinet while we are out and about! The bassinet is removable, so you can even take it inside your house and move it from room to room. When your baby is a little older, the reversible toddler seat is what you will use most. Kennedy still fits in the toddler seat (and will for at least another year, I’d imagine). She likes to sit in it when we have the snack tray attached with some of her favorite snacks!
The Uppababy Vista stroller also grows with your family, as you can buy adapters to make it usable for two babies. I personally prefer the side-by-side strollers when you have two kids (so that they can look at and interact with each other), but I know this function works well for a lot of families and it keeps the stroller from getting too wide. (The side-by-side stroller is hard to take in some stores that have narrow aisles.) Overall this is a WONDERFUL choice for an everyday stroller and we could not be happier with it!
NSALE Price: Originally $999.99, marked down to $749.99
Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair
The Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair has really grown with Kennedy and has been a staple for every meal in our household. I really can’t say enough good things about it! I originally decided to purchase it because it’s non-toxic (the base is made from solid beechwood and water-based paint, while the tray is free of BPA and pthalates), but now that we’ve been using it for several years, we genuinely love it. It’s super sturdy, Kennedy can’t tip it over, and it’s easy to wipe down if it gets messy during mealtimes. Kennedy has used it since she was only 6 months old just beginning to eat, and now she is almost two and a half years old and still using it. We’ve had to move the foot bar down several notches as she continues to grow. Kennedy loves it SO MUCH, in fact, that she refuses to sit at our kitchen table and only wants to eat her meals in her high chair! We were planning to use the same high chair for Collins, but now we are thinking the we will have to buy another one since Kennedy doesn’t want to give hers up.
As we are getting ready to start Collins on solid food, I am reminded of all the reasons that this is the perfect high chair for babies just beginning to eat! For starters, it puts babies in an ergonomically correct position to eat, with their feet on the “floor” and ability to lean forward (rather than being forced into a reclined position). The high chair does have a five-point harness if your baby is a wiggle worm. And, like I said, the biggest pro is the sturdiness of this chair – so sturdy, in fact, that it will even hold an adult!
The only possible con I could think of: this high chair does not fold up! If you do need to store the chair or “hide” it, we found that you can easily side it up to the table and out of the way, much like a regular chair.
NSALE Price: Originally $399.00, marked down to $298.99
Nuna PIPA Lite Car Seat
We originally decided to go with the Nuna PIPA Lite Car Seat because it’s the lightest one on the market, and I was seriously worried about being able to lift the car seat in and out of the car by myself. The car seat itself weighs less than 7 pounds, and although it does get a lot heavier with a baby inside, I have no problem lifting it! I am a HUGE fan of the Nuna brand because all of their car seats are completely free of flame retardants and perfluorinated chemicals and are made with the highest quality standards – they’re even Greenguard certified, too. This is so hard to find in a car seat brand!
The Nuna PIPA Lite model features a beautiful leather handle for easy toting and a large 50 UPF canopy with a flip-out shade. It’s suitable for babies from 4 pounds up to 32 pounds. This particular model is perfect for city living because it can be installed in a cab or airplane using the belt-path, or in a family car using the RELX base. In person, you can really tell that the Nuna PIPA car seat is a high-quality product. We used this car seat with Kennedy when she was an infant, and now it’s Collins’ turn! The car seat looks just as good today as it did a few years ago.
Pro tip: we bought a really simple adapter that lets us attach the Nuna PIPA car seat to the Uppababy stroller base, allowing us to use this car seat as a stroller. This makes it incredibly easy to transport baby when we’re out and about – just pop out the car seat and attach it to the stroller base and you’re good to go!
NSALE Price: Originally $575.00, marked down to $429.99
Nuna RAVA Convertible Car Seat
The Nuna RAVA Convertible Car Seat is the perfect car seat to transition your toddler to once they grow out of their infant car seat! We switched Kennedy over to this one when she was about 15 months old and it’s perfect for growing toddlers – the adjustable style allows kids up to 50 pounds to ride rear-facing and up to 65 pounds forward-facing. (We plan to keep Kennedy rear-facing for AS LONG as possible because it’s safest!) This car seat has cup holders on both sides for easy access to drinks and snacks during long car rides and features a 10-position recline with the push of a button. Like all Nuna car seats, this one is also completely free of flame retardants and perfluorinated chemicals, which is important to us!
Are there any cons? The only thing I can think of is that it’s not a car seat you want to be moving from car to car with any sort of frequency. It is on the heavier side (27.2 pounds), so we keep it installed in our family car and never move it!
NSALE Price: Originally $550.00, marked down to $399.99
Doona Convertible Infant Car Seat/Compact Stroller System
If you travel a lot, then the Doona Car Seat/Stroller is FOR YOU! This is honestly one of the greatest inventions of all time, in my humble opinion. Haha! This infant car seat has wheels built into its base and can switch from car seat to stroller in an instant. I used this all the time when Kennedy was little and it is so nice to use it again with Collins! It makes traveling with a baby SO, so much easier. You can use it all throughout the airport as a stroller, then simply check it at your gate. Once you get to your destination, you can switch it to a car seat without even having to take your baby out of it. We always rent a car when we travel, and it’s so nice not having to rent an infant car seat, as well! It does come with a base that you can install in your family car, but when you are traveling, you can use it without the base – all you need is a seatbelt to install it. Installing it in a car is honestly so easy, I could do it with my eyes closed. Which is great because you will likely be taking your baby in and out of the car constantly while traveling!
Just a note on size – Kennedy was able to use the Doona until she was about 15 months old. They are really made for infants, not toddlers, so I would only purchase this if you plan to travel when your baby is small! It does last a long time, though, and we are able to use the exact same stroller with Collins.
The only “con” is that there is no storage in this stroller, since the wheels fold up into the base. Make sure to plan ahead… I always wear a backpack when I know we will be using the Doona!
NSALE Price: Originally $550.00, marked down to $411.99
Doona Liki S3 Convertible Stroller Trike
The Doona Trike is another great product from the brand Doona. It is an awesome substitute for a traditional stroller and allows your child to be more engaged with their surroundings. This is another item that ages with your child – it eventually turns into a real tricycle with working pedals (when your toddler is ready). I will say that Kennedy LOVED this trike for a long time and had so much fun on our walks throughout the neighborhood. I now have trouble getting her to sit in any stroller for an extended period of time, so she is not real keen on riding the trike right now. However, this might change if I transitioned it into a real tricycle with the working pedals (we still have them locked right now!). Writing this blog post is a good reminder that I need to do just that!
The trike is great for outdoor use – the wheels are very sturdy and it comes with a canopy that offers shade from the sun, as well as a cup holder. It’s also ideal for traveling because it folds up really small! We have traveled with it before and found that it fits nicely into the overhead compartment of an airplane.
NSALE Price: Originally $250.00, marked down to $186.99
Let me know if you have any questions in the comment section and I will be happy to answer them!
