Hi, I'm Donna; 32 years young originally from Manchester but now living in Wigan. In our house there is myself, my husband and our three gorgeous children. Two girls aged 9 and 5 and our latest addition a little boy, Thomas who is just over 5 months and will be testing the Loola. I usually work part time but am currently on maternity leave and really enjoying spending quality time with my family. We are a very hectic family and love being outdoors and are always on the go. I have a HUGE passion for pushchairs and can’t wait to share our experiences.
Quick Summary: The Loola is a good sturdy pushchair which has some excellent features. My only real grumble over this pushchair is its weight when lifting in and out of the car boot. That said because of the smooth handling of the pushchair this was the only time the weight was an issue and I guess in many ways the weight is what gives the loola its strength and sturdiness.
Whats good?
- Compact fold
- Easy harness clips
- Swivel wheel catches
Whats not so good?
- Heavy to lift when folded
- Lack of colour options for boys
- No cosy toes just baby nest
First Impressions
I was very excited but also nervous when I saw how compact the box was, thinking it was all going to be in pieces and would take an age to put together. How wrong was I?.. Thankfully 🙂
Despite not being familiar with this brand of pushchair I managed to put the whole thing together within minutes and even managed to put the pushchair down without instructions, I did however have to check them to see what the little black connector thing was for. The instruction book is a series of images, which I felt new parents may struggle with.
The seat unit is very padded and looks snug and feels like good durable material. I like the pattern of the fabric and colour of the frame. The frame feels nice and sturdy. I love the newborn nest that comes with it and like that carseat adaptors are also included, the basket seems like a good size and is easy to access and the raincover feels like good quality.
So overall first impressions; I really like this pushchair and my son seems happy in it and I can’t wait to get out and about to put it through its paces.
8th September 2013
All ready for a short walk to the shops, snug as a bug in the baby nest 🙂 Love this nest and TJ was lovely and warm when we got back despite the bitter wind and no coat on, unfortunately, he wont fit in it for very long now as he is just 6 months and his feet are at the end 🙁 Used it facing forward and he loved facing the world whilst I loved the space in the basket especially as I had forgotten to attach bag hooks so our first trip out was a success I would say!!!!
25th September 2013
Decided to try the seat unit facing me today, as you can see from the pics TJ was lovely and snug still and fell fast asleep on our short trip to school and back 🙂 . I found the pushchair a bit more difficult to push facing this way as it didnt glide up and down small kerbs easily like it did when facing out. It also felt a lot heavier this way perhaps due to age/weight of baby? Think I will probably turn the seat back round as I like being able to steer one handed.
1st October 2013
Major spring clean at home this week so not been out much but absolutley loving how neat and compact this pushchair folds down regardless of whether it is forward or rear facing. Sure makes life easy trying to find somewhere to store it in the house, especially when you have morecthan onevto store. Also thanks to its easy access folding buttons you truly can open and close this pushchair one handed, though you do need to remember to lock the swivel wheels before folding so it stands up. This pushchair really does have some good buttons/switches lol. The wheels are altered by buttons mid way up the chassis so no need for trying to get to muddy wheels to lock or unlock them. Also like the memory buttons on the seat unit for taking the seat on and off.
8th October 2013
First time ive had to battle with the rain cover this week. I say battle as I found it quite awkward to get on quickly when we were caught in a sudden downpour. It has elastics which fit around the back of the pushchair and they are quite tight, also found that the hood kept folding down whilst trying to put the raincover on. Also concerned about how much foot space there will be when baby is bigger with the rain cover on as it is already close to touching his feet. It was also difficult to get a hand inside to pop his dummy back in once on, and we did steam up as the pic shows. All this aside steaming up seems to be an issue with most raincovers and once it was on properly it did feel very sturdy and im sure it will fair very well when in strong winds which probably arent too far away.
15th October 2013
Had to put the pushchair in the car for the first time this weekend as TJ was spending the weekend with his grandparents, so thought we would let them try it out too. Folding nice and neat is defo a bonus as it left plenty of room in the boot for all the other things needed such as travel cot, and seat. Grandad liked how neat and compact the loola folds and was easily able to put it up and down with no instruction, even managing to turn the seat unit around unaided. So I think it can be said that the loola is grandparent friendly 🙂
22nd October 2013
No pics this week thanks to our Great British weather as havent taken camera out with us. Unfortunately I have had to remove the babynest now as my little one was starting to get frustrated with it being slightly on the small side for him at 7 and half month. I was determined to get some use out of it though but no room for kicking feet means an unhappy little man!! Its a shame as it was lovely, soft and snug perfect I’d imagine for keeping new babies toasty warm during our glorious Autumn and Winter months.
8th November 2013
Found the loola a little heavy lifting it in and out of the car this last couple of week as not been too good. That said TJ seems to be loving the comfort it provides even without the snug. He especially likes that we can attach his toys to the bar for him. This sure does make for happier outings and because of the way the bar opens they do not obstruct us putting him in or out. Few trips to the parks scheduled for this coming week, so we will find out how it handles on different terrain.
16th November 2013
Fun in the park last weekend when the rain stopped!! The park we went too is usually lovely and sandy but it was more of a boggy swamp thanks to all the rain. I was a little worried about how the loola would handle it, visions of being stuck in sinking sand came to mind. But the loola breezed over it and didnt even have trouble in the thicker muddier areas. When coming back to the car I decided to remove the seat unit before folding as I didnt want to dirty it. This was easy enough to do and still fit comfortably in the boot. All in all a great day out and no problems from the loola.
23rd November 2013
Lovely walking weather today, so we had a nice long walk down the canal into town to do some Christmas shopping. The pushchair handled well over the rougher paths and was also easy to push and steer around the shops. Using bag clips on the handles we was easily able to manage our bags and didn’t have to worry about the pram tipping up as it felt very sturdy even taking baby out didn’t cause a problem. Thanks to its compact fold we were able to catch a lift home with friends who only have a small car.
1st December 2013
Wow what a hectic weekend, out trying to do Christmas shopping in Manchester. The only good thing about shopping this weekend with three children in such busy crowds was the pushchair!!!! It’s swivel wheels meant we were able to weave in and out of the crowds easily and the roomy shopping basket meant we had lots of extra storage for our purchases. Getting back to the car the Loola’s compact fold ensured we had lots of room in the boot to fit all our shopping in without it being squashed by the pram.
21st December 2013
Wow they do say practice makes perfect and its definitely true for me. Have been fighting to put the raincover on before now but thanks to all the lovely rain we have had the last few days I have finally figured out how to put the raincover over without the hood falling down or struggling with the elastics 🙂 probably obvious to most except me but the trick is to ensure that the top is secured first before trying to put the cover over the main part.
11th January 2014
Have got used to the raincover now 🙂 and have bought a universal footmuff for the pushchair as the weather seems to be getting a lot colder, Thomas is lovely and snug in it and so still enjoying his travels out in the pushchair.
20th January 2014
Have put the pushchair through some difficult situations whilst out walking and it is definitely rising to the challenge. Been through ankle-deep mud on some of our walks and the Loola is gliding through fairly easily keeping all wheels firmly on the ground and TJ safe and nice and comfy 🙂
12th February 2014
Was hoping to try the Loola in the snow yesterday but it never stuck 🙁 we did however try it out at weekend across soggy sand at one of our local parks again not a problem. Wondering if the raincover and loolas stability is going to get tested to its limits at the school run tomorrow morning if these storms are still raging.
20th February 2014
Lots of adventures this week for the Loola whilst we are off work and school 🙂 so far we have been for treasure hunts in the woods, playing on the park, walking down the canal and shopping round town all of which the Loola has taken in its stride. We even attempted public transport this week too and found no problems fitting on within the spaces allowed for pushchairs on both train and bus 🙂
4th March 2014
Lovely day out at the park yesterday in the sunshine with Loola feeling a bit sad knowing we may not have it much longer as have loved getting out and about with it. Oh well best make the most of our adventures planned in it for this week to celebrate my little man’s 1st birthday 🙂
Final Summary
The Loola is a good sturdy pushchair which has some excellent features. I particularly loved that you can lock and unlock the swivel wheels without having to touch them and the fact that it folded so compact AND stood up when folded. I think this would be excellent when being used with a car seat as it saves so much space. I also loved the extra clips on the harness that made putting on and taking off cosy toes much easier than other pushchairs. A lot of loolas features seem to make life easier like its folding and putting back up easily without the need to bend. The baby nest which comes with it is lovely and snug and the seat unit was very comfortable and roomy for my son.
The pattern of the pushchair was nice and the materials were excellent quality. The raincover I initially found a bit awkward to put on in a hurry but it was very secure and held strong against some very high winds. The pushchair handled well over a variety of terrains including deep mud! My only real grumble over this pushchair is its weight when lifting in and out of the car boot. That said because of the smooth handling of the pushchair this was the only time the weight was an issue and I guess in many ways the weight is what gives the loola its strength and sturdiness.
