Baby Jogger City Go Car Seat review

So when I heard the brand was launching its first ever car seat, the Baby Jogger City Go, it’s safe to say I was quite excited.

This baby car seat retails at £99 and faces stiff competition from the likes of Phil & Ted’s Alpha (£129), Mountain Buggy Protect (£129), and Maxi Cosi’s Pebble Plus, retailing at £190.

Baby Jogger buggies are known for being lightweight so it came as no surprise this is one of the selling points of its new car seat too. And as we’d be using it for my youngest Theo predominantly when going on holidays, I didn’t want a car seat that would be too heavy to lug around.

The City Go is a Group 0+ car seat, suitable from 0-13kg (birth to approximately 12-15 months old) and meets the new EU law to keep children rear-facing for 15 months.

It comes with a newborn insert, has a 5-point safety harness with three height positions, a one-pull harness adjuster and high side impact protection. It also comes with a removable SPF 50+ hood canopy.

You can buy the Baby Jogger City Go car seat from Kiddicare, Pramworld, Uber Kids and Amazon.

The Go is sold as being a lightweight, slimline car seat, is that true?

The City Go is just 43.2cm wide so it’s definitely slimline. This is great if you’ve got a small car or want to fit two car seats and an adult in the back. It’s practically the same size as one of its main competitors, the Phil & Teds Alpha car seat which is 43.5cm, but is still fractionally smaller than the Pebble Plus.

How does it install in the car?

One of the things I like about this car seat is that it’s easy to install without a base. This is perfect for parents who don't own a car and only use a car seat occasionally in other people’s cars or taxis.

It has a taxi-safe belt that allows you to securely use it in a taxi, or car, without a base. But if you do use a car seat all the time it is recommended that you use a base.

I installed the car seat into the car without using the base. It took a couple of attempts to get it right but once I knew what I was doing it was a doddle.

The trickiest part was working out which way to pull the seatbelt out and over. The easiest way is to pull it out as far as it will go across the front of the car seat when it’s rear-facing and buckle the seatbelt. Then pull the seatbelt out and around the back. The seatbelt guides and taxi-safe belt path are quite intuitive so even mums like me who don’t drive can work out how to do it.

If you're confused by car seat installation, have a look at these...

• How to install a car seat
• The new i-Size law: what it means for you
• The pros and cons of rotating car seats

How comfortable is it for your little one?

It has a padded headrest and shoulder pads and Theo was quite happy sitting in this car seat. In fact he was so comfy he fell asleep while I was strapping him in for the first time.

Is it light to carry around?

This really is a lightweight car seat and brilliant for transporting Theo around in. At 3.6kg it weighs slightly less than its Phil & Teds counterpart (3.9kg) and nearly 1kg less than the Pebble Plus. The handle is also adjustable making it even easier to carry.

Would you recommend it to someone with a child of a particular age?

I’d recommend this car seat for newborn and quite young babies as although it says it’s suitable until 12-15 months it is on the small side.

How is strapping baby in?

I found it easier to loosen the straps before putting Theo into the car seat and then tightening it once he was in. To do this you need to press down on the silver latch, found under the flap in the centre, to release the one-pull harness adjustor. If you want to change the height you need to unthread the strap, remove it from the metal buckle, and rethread it at the height you require it.

There are two positions for the crotch strap. Underneath the car seat you’ll find a metal buckle. To adjust the crotch strap you need to hold down the plastic latch, pull the metal buckle out and feed it back through the other setting. It probably sounds more complicated than it is.

How does it work as a travel system?

This car seat is compatible with the Baby Jogger City mini, City mini GT, City mini 4-wheel, City elite, City select, Summit X3, Zip, Versa, Versa GT and the city GO.

But it's not compatible with the City Mini Double, City Mini GT Double, City Lite or Vue buggies.

I tested it out on my City Mini single buggy and it was pretty easy to turn it from a buggy into a travel system.

The only things you need are the car seat adaptors, which are sold separately (£24.99). I just slotted an adaptor into a hole on each side and popped the car seat in so that Theo was facing me.

The City Go car seat has the same look and feel as my City Mini buggy so matched it nicely. What I also like about it is that if it’s a hot day I can pull the car seat canopy all the way over Theo and then pull the hood over him the other way so he’s totally shielded from the sun.

What’s different about this infant car seat?

The sun canopy on this car seat is a great. Unlike some other ones I’ve seen this extended nearly all the way over Theo giving really good coverage. And it’s SPF 50 giving him proper protection against the sun.

What do you think of the seat height and size?

The height of the seat is 66.6cm, quite a bit smaller than the Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus at 75cm. The seat also seems a bit on the small side. Theo is quite a long baby and I very much doubt he’ll be in the City Go until he’s a year old, let alone 15 months.

Will your little one be able to sit rear-facing up to 15 months in this seat?

Theo is nearly 5 months old and I’m not convinced this car seat will last him until he’s 15 months. But I could be proven wrong yet.

What kind of base will it fit into, how easy is it to slot in?

It fits into an ISOFIX base, sold separately at £99.99, that can’t be used with any other car seat. It has features that include an indicator that shows green when the car seat has been securely fitted, and red when it’s not in properly. It also has an extendable support leg that again has a green and red indicator that fits against the floor to give added stability and stop the car seat tipping over in an accident.

How portable and easy did you find to get in and out of the car?

The City Go is really portable and I managed to get it in and out of a two-door car very easily.

Is the car seat easy to clean?

Yes. The fabric parts come off and can be washed.

What do you think of the design?

The design is clean and modern. The style matches the City Jogger buggies so you can easily integrate it when using it as a travel system. The seatbelt guides and taxi safe belt guide are also incredibly helpful if you’re installing the car seat without a base.

Is it easy/hard to install the car seat in the car?

The car seat came with five instruction booklets all in different languages. None of them said what languages they were in on the front, and even more confusingly all of them started off in English, so it took a while to figure out which was the one I needed to use.

I got a little perplexed reading the manual. I tried looking at the pictures but it wasn’t a great help so I enlisted my other half to try and help me decipher them. I don’t know if it’s because I can’t drive or I’m just generally useless when it comes to following any kind of instruction manual. My partner did say he found some of it slightly confusing too and was better off working it out by himself. And we both found it much easier in practice to install the car seat. It’s fairly intuitive to work out where the seatbelt goes thanks to the seatbelt guide and taxi-safe belt path.

What would you have wanted to know before you purchased the seat?

That it’s not compatible with the City Mini double buggy. But then sadly no car seat is currently compatible with that particular make and model.

Who would the seat be most useful for?

Mums who are after a lightweight car seat and already own, or are planning to buy, a Baby Jogger buggy.

Is the seat value for money?

The City Go car seat retails at £99.99, cheaper than some of its competitors, but if you want the ISOFIX base it will cost you an extra £99.99 on top. It’s hard to say whether it’s value for money right now as it really depends on how long it will last Theo, and I’ve no idea.

What’s in the box?

Baby Jogger City Go Group 0+ car seat

Any additional extras?

• City Go car seat adaptors £24.99
• City Go ISOFIX base £99.99

MadeForMums verdict

If you’re after a lightweight, stylish car seat that’s easy to install, with or without a base, the Baby Jogger City Go is ideal. The only snag is that it’s only compatible with Baby Jogger strollers and you need to buy the adaptors separately.

We've got more Group 0+ car seats here:

• 13 of the best car seats from birth
• Lie-flat car seats from birth
• Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix review