As soon as I saw the Mamas & Papas Luna I knew it was the pushchair for me. I just had to have one.
The Luna is a versatile pushchair that can be converted into a pram with the addition of a soft carrycot. It can also become a travel system by clipping on the Primo Viaggio IP car seat. But these weren’t the reasons I had to have it. It wasn’t even because it folded down small enough to fit into the boot of my beloved Mini. No, I had to have it because it was available in bright pink. Not a soft baby pink as favoured by other brands. No, a beautiful vivid pink called Tulip!
The Luna was developed by the daughter of the owners of Mamas and Papas, who just happens to drive a Mini! The fact that it is compatible with the Primo Viaggio IP and Aton car seats makes it a sensible choice for mums who are out and about in the car. However, the clips you have to add to the pushchair to secure the car seat are a little fiddly. They fit on to either side of the frame. This makes the pushchair much fatter when folded and I certainly would not recommend removing these every time you get into the car. You may have to allow for this extra thickness when trying it in your boot.
What we love
One of the best features of the Luna is the single handle. This makes it very easy to push one-handed, which is great if you still need to hold the hand of an older child or the lead of dog. The design of this pushchair feels very modern. It is a real head turner when you are out and about. It folds very small and square shaped, which is fabulous if you have a smaller boot. Quite often umbrella fold pushchairs fail to fit into a normal family car boot due to their length. The vibrant accessories available to go with the Luna means you can create your own distinctive style. You can mix and match liners, parasols and changing bags.
What to watch out for
The Freedom to Explore harness is great now Biba can sit up, but when she was a newborn I would found that she slipped to the side very quickly. The harness offered no support as it is anchored from the bottom of the seat rather than through the back. So although this pushchair is recommended from birth, I would be cautious of using it without the carrycot for a very small baby. The seat pad is also quite narrow which meant that she would slip forward.
The Luna is now fitted with a bumper bar (mine did not have this as it was one of the earlier models) as standard. This provides some of the additional support I felt mine was lacking. It has a really large hood, which we thought would be great when we took it on holiday. But at the back of the hood it has a mesh fabric that allowed sunlight in. There was no flap to cover this up. This meant that if Biba fell asleep, the sun would shine directly on to her head. I had to drape a blanket over the hood whenever this situation arose.
Who is the Mamas & Papas Luna best for?
Mums with tiny car boots who want to push their baby about one-handed, so they can toddler-tame with the other.
The Luna is easy to use and looks great even on a rainy day. Despite being recommended from birth, the shape of the seat isn’t particularly well suited to a very young baby. Being able to use the car seat and carrycot with the Luna is definitely a plus.
