With air-filled (pneumatic) tyres, a wide seat and handy extras (cosytoes and raincover) for your baby’s comfort and a padded handle for yours, the Xtreme buggy is easy to push. The front wheel is lockable swivel and a tyre pump is included, too.
The Xtreme buggy weighs 14kg and the Xtreme infant car seat is 2.5kg, though Mothercare states the overall weight as a travel system is 17.3kg (not 16.5kg, as you might expect). The car seat is suitable from birth to 15kg (roughly 12-15 months), while the buggy is suitable up to 3 years.
What we love
Many new mums may be weighing up the pros and cons of getting a travel system instead of just a buggy, and perhaps thinking that the travel system is a more expensive option. With the Mothercare Xtreme this is certainly not the case - while the full price is £400, you may find it’s often available for the sale price of £200, as was the case at the time of reviewing. For that bargain £200, you get the 3-wheeler pushchair, the Xtreme infant car seat, a lovely padded cosytoes and a raincover, which you can use on the pushchair both with and without the car seat attached.
The Xtreme pushchair feels really nice to push, and is easy to manoeuvre. The handlebar is nicely padded, and there’s a deep hood to make it very cosy and provide shade from the sun.
The seat of the buggy is very wide and comfortable, and because the tyres are so chunky and air-filled, it just seems to float along regardless of the roughness of the terrain, so it’s a very pleasant ride for your baby.
I tested the Xtreme with both my own 3-year-old son, who absolutely loved sitting up holding on to the bumper bar and bouncing along in it, and my friend’s 3-month-old baby, who looked very cosy and secure tucked up in the padded cosytoes.
The Xtreme car seat is well padded, with nice deep side protection wings, and a cushioned insert for newborns. It’s also light (2.5kg) and easy to carry, and has a rocking action when you sit it on the floor. The car seat is very easy to click onto the pushchair and to lift off, and I like the fact that the raincover is big enough to use when the car seat is on the pushchair.
I tested the ‘Giraffe’ colourway, which I absolutely loved, and which attracted a lot of compliments. It’s really stylish looking, but practical too as the black fabric will never look grubby or stained. It’s unisex, which is a bonus if you’re planning on using it for more than one child.
What to watch out for
The Mothercare Xtreme is not a compact buggy by any means, although it’s far from being the biggest or heaviest on the market. It folds down flat, but is quite bulky when folded, which may not be ideal if you need to fold it on a bus or get it into the boot of a small car. I have a Polo and could get it into my boot without having to take the wheels off, but they do pop off easily if you need to get it into a smaller space.
Its bulkiness also means that it may not be the best choice if you live in a small flat and don’t have much room to store it when it’s not in use.
My husband is tall, and would have preferred to be able to adjust the height of the handlebar. The level of the handle also meant that my toddler bumped his head on it repeatedly when I used it with a buggy board.
Who is the Mothercare Xtreme Travel System best for?
Parents with plenty of room seeking a sturdy all-terrain pushchair at a low price.
The Mothercare Xtreme is a really good value travel system, with plenty of great features and added extras for your money. It’s not a compact choice, however, so be wary if you have a small car or not much storage space at home.
