The Duplo car seat is a carrycot-style car seat that converts into a rear facing car seat and attaches to the Nurse Run4 pushchair chassis, to give you the Nurse Run4 Duplo travel system.
The idea of lie-flat car seats is based on research that suggests that newborn babies may experience respiratory difficulties if placed in car seats to sleep in the home. Research, published in 2007, in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, recommends that newborn babies should lie in a horizontal position where possible. However, it also stated that rear facing infant carrier style car seats are safe to transport babies.
Approved in accordance with the new European ECE R44/03 safety standards, the Duplo weighs only 3.3kg and has four recline positions, two of which can be used with the pram. It’s fitted using a normal 3-point seat belt. A ‘Group 0+’, as a lie-flat model, the Duplo is suitable for from birth to 6 months, and as a rear facing car seat it can be used from birth to 18 months (approximately 13kg).
What we love
The Run4 takes its inspiration from the Quinny Buzz 4 but is significantly cheaper. What’s more the price includes rain cover, changing bag and mat, car seat adaptors and shopping bag; accessories that many brands do not include.
If it’s a good looking stroller that you’re after then the Run4 ticks the box: the design of the pushchair caught the eye of other mums when I took my daughter Minnie for a stroll.
The Duplo is an impressive car seat. When flat, it’s smaller than the Nurse Capazo (the other carrycot-style car seat) in the range but this is because it converts to a rear facing car seat, which in turn means that you’ll be using this from birth until your little one is a toddler.
In the lie-flat position, the Duplo takes up only two seats in the back of the car. It uses a side seat and the middle seat, leaving space for another car seat or adult.
This is a robust, well-padded, durable car seat. I particularly liked the hardwearing kick pad, which my daughter Minnie put to the test with a half-hour session of foot banging. It converts easily from a car seat to a carrycot; you simply pull a handle at the rear of the seat and weight wise the Duplo competes easily with its rivals on the market.
What to watch out for
This is Nurse’s entry-level pushchair, so the £219.99 price tag is surprising. In practical terms, the only advantage over a Maclaren is that you’re able to attach a car seat to the Run4.
Pushing the Run4 is, at time, like pushing a wonky shopping trolley. Minnie’s ride in the Run4 was an eventful and, at times, dangerous outing. The lockable swivel wheels regularly locked out requiring some frantic pushing back and forth until they released. Whenever we hit a piece of uneven ground, the Run4 lurched to one side; this made me very uneasy when walking beside a main road. And, whilst the lightness of the frame is its USP, on a breezy day at the British seaside, the Run4 was blown around by gusts of wind.
When used as a carrycot, the Duplo is a little on the small side. It was on the cusp of fine for Minnie, who is a very petite 6-month-old. As a car seat, her cousin, Toby-bruiser-Osborne, 14 months, was squashed. Using the car seat on the front seat of our car was impossible - putting the Duplo on the sloping seat tipped the car seat so far forward that Minnie’s head was aiming for her knees. And at £150 the Duplo is the most expensive of the Nurse car seats.
Who is the Nurse Run4 Duplo travel system best for?
Parents who favour lie-flat car seats, and who don’t mind compromising on the pushchair element of a travel system.
The Nurse Run4 Duplo is a novel travel system with a superb car seat that will see you through the first 18 months of your baby’s life. But beware of the pushchair - it’s an expensive and, at times, unreliable addition.
