Safety concerns with twin pram

I have been a supporter of Noola since our first daughter was born 5 years ago. Back then we bought the Elite single stroller with Isize c****at and isofix fixture and later on the 360 car seat. And a number of other smaller products like the pod. I can’t really complain much other than the pod tearing a month or two after we got it, but we forgave because the pram and car seats were of such great quality.

A little over 5 months ago our twin girls were born. This time we invested in the isize car seats and isofix fixtures again along with the Elite twin pram. Zero complaints on the car seats and fixtures. The twin pram, however, has been making me nervous. For the amount we paid we shouldn’t be nervous about anything. That is the reason for the review here.

The first thing I noticed from the get go is that the quality of excellence that when into the design of the single stroller was lacking with the twin stroller. I get that the twin stroller has to fit in more features so it is forgivable in some areas, but at certain places it just felt a bit… lazy. An example is the basinet seats. The original twin stroller’s basinet was a bit more customisable around the legs when folding into a seat, the twin basinets are stiff, so can’t fold it. The single stroller’s basinet had a way of moving or removing the baby fasteners to make it easier for the baby or toddler to sleep in the basinet. So when they are a certain age certain parts can be removed or adjusted. With the twin stroller the fasteners are fixed so when we need to put our babies in the basinets to sleep, we need to cover the fasteners with a thick blanket so the babies don’t sleep on top of it. This will become a bigger issue as they grow so it significantly reduces the time in which we can use the basinet for sleeping. Haven’t tested the seats yet as the babies aren’t sitting yet.

Then there was the things (let’s call them brackets) you need to put into the pram to fit the isize c****ats in. From the start we had an issue with the back part because if we put the brackets in the way that the seat is facing forward the seats was positioned in such a way that they were laying with feet in the air and head at the bottom. Another problem was that the brackets couldn’t be removed from the seats unless I pressed a thing inside the bottom of it which is a pain when the baby is still in the car seat. There was a lot of back and forth over Whatsapp with Noola until I literally had to go into their Willowbridge store to show the issue. They then told me that the brackets are meant to stay in and that the c****at can be put on top of the isofix fixture with brackets inserted. I understood this because at that point I remembered the first Isize seat we had worked the same. The problem was that it currently didn’t fit because we have three car seats at the back and with the brackets inserted it can’t fit due to the middle c****at being in the way. But I went home and thought I could make it work. But then, I noticed that the whole thing didn’t fix the issue as the baby at the back would still be upside down. I then went back to the store the following day and showed the three ladies there who were also dumbfounded by the issue and wasn’t certain what to do. They did confirm that it was a weird design flaw. They then phoned a superior who contacted me and sent me new brackets. Exactly the same but with a certain section on the brackets filed off, which in itself is strange. I was actually reminded at that point that the same needed to happen with our first pram’s brackets, but I can’t remember the details on that. The new brackets enabled me to switch the brackets without the need for it to be stuck in the c****at and then I could also turn it towards the front which is the recommended position for safety purposes. So that got resolved even though it felt like a very tiresome process.

Fast forward 5 months. The pram has been working okay, but it doesn’t feel as strong and sturdy as the single pram. I get that it is carrying extra weight, but that is what it was made for. It’s hard to explain exactly what I mean, but there is just something that feels like this pram won’t last as long as the single pram. Like at some point it will break, which is making me nervous. When I push the pram and press down on one side of the handle the pram creeks, like a old wooden chair or something. Only on the one side. It doesn’t inspire confidence. Especially since this is meant to last a few years and the twins are just getting bigger and bigger.

Had to pump the wheels up now which is fine. But I do wish the little pipe that you put into the pump was easier to access with the provided pump. That’s a design flaw. Had the same issue with the single pram.

All in all I do still have a soft spot for Noola as especially with the car seats it provides peace of mind with regards to safety. BUT, the issues with the twin pram has put us off from buying more products specifically because these were so expensive and it has given us issues that expensive products aren’t meant to have. So even though I have motivated friends in the past to buy Noola, my opinion has changed. Not sure if there was an overall slip in quality throughout the last 5 years, but in my opinion there are good or better alternative brands within the same price bracket or in the cheaper price brackets. If the single pram seems to be the same as 5 years ago, go for it. The twin pram… It looks cool, but it is making me nervous, which is not a good feeling after spending so much.