You don’t always want to cart a buggy round and the older our little boy gets, the less inclined he is to sit in his (battered) chariot. With both of these facts in mind, coupled with the reality of his ever growing weight, I have been in the market for some alternative transportation for the nipper…enter the SmarTrike 7 in 1 (queue trumpets). 

This compact transport system is a great alternative to a buggy and significantly more versatile. With the freedom to switch between 7 operating modes, there is so much more fun to be had, with all of the perks of a buggy. I’m hugely impressed with the design, there is so much to it. With the 7 stages of use, I can see it being one of those baby items that’s around for ages. 

SmarTrike day that Stage one is the folded up form of the trike. It’s pretty compact and takes up way less room than most strollers. At 7.7kg, it isn’t the lightest, but it’s certainly more manageable than a travel system. Stage 2 is designed for a 9 month old baby, featuring an early stage footrest allowing your baby to comfortably sit in the trike. 

When baby reaches 12 months, you can fold down the footrest to create Stage 3. During this stage, baby can sit with the high-back seat and softly-padded safety bar. Eddison loves being pushed around in his trike. I think the likes the feeling of being closer to the ground and I’m 95% sure he thinks he’s driving! 

As your little one continues to grow, you can remove the canopy to provide your child with more room. Stage 4 is all about letting your child develop their confidence, balance and motor skills as you push them around using the parent handle.

The cool thing is that when you feel your child is ready, you can attach the pedals, remove the safety bar and switch the navigator button to create a pedal on training trike. For added peace of mind, the telescopic parent handle remains up in Stage 5 to give you greater control when you need it, which inevitably with out somewhat untameable child, we will! 

At Stage 6, you can close the parent handle to create a fully independent trike that children can pedal by themselves. Stage 7 requires you to remove the high-back support to the seat, revealing a more traditional pedal trike. It’s like Stage 7 is the ultimate goal. 

I can’t see our boy getting there for a while, but I love that we’ve got a piece of kit with good longevity. It’s so annoying as a parent when you get something and your child grows out of it or loses interest after a short time. The SmarTrike is robust, versatile and best of all adaptable. I’m so chuffed with it…stand by for comedy images of when Eddi crashes it.