The Nuna Tavo is a travel system stroller. This means that you can put a rear-facing car seat in the pushchair with ease. It is designed to make traveling with a young child as simple and stress-free as possible.
The idea was to make this travel system safe, comfortable, and fashionable, and although these ideas are great, we need a little more information before adding the Nuna Tavo to our basket.
Busy parents often use a travel system instead of a classic stroller because they cut out the amount of storage you will need in your car. They also make moving your child from the car to the stroller easier. So we want to test just how easy and seamless the Nuna Tavo is.
Ease of Assembly
An easy-to-read manual is the underappreciated assistant of any building model, even if it’s just Lego. Luckily Nuna Tavo comes with a straightforward instruction book which tells you everything you need to know to put together your stroller.
We love this little booklet because it also has a visual aid to help you on the journey, making the process that much simpler.
Assembling the Nuna Tavo isn’t like IKEA. You don’t have to build everything from scratch, as it arrives almost completely constructed.
All you need to attach are the arm bars, the brake bar and the wheels. As there is little for you to do, and the instructions come with pictures, it shouldn’t take you longer than 15 or 20 minutes to put everything together; and that time includes checking on your kids.
Once you have assembled the Nuna Tavo, you’ll notice just how easy it is to fold and unfold. In fact, you can do it with just one hand, which is perfect for when you are juggling too many things at once, and you need a simple action to flat-pack your stroller.
Once folded, the stroller should fit into any trunk without a struggle, and seeing as it weighs only 25 pounds, you shouldn’t have a problem lifting it either.
Appearance
The Nuna Tavo is undoubtedly a beautiful stroller. It has clean and crisp edges, a streamlined styled, leatherette handlebars and soft comfortable materials. All of which you can tell just by looking at the pushchair. Honestly, with the design you are seeing, you would expect a much higher price tag.
You can buy the stroller in one of 4 colors, Aluminum, Blue, Black, or Red. All three are mostly black; however, depending on your choices, you will have accents of color along with the framework.
Compatibility
Nuna has an extensive range of strollers, most of which are compatible with each other, so it’s not unfair to assume that Tavo will be the same. However, Nuna Tavo is only compatible with Nuna Pipa car seats, and that doesn’t even include Pipa Lite.
This means that you will have to purchase a specific car seat if you want the Tavo to use its traveling system correctly. This isn’t necessarily a problem unless you already had a Nuna car seat and hoped to combine the Tavo with a different sub-brand.
Locking System
The Nuna Tavo seats use a Pipa base to bring in their signature True Lock system. The True Lock comes with confirmation indicators so you can feel confident that your child is safely secured. You are even given a bubble level which shows you when the stroller is perfectly balanced.
Even when your child is locked in place, you are able to create multiple positions with the base so your child can be comfortable at any given angle.
Features For You And Your Baby
Even though portability and safety are super important, and easy assembly and easy compatibility are desired, your baby is only going to care about one thing; comfort. Nuna Tavo comes with an all-season seat that has a plush pad to cushion your child’s back.
It would have been better if this cushion was long enough to cradle a baby’s bottom; however, we noticed that our children didn’t seem to mind the seat. It was comfortable for them, and they especially liked when the four-position recline was activated so that they could lie all the way down.
Reclining is easy. All you need to do is unzip the back of the seat and pull the lever down. The only issue we had was putting the zipper pieces back together. It wasn’t a real struggle and only took a minute, so we weren’t too bothered by the experience.
In terms of safety and comfort, the 5 point harness was very secure and heavily padded, so your child won't get upset with thin chafing straps. The quick-release button means that getting your baby out of the stroller doesn’t have to be a long and annoying experience for your child. Just a simple click and go!
All of these quick and straightforward features are amazing, however, the removable arm bar isn’t as seamless. You need two hands to take the bar off, which means you may need to concentrate on this process or longer than your child likes. However, that is the only issue we had with the bar.
If you want a tray instead of a bar, you can buy one, but it is sold separately. The tray clicks into the same place as the bar, and it has a cup holder and a snack compartment!
One of the best features in the Tavo is the over large canopy which has UPF 50+ technology. It also has a flip-out eyeshade and some zip-out dream drapes to give your child as much protection from the sun that they need. There are also two large mesh ventilation panels so your baby can stay cool on hot days.
This ventilation can be covered with the peek-a-boo window flap connected by magnets instead of velcro. Magnets are easier to clean than velcro and less likely to break, which is why we are so happy to see them in this stroller.
Out And About
The Tavo is meant to be a smooth ride that is easy to move from the car to the stroller. This is the sole reason why some people purchase the Nuna Tavo. Let's have a look at whether Tavo lives up to the hype.
The front and rear wheels have a progressive suspension, making it super easy to turn the stroller even when you find yourself in a tight location.
The tire quality is strong, as it takes on gravel roads and cobbled streets with ease and without disturbing your child. You can even take the stroller on the grass.
The two front wheels can either swivel or lock into place. Swivels absorb the bounciness of the journey, creating a smoother ride, however, they can be hard to maneuver with, so having the option of both is super handy.
The brakes are super easy to use and only need to be touched once with your foot to activate. It doesn’t matter what shoes you wear either, so if you have a summer baby and want to wear sandals, you can do so without worry.
Taking your child out and about means taking a lot of their baby items with you. Luckily, the Nuna Tavo has a large storage basket under the baby seat, and it can hold up to 10 pounds. We recommend using the basket from the back, as the front is dedicated to your child’s feet, so removing items in that direction is fiddly.
As we said before, when it comes to the car seat, it is only compatible with Nuna Pipa car seats. It is also a single stroller, so if you have more than one child, you won't be able to add an additional seat to the pushchair.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Nuna Tavo is a comfortable stroller that looks fantastic and is easy to use. It has all the features you would want from a modern baby carrier, and it keeps these features included without taking away from its overall aesthetic. The Nuna Tavo is an excellent choice for maneuverability, ease of use, style, and comfort.
However, as a travel system, it is a very limited stroller. It can only accommodate one car seat, which is usually more than enough, however, we are so used to Nuna making all of their baby gear compatible with each other that seeing this restriction is startling.
If you are happy to have this limited choice, there is no reason to avoid Nuna Tavo. If you were hoping to use a different car seat or already have a car seat you wanted to put in a stroller, then you should look elsewhere.