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ickle bubba Stomp V2 Review by Best Buggy

We first spotted the ickle Bubba Stomp V2 at the Harrogate Nursery Fair. The display was excellent, and the pushchair looked very attractive. However, the stand was busy, so we were unable to get a close look. Therefore, we looked forward to seeing the ickle bubba Stomp V2 up close at Best Buggy HQ.

First Impressions

Our first impression was that there was a huge amount in the box! Out came the pushchair chassis, the seat, the carrycot fabric, the hood, liner, apron, car seat adaptors, raincover, wheels, bumper bar and changing bag!!
The Stomp comes as three packages – the 2 in 1, the 3 in 1 and the All in 1. We believe we have the Stomp All in 1 package, minus the car seat. The Stomp All in 1 has an RRP of £499. Everything you would need as a travel system for a newborn would be included in the package. There have been compromises on the quality and finish. There is a 2 year warranty which will give peace of mind.

Newborn Options

There are two options which are suitable from birth: the carrycot and the car seat options.

As stated, we have the car seat adaptors – which will take the Stomp car seat. There are also universal car seat adaptors available which fit a Maxi Cosi Pebble or Cabriofix or an iZi BeSafe. Car seats should really only be used in the car, or for quick trips out – nipping into the doctors or a shop for example. If your baby is going to be at the destination more than a few minutes, then it is worth taking the time to pop the carrycot onto the chassis, to keep your baby comfortable and safe.

The ickle bubba Stomp V2 carrycot arrives as a large piece of fabric. The pushchair seat fabric needs to be removed, and then the carrycot fabric needs fitting in its place. We converted our pushchair seat into a carrycot, and it was easy, self explanatory and only took a short while. The fabrics zip into place. There is a coloured apron which is secured by a press stud on each side. It is not the best securing method, but it works. The carrycot is a good size with a mattress. There are feet underneath the base of the carrycot so that it can be placed on the floor without getting dirty. This also maintains air flow around the carrycot. The carrycot is easy to fix and remove from the chassis, by pushing a button on each side. In theory the carrycot can fit on the chassis facing in either direction, however most parents will want their little one facing them.

Child Comfort

The seat unit can be placed on the chassis facing in either direction – parent facing or forward facing. The seat is easy to pop off, turn round, and push back on using the side release buttons. Be careful to fully lock the buttons by sliding them slightly – there is a visible gap if they are not properly attached. There are 4 recline positions on the Stomp V2 seat unit which is useful. These include a lie flat position and an upright position. The recline is done using a large white button on the rear of the seat. We did find this tricky to release as it is stiff. The seat fabric also obstructed this button which did not help.

The ickle bubba Stomp V2 pushchair seat is a generous size. Bearing in mind that most children of Master BB’s size (94cms tall), will not be still riding in a pushchair, it should be clear that the Stomp V2 should easily last your child until they no longer need a pushchair. Master BB’s head is supported, and is well clear of the rim of the hood. Master BB prefers to dangle his feet, but when he did rest them on the footrest, he looked comfortable. The footrest is not adjustable although the tilt of the bucket seat, should mean that a child’s legs and feet will always be supported when asleep. Master BB did nap in the Stomp V2, and was fine. All round Master BB looked comfy in the seat.

There is only one harness height setting which leads to concerns about whether a small baby could be securely fastened in the seat unit. Master BB meanwhile has ample harness space, and the straps were at a good height on his shoulder. There is provision in the liner, to bring the waist straps closer together at the rear for a small baby. We brought the straps around the sides of the liner for Master BB.

The harness itself we found frustrating and tricky. We are seeing more pushchairs with harnesses which break into 5 pieces upon touch, and this was another example. However, the shoulder strap connectors are particularly fiddly to get the correct way round to attach onto the waist straps.  The harness is a part of the pushchair which is used each time, and with a wriggly or crying child in rain and an icy wind, this is exactly the sort of irritation you don’t need. Personally, we find these so frustrating that we would want to replace the harness. Fiddly harnesses may lead parents to not bother doing up shoulder straps, and that is a concern. A child needs to be secure in a harness – it needs to be tightly fitted with all parts done up.

Hood, Liner and Apron

The hood on the ickle bubba Stomp V2 is a real selling point. It is absolutely enormous! It can be easily moved into the desired position, and looks just as good whether open or fully extended. The hood is made of a lycra type material, thus it looks good when taut and open. However when the hood is only slightly open, the fabric becomes floppy – however this does not affect the child – just how the hood looks! The advantage of having a hood made from thin material is that when the hood is pushed back, it does not obstruct the all round view for the child. There is no peekaboo window, but this is only a minor detail. We do not know about the sun protective factor of the hood fabric.

The Stomp V2 comes with a liner. This is well padded and adds to the comfort level for the passenger. It does slip down a little and we did ‘catch’ the threads on the liner a few times. As stated, there are holes at the rear for the waist harness. however we found it worked better to bring the harness straps around the sides of the liner. The liner may have stayed in position better if we had used the waist strap holes. The harness has matching colour coded shoulder pads.

There is also a thick padded apron for the pushchair. The apron press studs over the bumper bar. This is a lovely touch to finish the look of the pushchair off. The apron is a reasonable thickness and would help to keep a child warm with the addition of some blankets. It would serve well to keep the sun off a child’s legs when warmer, as there is room for air flow. With the hood fully down, there is very good shelter for the child.

ickle bubba sell the colour packs as an accessory which means that the hood, liner etc. can be easily changed for another baby, or for a different season, or to match your new car!

Bumper Bar, Basket, Raincover and Changing Bag

The ickle bubba Stomp V2 comes with a foam covered bumper bar. In theory this does swing away, however in practice there is not enough room for a child to climb in or out. It will need removing for access, if the child can not be lifted over the top.

The ickle bubba Stomp V2 has a generous sized basket. We carry a lot of kit around with us, and it easily held everything we needed on our outings. It is maybe worth comparing the photo of my handbag in the basket with some of the other pushchair baskets we have reviewed – there is literally bags of space! There is a hard plastic base in the basket which is useful for easy cleaning.
We have not been happy with the way the basket fabric is all bunched up at the rear. We have tried moving the velcro tabs, but it doesn’t look any better. It is a small detail but it does look messy.

A raincover is included with the ickle bubba Stomp V2. It is always useful to have a raincover in the price. It folds small, thus can left in the basket where it does not take up much room.

ickle bubba included a changing bag in with the Stomp V2 pushchair. The changing bag is black thus will match any of the Stomp V2 colour schemes. There are various outer and inner pockets for all your baby essentials. We like that the bag opens from the side thus it is easy to see the contents. There is also a good sized wipe clean changing mat, and a shoulder strap. We hung the changing bag on the handlebar for photos, however, in reality the changing bag is better placed into the basket.

Wheels, Brake, Handlebar, Handling

The ickle bubba Stomp V2 is really lovely to push. We liked the chunky foam covered handlebar. The handlebar is adjustable: two buttons – one of each side allow the handle to rotate into several positions. Even with a bigger toddler on board, the Stomp V2 was light and easy to manoeuvre. The light weight, handling and push were notable features of the Stomp V2, and we have had some enjoyable outings. A good pushchair is one where we don’t know we have it – and the Stomp V2 does quite simply “just works” – it pushes well, the handlebar felt right, there was room in the basket, with no need to hang items off the handlebar, the seat was a good size etc.
The small front lockable swivel wheels helped facilitate this ease of handling. However the thin plastic levers which lock the front wheels highlight the cheap build of this pushchair. The rear wheels are large with an easy to flick down brake bar between them. The brake bar is something you have to fit onto the chassis when the Stomp V2 arrives, again another compromise on price.

Fold

The ickle bubba Stomp V2 is apparently a one piece fold, however we could only get our Stomp V2 to fold as a two piece fold i.e. the seat or carrycot needs to be removed from the chassis before folding. We will try again and see if we can work it out.
The chassis folds by sliding the two black plastic sliders up the handlebar. The slider on the right has a small release button which allows the chassis to fold down flat.
The Stomp V2 is surprisingly compact when folded if the handlebar is tucked in, however this is an extra step to the folding process. The seat unit simply nests inside the chassis. With the handlebar tucked in, the chassis will freestand, which makes the Stomp V2 easy to store. The rear wheels can be removed for a neater fold. There is a chassis lock which will hold the frame closed when being carried. The carrycot will fold flat for storage.

Opening the Stomp V2 is simple. Undo the chassis lock, and pull handlebar up until the pushchair is open, and is standing on all 4 wheels. Then simply pop the seat onto the top of the chassis. As stated before, the point where the seat meets the chassis needs careful checking to make sure the seat is indeed properly fitted. A good push / slight slide should click everything into place.

In Conclusion

This review has been written very much taking into consideration the price point of this pushchair. This ickle bubba Stomp V2 pushchair package offers good value for money, as a whole package, although the Stomp 2 in 1 package, does feel expensive for what you get. The Stomp V2 comes a 2 year warranty which will offer peace of mind.

The Stomp V2 is lovely to push and steer. It is handy to have the carrycot, seat liner, apron, raincover and changing bag included in this package. We like that colour packs can be bought as accessories, so that the hood, liner etc can be easily changed. The hood is absolutely huge when open and folds right back when not in use. We would have liked the bumper bar to be properly gate opening to allow a toddler to clamber in and out. The harness, and harness height were issues for us. Our basket looks messy at the rear, however the basket is huge and it is accessible, so I am not complaining too loudly! All round the functionality of the ickle bubba Stomp V2 is good. We enjoyed using the Stomp V2

Many thanks to ickle bubba for helping us with this review.

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