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It sounds almost too good to be true, an infant car seat that instantly becomes a stroller and vice versa. How could one piece of gear be both an infant car seat and a travel stroller and be good at both things?
The pros at the Good Housekeeping Institute Parenting & Pets Lab met the Doona with skepticism when it hit the market more than five years ago, but since then we've been won over by how convenient and versatile the system is, notably in infancy. Members of our team plus consumer testers—a dozen people altogether—have used the Doona for years and logged thousands of hours of testing, providing rich feedback. (Some parents passed a Doona down to a second sibling.) The Doona Car Seat and Stroller has proven to be not just practical but durable.
Your baby will fit in the Doona from birth until around age 2, at which point you'll need to buy a convertible car seat. That can make its $550 price tag seem high, until you factor in how much use you can get out of your Doona—and how much space it might save.
Pros
- Car seat and stroller are all one piece
- Robust impact protection
- Ideal if you're in and out of different vehicles
- Compact and easy to travel with
Cons
- Babies typically outgrow it within two years
- No underset storage or recline
- Must rethread the harness straps
| Child weight and height limitations | 4 to 35 lbs; up to 32" in height |
|---|---|
| Weight | 16.5 lbs |
| Dimensions | 17.3" x 23.6" x 26" |
| Color options | Red, grey, black, blue, olive green, bright green and Midnight Edition (for an extra $100) |
Is a Doona Car Seat and Stroller worth the money?
We do recommend the Doona, but it's not for everyone. We named it the best car seat and stroller combo, beating out traditional travel systems that include a full-size stroller with a separate infant car seat and base.
What is so special about a Doona stroller? If you're frequently in and out of your car in the suburbs, or your family travels a lot by car and plane, you'll likely love having just one piece of gear seamlessly work in a vehicle and then on the ground. If you're a city family that might start an outing with a stroll and then end up calling a rideshare, the Doona is also for you. One tester told us, "It's for anyone who wants to make their life easier on a regular basis."
However, if you're an urban family without a car and you rarely get in anyone else's vehicle either—sticking with strolling and mass transit—we would say that the Doona probably won't provide the same level of benefits. Also, if your child is already past the first birthday, you might not want to invest in the Doona for only one year of use. But it's ideal from the early months (we'd even recommend it for getting a newborn home from the hospital) and it's worth adding to a baby registry.
How easy is it to use this car seat-stroller hybrid?
Our experts have found it extremely easy to transition the Doona from car-seat mode to stroller and back again once you learn the technique, which is simple but unique. It really only take a few seconds to convert it. There are many helpful videos on YouTube, including some from the Doona brand. You can also watch this clip of our Chief Technologist & Executive Technical Director Rachel Rothman demonstrate the ease of the Doona during a TV segment.
Our testers note that there's an initial learning curve. "Sometimes it's hard to close because the wheels need to be at a certain angle for it to click all the way down," one mom, who has used the Doona for two kids, told us. "I saw a mom with a new Doona trying to get it right at the airport and I stopped to show her how to do it smoothly. Once you know, you know."
You can safely transform the Doona from stroller to car seat and vice versa with your baby safely strapped inside it the entire time. That convenience is a favorite feature.
How long can a baby use a Doona?
Some of our Lab experts and testers were able to use the Doona until a bit past their child's second birthday, and others switched out before the second birthday. It's a rear-facing infant car seat that fits a child up to 35 pounds and 32 inches tall, which many kids reach at age 2. That's the same weight and height as many of the other top-performing infant car seats on the market.
One tester parent told us, "The extending handle can get sticky over time. That's why we actually bought a new one when we had our second child. To be fair, that was after more than two years of use with our first, who was always big and heavy for his age." Other parents were able to pass their Doona down to a second child.
Can the Doona be your only infant car seat?
You don't need another infant car seat—just the Doona will do. Rothman's pro tip (she used the Doona with all three of her kids) is to keep the car seat base in whichever vehicle you use most often. Snapping it in and out of the base is the fastest way to travel. But the Doona can also be secured in any other vehicle using a backseat seat belt.
A tester who noted that her family did an "insane amount" of travel during their son's first year said, "Personally, we used ours for travel and backup if we were going to be in someone else's car." In their case, they kept a different car seat installed in their SUV and used the Doona for all ancillary rides and plane trips, sometimes traveling with its base (if they'd have a rental car) and sometimes not (if they'd be in rideshare vehicles).
What's it like to use the Doona Car Seat and Stroller?
There are a few downsides and tradeoffs. In stroller mode, there's no underseat storage in the Doona, since it has to fold down to car-seat form. If you expect to be out all day and need to carry an enormous amount of stuff, you may want to have a full-size stroller for that. But you can buy a mesh storage bag made especially for the Doona that can hold seven pounds of cargo.
The stroller is easy to push—it can roll over curbs and bumpy sidewalks without problem—but it is not an all-terrain stroller. If you need something for the beach, we recommend a stroller wagon and if you're frequently tackling rough trails, we like a jogging stroller.
Another aspect that's important to note is that the Doona seat is always at the same angle. We think the angle is upright enough for a baby to see what's happening around them but reclined enough for rest. Still, it's worth acknowledging that with most traditional strollers, and with some traditional infant car seats, you can adjust the recline while on the Doona, you can't. We feel the benefits of using the Doona are worth that compromise.
For rear-facing infant car seats, "harness straps should lie flat, not twisted, and be placed through the slots located at or below your child’s shoulders," as explained by the National Highways Traffic and Safety Administration. With the Doona, as your baby grows, you will occasionally need to rethread the harness straps to keep up with your child's shoulder height. Rethreading is a traditional feature of infant car seats but some newer models from other brands now have no-rethread harness straps. Find directions for how to rethread the harness on the Doona site.
Finally, in car-seat mode, this is an infant car seat that's a bit too heavy to carry around—16.5 pounds to be exact, plus you have to factor in the weight of your baby. You won't end up carrying it by the handle as you would carry around any other infant car seat; once it's out of the car, you'll want to put the wheels down and roll it instead.
Unfolded, the stroller measures 17.4" x 32.3" x 39". Rothman says that the telescoping handle works for her when it's pushed in, and also works for her over-six-foot husband when the handle is extended.
The base connects in your car's backseat using the LATCH system. Folded into car-seat mode, the Doona measures 17.4" x 26" x 22.4". Our testing showed it easily fits into most sedans as well as SUVs.
The Doona is sold in six colors: red, gray, black, blue, olive green and bright green. There's also a special Midnight Edition in a more luxe black fabric with faux-leather accents and an all-black aluminum handlebar with a removable cover. The Midnight Edition is an extra $100, for a total of $650.
How safe is the Doona Car Seat?
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has previously given the Doona Infant Car Seat a rating of 5 out of 5 stars ("excellent") for overall ease of use, but that rating has since expired. NHTSA plans to include the current model in its 2023 ratings tests; updated ratings are expected to appear on its website in late 2023.
In our testing, we like how the Doona's handle functions as an anti-rebound bar when it is in car-seat mode. Lower the handle so it rests against the backseat as you travel and, if you come to a sudden stop, it will help absorb the force of the impact. Additional Doona safety and certification information is listed on the brand's website.
We had testers who were able to bring the Doona on an airplane for their baby to sit in, since it is FAA-approved. The car seat is 17.4 inches wide and most airplane seats are between 17 and 18 inches wide. Note, however, that FAA approval doesn't guarantee that any given airline has to let you use this or any other car seat; different airlines, crews and countries may follow different rules.
Also note that if you want your baby under age 2 to sit in a car seat on an airplane you need to buy them their own plane ticket and attach the car seat using the airplane seat belt.
How we test car seats and strollers, including the Doona
The parenting experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute look at car seats and strollers both in the Lab and in real-world conditions. Every stroller is pushed over multiple terrains. We time and rate the ease of fold and try every adjustment for the seat and handle. For the Doona stroller, we have had consumer testers send us feedback at every appropriate stage—infancy, babyhood and toddlerhood. We've tested the Doona for thousands of hours over five years with a dozen families.
For car seats, our experts check with the NHTSA to be sure that each car seat we recommend has passed Federal Safety Standards. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, “Child restraint systems,” has long been the testing standard; there is now also additional testing, called FMVSS No. 213a. We also perform in-Lab and at-home tests to assess safety, ease of installation, stability, ease of adjustments, ease of getting babies in and out and more. We have tested the Doona infant car seat in a variety of vehicles and with rear-facing babies from birth through age 2.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Our experts have been testing consumer products for more than 100 years with the aim of helping assure that everyone can buy safe, trustworthy products for their home and family. Our Good Housekeeping Institute in New York City employs engineers, scientists, culinary pros, nutritionists and more. In addition, we maintain thousands of consumer testers who provide us with valuable feedback.
The Doona was tested and reviewed by Chief Technologist & Executive Technical Director Rachel Rothman, a mechanical engineer with more than 15 years of experience at the Good Housekeeping Institute. She's also a mom to three kids ages 6 and younger who provide her with plenty of testing opportunities.
Contributing writer Jessica Hartshorn wrote this review. Hartshorn has reviewed baby gear for more than two decades, first with American Baby magazine, then for Parents magazine and now for the Good Housekeeping Institute. She's a mom of two kids who are now young adults.
Jessica (she/her) is a freelance writer with several decades of experience writing lifestyle content and evaluating home and parenting products. A mom of two teens and two cats, her previous work can be seen in American Baby and Parents.
Rachel Rothman was the chief technologist and executive technical director of the Good Housekeeping Institute for over 15 years, overseeing testing methodology, implementation and reporting for all GH Labs. She also managed GH's research division and the analysis of applicants for the GH Seal and all other testing emblems.
