I have some stroller-related questions to help me make my decision:
Do toddlers around 3-years-old walk quite a bit more than ride in the stroller? I am sure that depends on the child...
How far can a toddler generally walk before they get tired? Let's say it's a 10-minute walk for me to the grocery store. Obviously, that will take longer with a toddler, but would they need to be able to take a break? Or a break on the way back after a short time shopping?
Very confused about riding boards on strollers: would all strollers have them, or just the convertible ones?
1. Yes, but we never really used a stroller anyway, so don't take my word for it. 2. Maggie would happily run the entire two miles home from daycare without stopping if I let her. We can usually get a good ten minutes at top speed in before she shows any sign of slowing down to my pace.10 minute grocery store walk there and back plus shopping would be a pretty easy one with her; all day at a zoo or something might be tougher. Might be weather dependent; she tuckers out faster when it's hot. 3. No idea.
@ab_canada I believe stroller boards are just stroller-specific attachments you can buy later on. For example, we have a Bumbleride Indie and I can purchase a Bumbleride-branded stroller board to fit on it if I want to.
Me: 31 | DH: 31
Together since 2003 | Married 2010 TTC #1 January 2016 BFP April 18 2016 | EDD December 29, 2016 Welcome baby A! January 9, 2017
TTC#2 March 2018 BFP March 30, 2018 | EDD December 12, 2018
Thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear! I know all the kids will be different and I asked my mom how it was when we grew up. We grew up in Ukraine, so there was a ton of walking and I'm fairly certain we had the bassinet stroller and then the umbrella stroller - that's all.
@PensiveCrayon I think I will just have to check at the store or with the manufacturer.. I just keep reading that these are useful when you have two kids and the older one gets tired of walking..
@ab_canada It really depends on the child. My son loves his stroller and requests it a lot when we go out (He turned 2 in March).
He can go a ways without a break, the problem is that he would love to run ahead at 4645 miles per hour and I don’t want him to. He is also easily distracted and will want to check out everything along the way if he is walking. You mentioned walking to and from the grocery store, so I am assuming you would be trying to carry groceries and hold his/her hand, which could be a problem.
Not all strollers come with rider boards. Some strollers have them as an accessory you can purchase.
If you are looking for a stroller and are not sure if you will need a double in the future, I highly recommend the baby jogger city select. It is a single stroller that can be converted to a double and a rider board can be added, too. There are like 16 different configurations and the basket is huge. I have fit our weekly groceries in the bottom of it. It folds up easily and can attach to the infant seats. I absolutely love ours.
I think the baby jogger city select is the only convertible stroller on my shortlist because of its reasonable price.. it's actually only a little bit more expensive than the standard ones I was looking at. It may just depend if there is a sale while I'm still looking..
@ab_canada DH jokes that I should become their spokesperson because I rave about it so much! When we bought ours, they were running a promotion where if you bought the stroller you got the 2nd seat kit free.
What about those "seat protectors" that I think are meant to go on the seat of the car, under the car seat? Are they worth it? Do car seat bases ruin the back seat? I would imagine it's something like the way furniture leaves a mark of carpet if it sits one the same spot for a while - but it does recover after a while.
@ab_canada We just moved DS’s car seat to make it forward facing after over 2 years of having bases/ car seats in that spot. The only damage was 586437 crumbs under the seat. We did not have a seat protector.
timesacharm I didn't have this first time around but this time I do so I increased water and for extra fun bought the most fiberous cereal I could. It fills me up and seems to have solved the problem.
@ab_canada In general, it's best practice to avoid after-market car seat accessories (strap protectors, buntings that get between baby and his seat, infant head cushions, and yes, seat protectors). Seat protectors can mask a crappy install, which means your child is less safe. If you absolutely must use a seat protector, here's what different manufacturers say about which are considered safe to use with their specific seats. https://csftl.org/seat-protectors-at-a-glance/
For what it's worth, we're three carseats in, and if I didn't tell you that each car seat had been used in all of the seats in the back at one point or another, you wouldn't know by looking.
@AGK2015 The safety would be something I would definitely worry about. One guy on a review said he used a towel to protect his seat, which seemed unsafe just reading about it. When I saw that there are actual protectors, I thought maybe they would be safer so I thought I would check them out. But it sounds like it might not even be a problem. My car is pretty old anyway and I am not planning to get a new one until I get back to work from mat leave - so I will get a chance to figure out if it's at all necessary.
@ab_Canada We went to the fire station to get ours infected and they actually rolled up a towel and put it under DS’s car seat in MH’s truck due to the incline of the seat to make the car seat level.
Re: The Great Birth and Postpartum Advice Thread
1. Yes, but we never really used a stroller anyway, so don't take my word for it.
2. Maggie would happily run the entire two miles home from daycare without stopping if I let her. We can usually get a good ten minutes at top speed in before she shows any sign of slowing down to my pace.10 minute grocery store walk there and back plus shopping would be a pretty easy one with her; all day at a zoo or something might be tougher. Might be weather dependent; she tuckers out faster when it's hot.
3. No idea.
TTC #1 January 2016
BFP April 18 2016 | EDD December 29, 2016
Welcome baby A! January 9, 2017
TTC#2 March 2018
BFP March 30, 2018 | EDD December 12, 2018
Thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear! I know all the kids will be different and I asked my mom how it was when we grew up. We grew up in Ukraine, so there was a ton of walking and I'm fairly certain we had the bassinet stroller and then the umbrella stroller - that's all.
@PensiveCrayon
I think I will just have to check at the store or with the manufacturer.. I just keep reading that these are useful when you have two kids and the older one gets tired of walking..
He can go a ways without a break, the problem is that he would love to run ahead at 4645 miles per hour and I don’t want him to. He is also easily distracted and will want to check out everything along the way if he is walking. You mentioned walking to and from the grocery store, so I am assuming you would be trying to carry groceries and hold his/her hand, which could be a problem.
Not all strollers come with rider boards. Some strollers have them as an accessory you can purchase.
If you are looking for a stroller and are not sure if you will need a double in the future, I highly recommend the baby jogger city select. It is a single stroller that can be converted to a double and a rider board can be added, too. There are like 16 different configurations and the basket is huge. I have fit our weekly groceries in the bottom of it. It folds up easily and can attach to the infant seats. I absolutely love ours.
I think the baby jogger city select is the only convertible stroller on my shortlist because of its reasonable price.. it's actually only a little bit more expensive than the standard ones I was looking at. It may just depend if there is a sale while I'm still looking..
I wish! Strollers are expensive.. convertible strollers are ridiculously expensive, especially if you are not sure if it will be necessary..
For what it's worth, we're three carseats in, and if I didn't tell you that each car seat had been used in all of the seats in the back at one point or another, you wouldn't know by looking.
The safety would be something I would definitely worry about. One guy on a review said he used a towel to protect his seat, which seemed unsafe just reading about it. When I saw that there are actual protectors, I thought maybe they would be safer so I thought I would check them out. But it sounds like it might not even be a problem. My car is pretty old anyway and I am not planning to get a new one until I get back to work from mat leave - so I will get a chance to figure out if it's at all necessary.
Actually, I heard about that - towels or pool noodles, apparently..