For those of you who practice babywearing, how often do you use your stroller? I registered for two different sizes of storkweige (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) wraps but am at a loss if I should ask for a stroller as well. Ideally I would like to wear LO until he/she can walk then I'll just get one of those cheap umbrella strollers for when she/he gets tired.
My main concern is that family members will want to push the kid around, or be moody that it is not easy to pass LO around at gatherings because he/she is secured to my body in some strange contraption.
Re: babywearing and strollers
Currently going through our second deployment. Can't wait for Zoe to meet her daddy!
DD 8/28/2014
DD 5/24/2016, stillborn at 40 weeks
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
We haven't used the stroller much, especially when DD was smaller. She just had zero interest in being in it. I had registered for the Moby and had intended to use it some, but became a full fledged babywearer based on DD's needs.
My family wanted to push DD around- particularly my grandmother- but DD wanted no part of it.
My recommendation for friends is to wait until the baby is here and you can figure out what kind of stroller will really suit your family. I registered for a travel system and while the stroller isn't horrible, it really just hasn't gotten much use. Not only is it an expensive stroller to not get used (IMHO) but it's rather bulky. I wish I had gotten a Snap 'n Go for when she was itty bitty and either an umbrella type stroller or jogging stroller for now. I would find either more useful than the one we have but am entirely too cheap to replace the one that has barely been used.
I'm not even sure I'm going to get a new stroller with the new LO coming. My current plan is to wait it out and see if I can get away with purchasing a fold up wagon, instead. I currently load our plastic Step2 wagon into the car for most trips were I would need a stroller (like the zoo) and find it soooo much easier than the stroller. A fold up wagon would be ideal.
DD2 8.22.13
MMC 1.4.17 at 16w
Expecting #3, EDD 1.29.18
We mostly used the stroller when DD was really little and would fall asleep her carseat. We had a travel system so we would just snap the carseat into the stroller. It was super easy. She never really liked the stroller when she was awake. Now she is 10 months old and she is starting to like the stroller but still prefers being worn. I think it's good to have a stroller because even if you plan to babywear most of the time, there are times when it is convenient to use a stroller.
DD HATED being worn when she was little and I have back issues so I can't wear as much as I'd like anyhow.
We have two strollers. One came with our infant bucket seat and is junky. I don't care for it at all. We also have a babytrend jogging stroller. I believe it was very reasonably priced and I love it. The only downside is the tires are bicycle type so adding air is annoying.
I watched a 4 year old for a couple of weeks and we went on walks everyday. When she was tired of walking I would wear (13 months at the time) DD and put 4year old in the stroller.
A stroller is also nice to store the diaper bag and other shopping bags in.
My LO is 4 months, and we've barely used the stroller. That said, there has been times when the stroller has come in handy. Early on, when I would go for walks with my mom, she liked to push the stroller. Also, if I have to go somewhere to try on clothes, I use the stroller. And a handful of times DS has been asleep and I didn't want to wake him, so I just plopped the carseat into the stroller.
I am glad I have a stroller, but I wish I would have invested in a more long-term stroller. We just got the snap-n-go, which was affordable, but I haven't used it that much and we'll need to upgrade to a larger stroller whenever he outgrows his carseat.
For us, it depended on what we were doing and his age.
The first couple of weeks home, we used both - the stroller for our daily walks, but we wore him whenever we went out.
Then he started hating the stroller, so we wore him everywhere.
Around 3 months, he was okay in the stroller so we wore him most places, but I could use the stroller for the mall or places where I needed to try on clothing.
When the weather was nice, DH used the stroller again for walks while I'd go for a run and then meet up with them on my way back.
Now (15 months) we still use both depending on where we are.
I wear DD almost 100% of the time when out of the house. She's started to walk a bit now but most of our trips out of the house are to walk the dog and she just can't do those at the moment, a one hour walk would end up being a 3 hour walk!
We do have a few strollers, a jogging stroller for when I went running, and umbrella stroller and a bugaboo which I got used from a friend. The umbrella stroller is used by my mum when she looks after DD as she has low bone density in her lower back and is concerned about it re wearing DD and the bugaboo stays with DH's parents for when they have her once a week, they are in their 70's and aren't comfortable baby wearing.
I also can't walk to any stores etc because of where we live so we're in and out of the car, I find it so much easier to just pop DD into a carrier than pull a stroller in and out of the car.
g
I have only ever used a stroller for running and for a day trip at the zoo when I was solo with both kids (and I've actually done that sans stroller too!). It's personal preference and there's no right or wrong. I would suggest waiting until baby is here and see what suits your needs.
FWIW, I like having baby "secured to me" at gatherings - less germ exposure
Breastfeeding Counselor with Breastfeeding USA
Babywearing Guide ** Newborn Carriers
Cloth Diaper Guide
Safe Bed Sharing Info
www.becomingmamas.com
peace,
katharine
Book-Kitten blog
Strollers kind of alternate between being nice and being a PITA.
With my first I only tried the stroller because I was ceaselessly pressured into it by the inlaws. Rrrrr. They bought it even though I made it abundantly clear that I was not interested in having one. So whatev. I tried it. I hated it. Daughter hated it. We both ended up in tears and the stroller went out to the garage.
This time, I am planning on getting the Orbit Baby stroller for my SO to use. He isn't sold on baby wearing, although I think he'll come around eventually. However, because I want to facilitate his spending as much time with the baby as possible, I think it is important to make it easy on him by being lenient about such things. It's not life or death. It's just transportation.
Hope this helps and good luck!