babywearing and strollers

dreadiemama · January 2013

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.

pepomntpat · January 2013

Early on I mostly only used the stroller for Stroller Strides class. I use it much more often than wearing now because DD prefers it.

danienross · January 2013

Now that I have two I generally wear the baby and put the toddler in the stroller. I say it doesn't hurt to have one on hand.

versed · January 2013

I mostly wear DS, but having a stroller on hand is great if I needed to take him clothes shopping with me. Random, but something to consider.

klafle3 · January 2013

I wore LO and rarely used the stroller for the first 6 months or so because he needed to be held. Now he loves the stroller and I hardly ever wear him anymore.

nosoup4u · January 2013

We didn't buy a stroller until DS1 was six months. It was mainly because he was born in winter and we didn't have the space to store it at the time (seriously, we had to keep it in our car trunk!). It was fine until then.

sugarbear0524 · January 2013

I would go ahead and get a stroller. You don't know whether your baby will like being worn or whether your back will hold up to extended baby wearing. There will be days when you need to use it.

BelhurstBride · January 2013

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.

skibunny59 · January 2013

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.

LatteLady5 · January 2013

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.

aglenn · January 2013

I would get one because there are times that they are handy, and you never know what baby will like. DD hated the stroller so we rarely used it but DS just loves to get in the stroller and go for a walk. He will get so excited and squeal and kick his feet like it's the best thing ever. I like having both options.

mb314 · January 2013

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.

TiffanyBerry · January 2013

We used carriers and strollers for different things and at different times. I'm very glad I had both a selection of carriers (wraps, SSCs) and a BOB.

blu-eyedwife · January 2013

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.

lizztheo · January 2013

We use the stroller for the diaper bag and things when we go on a day trip zoo, museum, shopping. I use it for LO if he falls asleep in his infant carseat because I hate waking him. But you would need a travel system in that case.

tortuga47 · January 2013

I use our stroller a lot. I wear him around the house but when I go out on walks, I typically put him in the stroller. Then again, most of my walks consist of errands or stopping at the grocery store on the way home, so I use the bottom compartment. And, as you mentioned, when family visits, they love taking LO out for walks and bonding with him.

MouseInLux · January 2013

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.

MrsBigTime · January 2013

I use our stroller much more than I thought I would. I baby wear s LO, too, but sometimes the stroller is just easier. It's really nice for shopping, especially, even if I end up wearing DD, I have someplace to put all my stuff.

ncbelle · January 2013

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

bookkitten · January 2013

Neither my husband nor I have ever used our stroller, but my MIL uses it sometimes when she is babysitting to take Max to the park, etc. We probably could have survived just fine without it, but it's nice for her to have available.

Meganequine · January 2013

Basically dittoing what everyone said. Depends on the situation. I wore him for groccery shopping etc., but now he likes to sit in the cart and look around. In the early days I took daily walks and would alternate between wearing him and pushing him in the stroller. (I figured it gave me different kinds of exercise- pushing v. carrying Wink

)

highlights · January 2013

My DS hated being worn until he was almost 4 months, so we used the stroller a lot.

Strollers kind of alternate between being nice and being a PITA.

happywife2b · January 2013

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!

londonellemarie · January 2013

I would get a stroller to have on hand we have both and i wear her if i dont need to take her out alot like clothes shopping bc i have to try things on that when i use a stroller bc it ends up being a pain taking her in and out especially if she is sleeping so i dif. do stroller when clothes shopping other than that i try to always wear her.

nyki06 · February 2013

I pretty much never used our stroller when my daughter was really little but once she hit about 10+ months it was easier in some situations.

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