Strollers with reversible seat a good feature? Accomodate young babies? Recommendations?

jencnh · May 2013

I've been helping my daughter to find a stroller and it is just overwhelming! She's looking at Britax, BOB's, City.....one thing I've discovered in our research is that there are a couple that have the seat that you can reverse so baby is facing you (such as the B-Ready, and the City Select). These strollers are much pricier than the City Versa, Britax B-Agile, etc.

I feel that being able to see baby when they are younger is important (besides seeing them in the little mesh or plastic flap). From your own experience, is it an unnecessary feature or is it worth spending the extra money for it?

My other question, I've noticed many strollers say 6 month+. Do some of these strollers accommodate young babies without have to keep them in the car seat or purchase the separate bassinet that some come with?

LittleBlackBug · May 2013

Orbit Baby! Rotates 360 degrees. Awesome stroller system. Great design and quality.

AKB090609 · May 2013

If you want the reversible seat try the quinny zapp xtra, It is more like the b agile in size and weight and albeebaby.com has them for $169. I found that the b agile met all my needs and the b ready was way to big and bulky for us to use. I also had the b safe car seat so she did face me when we clicked that in the stroller for quick trips or I used a carrier.

hilsy85 · May 2013

I personally felt that it was important to be able to have LO face me as an infant...I also really wanted a bassinet, as I think the best position for young babies is lying on their backs, not squished into a carseat if you walk a lot (which I do). I still have LO facing me at 7 months (now in the toddler seat) and don't plan to turn him until he starts to complain. We have the UB vista and love it.

Temp123197812503460 · May 2013

Parent facing was a huge deal for me. I still usually use it that way at almost 2. I just think its nice to be able to see and interact with them that way, especially before they can talk.

Temp123197812503460 · May 2013

But I think the city versa let's you face the seat either way.

gimmietimmies · May 2013

I've had the Quinny Zapp and it was on of my least like strollers. It doesn't recline for older babies and the new ones that allow you to use the car seat also can't be used without it for at least six months, kind of pointless. But I won't turn this into a rant of my great dislike for that stroller.

A good deal of strollers that can face either direction are pricey. The least expensive of the decent ones is the Phil and Teds Smart with bassinet. The Versa adaptors allow the bassinet and the child seat to face in either direction and can be used with the Graco Snugride. Also look at the Mamas and Papas Urbo or Sola (they fold very compact as well), and I think the Phil and Ted's Dot. Sounds like you've found the others.

ETA: the Urbo, Sola and Dot can be used from birth. They all lay flat. No bassinet or car seat needed.

jencnh · May 2013

Thank you everyone that is giving me feedback and suggestions. I want you to all know that I'm researching EVERY suggestion each of you make, so thank you. I'm still open to hearing other peoples favorites...and dislikes!

SplashingFishy · May 2013

I'm a fan of the uppa baby vista as well. I loved having DS face me and soon he loved facing out. I love that he sits higher than in other strollers... Less worry of him getting hit in the head with someone's shopping bags of forward facing and easier to interact with rear facing. It comes with a bassinet, which I mostly used around the house, or you can buy a converter to snap a car seat in.

Now that we're expecting 2, we bought a skateboard like attachment that goes on the stroller so DS can hop on for a ride while LO rides in the stroller. Yes, it's pricey and a bit on the bigger side, but its one of the few my tall DH can push without kicking.

jencnh · May 2013

somewhereincali:
But I think the city versa let's you face the seat either way.

My mistake. I meant the Elite. The issue with the Versa is it doesn't lay flat for an infant. You'd have to get the bassinet which means spending more money.

MrsJetSet · May 2013

Another ub vista fan here. I loved being able to face dd either way depending on age and circumstance. We still face her towards us if she needs a nap and therefore needs less stimulation. Other reasons we liked it was the adjustable height handles, bassinet, and snap and go functionality and the giant basket.

If they say starting at 6mos they do not recline enough to use with an infant.

Temp123197812503460 · May 2013

jencnh:
somewhereincali:
But I think the city versa let's you face the seat either way.
My mistake. I meant the Elite. The issue with the Versa is it doesn't lay flat for an infant. You'd have to get the bassinet which means spending more money.

Makes sense. FWIW we really liked having a bassinet. We used it around the house as a place for sleeping and it was nice not to have to deal with buckeling little ones into a stroller I know they aren't going to roll over but I feel like Ina lay flat seat you still want some security that they don't move whereas in the bassinet the high sides means you can just plop them in there.

Temp123197812503460 · May 2013

jencnh:
somewhereincali:
But I think the city versa let's you face the seat either way.
My mistake. I meant the Elite. The issue with the Versa is it doesn't lay flat for an infant. You'd have to get the bassinet which means spending more money.

Makes sense. FWIW we really liked having a bassinet. We used it around the house as a place for sleeping and it was nice not to have to deal with buckeling little ones into a stroller I know they aren't going to roll over but I feel like Ina lay flat seat you still want some security that they don't move whereas in the bassinet the high sides means you can just plop them in there.

jencnh · May 2013

I've been researching all evening. The Uppababy is really nice but out of my daughter's price range.

I was almost sold on the Mama's and Papa's Sola cause it's $400, the seat reverses, and it lays flat for an infant so no extra money for the bassinet. Then I saw it didn't get a great rating in the BabyBargains Book, so now I'm unsure about it. My biggest concern for what they said about it in the book is "quality issues." I also wish it was compatible with more infant car seat brands.

Wondering if the Britax B-ready would be the "cheapest" bet with the bassinet. It would be $520, total.

jencnh · May 2013

cinciem:
I have and love my b-ready. We use it facing us and have recently purchased the 2nd seat bc we are expecting again.
I got mine through the britax free ride event which I think is going on now. It allows you to get a free car seat, second seat or bassinet with stroller purchase making it really cost effective. I also love my Briax infant seat (b-safe). I used my amazon registry completion coupon during the free ride event and got it for a fantastic price.

I've heard of that event. How does it work? I thought you had to buy them directly through Britax. I'd love to find out more cause I think she's going with the B-ready and the B-safe.

missesru · May 2013

SplashingFishy:
I'm a fan of the uppa baby vista as well. I loved having DS face me and soon he loved facing out. I love that he sits higher than in other strollers... Less worry of him getting hit in the head with someone's shopping bags of forward facing and easier to interact with rear facing. It comes with a bassinet, which I mostly used around the house, or you can buy a converter to snap a car seat in. Now that we're expecting 2, we bought a skateboard like attachment that goes on the stroller so DS can hop on for a ride while LO rides in the stroller. Yes, it's pricey and a bit on the bigger side, but its one of the few my tall DH can push without kicking.

All of this, almost exactly

DD was in the car seat adapter on our Uppababy Vista for the first few months. She faced me, sat up high and I loved it. We used the bassinet feature quite a bit - especially when travelling (it was amazing when we went to Mexico when she was 2 months old). We switched to the seat around 5 months and she only wanted to face out to the world. We haven't used it much since around 2 years old, but I'll be buying the skateboard attachment thing before LO2 arrives in November. Love this stroller.

diskogurl · May 2013

Loved my uppababy. Got it on Craigslist for a steal. Bassinet and parent facing are so worth it.

jencnh · May 2013

Loolaide:
Check Albee baby. That site has a lot of deals, including a memorial day sale. I got my uppababy vista for under $500, including the bassinet (I bought a previous model year). It's comparable in price to those you're looking at now.

That's an awesome price! After a visit to BBB my daughter and her husband have decided on the Baby Jogger City Versa. I checked out this site and of course it's the only stroller NOT on sale. I'll keep checking back though. Thanks for the info!

JilllyBean · May 2013

We are going with the uppababy baby cruz, which has all the same features as the vista except the 2nd seat but is lighter and narrower. We registered for the infant insert so the baby can sit in the stroller seat. We will also have an adapter in case we want to use the carseat, but we will probably try to minimize the time in the carseat so the infant insert will be nice. I like that the seat can face either way, but am a FTM!

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Strollers with reversible seat a good feature? Accomodate young babies? Recommendations?

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