Lessons Learned on Strollers

Jeark1004 · July 2014

Hello December 2013 moms!

I'm a FTM expecting a baby this mid-December. I'm sure you all remember the overwhelming information/options and the intense discussion around strollers probably right around this time during your pregnancy. Well, I wanted to seek out your insights on strollers, what you ended up purchasing, and if you have regretted your decision, and why...Also, interested to hear your lessons learned for having (or not having) a lighter umbrella stroller. Should I get one or would having a main fullsize stroller be more than adequate?

I'm thinking I'll go with a Britax B-Safe carseat with a Baby Jogger City Select. I had initially wanted a Chicco keyfit 30, but it would save us close to $80 by doing this since Britax is about $50 cheaper than Chicco and the Britax adapter for the stroller is about $40 cheaper than the universal adapter for Chicco. So, for those of you who purchased either the Britax or the Chicco, I would also love to hear your experience with these two products as well!!

Thank you SOO much in advance for sharing your thoughts!

MissyC979 · July 2014

Most of the babies on this board are probably just starting to be able to use umbrella strollers over the last couple months. We haven't broken out ours yet, although he's probably ready for it. We got a MacLaren Triumph for our older son and I love it. It's a good quality and it has higher handles--I would steer clear of the super cheap umbrella strollers because they are often really short and rickety.

I just have a Graco Metrolite stroller that I got as part of a travel system for DS1. I don't love it, but I use it most of the time because it has a large basket under it and is reasonably convenient. I can't really help with the Britax v. Chico comparison, although I've always heard good things about Britax.

KMKaiser07 · August 2014

We have the graco click connect travel system and love it. Like pp said, it is nice to have the big basket underneath and I love that it feels comfy and reclines to laying down. That feature has come in handy several times when LO unexpectedly fell asleep on a walk/outing. We keep the lightweight stroller in my husbands car since that's the one we are always out in and it's extremely nice to have when we are out and don't want to lug around the heavy travel system stroller.

penelopemaria · August 2014

I bought the Uppababy vista. I love it but I'm TTCing for #2 now and the 2nd seat option sucks.

I wish I had splurged and bought the Bugaboo Donkey. It would have been an AMAZING stroller for our long hikes and I love that it's a side-by-side.

My advice is to avoid a tandem stroller if you plan to have two kids close in age and if you will get a lot of use out of your stroller.

GL!

Montgomerysmomma · August 2014

We have the Chicco cortina travel system with the chicco keyfit 30 infant seat. My 7 month old is just about to outgrow the weight limits of the car seat at about 80th percentile for weight.

That said, we love the system and use the stroller part without the car seat attached everyday since he was about 5 months old and had decent head control. We often use it at restaurants rather than messing with the high chair and cover or him eating the restaurant high chair sides (gross)! It is pricey but we were gifted the system at our shower. No regrets. I'm a baby wearing mom who uses my wraps, soft structured carriers, or ring sling often instead of the stroller but it still gets plenty of use. Good luck with what you decide.

mamashan12 · August 2014

I have the britax b-agile, which is very similar to the City Select. I love it, no complaints. Easy fold up and the car seat has been great too. If LO is awake I very often just take her out of the car seat because she's so heavy now, and put her in the regular part of the stroller. The only thing I'd change on it would be to make the basket bigger.

We've been using the chicco liteway as our umbrella stroller for walks since April. It's a great lightweight stroller with a nice sized basket underneath. I like having the extra stroller so I don't have to worry about pulling the other one out of my car, and DH always has one to take her out if I'm not home. It's also much easier to carry around because it's a bit more compact.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

Montgomerysmomma · August 2014

Agreed about the short canopy on my keyfit.

Hncamp · August 2014

We have to britax be safe travel system and love it.

manausmom · August 2014

We had a gracco click connect but I thought it was too bulky and in less than 6 months it broke!!! So no, I wouldn't recomeded it.
We also have a chicco liteway umbrella stroller and I love it! It's great for traveling.
Now I am looking for a new stroller. I know that I want a lot of storage space. I am looking into the uppababy cruise, bugaboo bee.

MaryBB77 · August 2014

We got the britax b ready when they were doing their event "buy the stroller get car seat free". I forget the name of the deal but it was on amazon. Keep an eye out for it. Also check out britax rewards.
Honestly haven't used the stroller part too much. I find the back wheels quite big for going around the stores and it's way too hot here to go for walks at the moment. However we'd like babies close in age so don't regret buying it as it has the doubles option.
So I also bought the britax b nimble umbrella stroller for about $90. The b safe car seat clips right in. Stroller is easy to manouver and light weight. I love it.
Good luck

BoothBaby · August 2014

I have the Britax B-Safe seat with B-Agile stroller. Absolutely love the B-Agile. Super smooth ride, so easy to fold, etc. The car seat is great too, no complaints there.

My sister has the City Select and I used it last summer.....it is awesome! I already have my eye on it for when we have the next baby and need a stroller to seat 2. However just a note that for only one baby, it's going to be a pretty large stroller to take everywhere. You kind of have to weigh the pros/cons of not having to buy a new stroller for a second baby vs. having a large stroller when you don't technically need it yet.

Also, we registered for an umbrella stroller (the First Year's Jet). I've only used it twice, and only because DH took my car to work and forgot to grab the B-Agile out of the trunk first, so the Jet was my back-up. It's a cute little stroller and I like it just fine, but haven't had the real need for it yet. I prefer the smooth ride of my B-Agile on a daily basis.

Hope that helps!

lifesaverz · August 2014

We have the Graco FastAction Fold Sport click connect travel system stroller & we LOVE it! It only has one wheel set in the front, which I have always loved because of the easy maneuverability, plus the seat lays back easily, & the big basket underneath like others have stated.

Also I just want to say we got a snap n go stroller as well that we used in the beginning (& still do sometimes actually) with the car seat on quick outings, & I freaking love that thing. It's super light weight, & it made popping LO in for a quick errand so easy. So worth the buy IMO.

Skylight21 · August 2014

I don't have a britax or a Chico but I have a full size travel system, an umbrella stroller and a jogger. The umbrella stroller works well my LO likes it. It's mainly used for my bf's car since the full sized won't fit in his trunk. The full size stroller is great because the car seat clips onto it so if she falls asleep in the car then I don't bother taking her out of the car seat. The jogger she likes to because it reclines almost completely horizontal so she can sleep.

My opinion. If you can get a jogger with a car seat then by all means do so yet are great.

Danicali · August 2014

I have a Britax Chaparone car seat and it clicks in super easy to our Baby Jogger City Select GT. Love the stroller. It folds up great and it maneuvers awesome. Super happy with our purchase!!

AwaitingAAmiracle · August 2014

We have a City Select with the UppaBaby Mesa car seat. We love the City Select. It has to be one of the best baby purchases we made.

sindorato · August 2014

I have the Graco Modes Click Connect (Onyx) with the matching infant seat and LOVE it! My favorite feature was that I could break the stroller down to the frame and just click the infant seat into the frame making it small and lightweight. I JUST added the seat part to the stroller this month since LO doesn't like staying in the infant seat anymore and it's awesome. It has a huge basket and canopy and reclines all the way. We would def get this stroller again.

sportsmomma · August 2014

What has been best for us is a snap n go stroller until 6 months, then a city mini (or similar) and then get the smaller umbrella stroller (first years jet or ignite) around 2.

frantastic12 · August 2014

ck0712 said:

We have the graco click connect travel system and love it. Like pp said, it is nice to have the big basket underneath and I love that it feels comfy and reclines to laying down. That feature has come in handy several times when LO unexpectedly fell asleep on a walk/outing. We keep the lightweight stroller in my husbands car since that's the one we are always out in and it's extremely nice to have when we are out and don't want to lug around the heavy travel system stroller.

This is us exactly as well. Our lightweight stroller is a Chicco Capri.

bumpuser10140046 · August 2014

We have and love the Uppababy Vista. Agreed that the double portions are better on the City Select or the comparable Britax, but we're hoping to have kids 2.5-3 years apart, so the Vista is a good enough double for a relatively short overlap and and awesome single. The basket is so big that I don't need a shopping cart for grocery shopping. It handles smoothly, including one-handed. It's definitely on the wider and heavier side, but manageable, and I think that's the trade off for having wheels big enough to handles urban roads and sidewalks.

We also have the Keyfit and have been very happy with that, too. My baby was 96th percentile for weight and 100th for height at 6 months, and he's totally fine on weight (Keyfit 30 goes to 30 pounds) but nearing the 30 inch height limit, so that may be a consideration if you expect a big baby.

We have the Uppababy G-Luxe umbrella stroller. We initially got it because we were flying cross-country with our baby at 4 months and didn't want to bring the Vista (and the Vista travel bag is like $120, so might as well buy an umbrella stroller!). We went with the g-luxe because it reclines flat and he wasn't big enough at four months (didn't have enough head control) for one that is only upright. We didn't use it a lot at first, but now that it's too hot to wear him in the Ergo most days, I use it when we are planning to go to crowded cafés, places with only stairs, etc - situations where the Vista is a little too big or heavy.

I live on a city and walk everywhere. If you generally drive, the Uppababy products may be overkill. They're really nice and user-friendly, though.

Jeark1004 · August 2014

Wow, thank you so much for all your comments! Super helpful and it's just nice to hear about what people have actually found useful rather than reading about it all on various websites!! Again, MANY THANKS!!

cammyisagirlsname · August 2014

Loving my Stokke Crusi. Finally got to take it for a spin with LO yesterday. It was great. We have gotten so many compliments

RoseVA · August 2014

I have the Chicco Cortina Travel System which I mostly like. We used it with the car seat until he had good head control. It's nice that it reclines so much so if he falls alsleep while walking, I can lower it so his head isn't flopped over to the side. I've also put it on the full recline and put the changing pad cover down to change him if we're in a restaurant or somewhere that doesn't have one of those Kola Kare changing tables which has been super helpful.

That said, I find the weight and size of the stroller to be cumbersome and it can be difficult getting it in and out of my car's trunk.

dollypardon · August 2014

We also have the Britax B-Agile/Be-Safe and absolutely love it. My husband has walked literally hundreds of miles with it at this point and it's still in fine shape.

One great thing about it that I didn't realize until it came into play: They weigh your stroller (separate from the carseat) at the airport when you fly. It has to be under 18lb to take it through security, and the B-Agile stroller falls just under that weight. I'd imagine that many others don't.

I also highly recommend keeping an eye out for whatever stroller/carseat you decide to buy on Amazon Warehouse deals. I ended up getting the B-Agile/B-Safe combo at ~60% off on there because the box was damaged. It was 100% new (had never been opened) and had nothing wrong with it!

northport6 · August 2014

Another vote for the Graco Click Connect -- I have the travel system one that comes with a jogging stroller, which we love. I also got the snap 'n go for it, which has been really clutch -- it has a nice big basket so I use it for grocery shopping, for all shopping, actually. My baby is on the small side so we've gotten a lot of use out of the snap 'n go.

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