Clueless about Strollers - Would love a rec

[Anonymous]

I did a search on this board but didn't come back with too many results so I am making my plea to you all...

I do have the baby bargains book but still would love to hear what you all would recommend for a stroller.

I am going this weekend to Buy Buy Baby and plan on registering for a stroller.

I am thinking we need 2. One that is a "snap and go" and goes from car seat to stroller. I guess I won't need to register for a car seat now...?

And also one that I can keep in the condo and just unfold when we go for walks so I won’t have to go down to the car to get the car seat and snap and go and bring it back up to the condo and put him in it.

At least, that’s my reasoning for buying 2 strollers.

What are your thoughts? What are your recs? Ideally the one I would keep in the condo would be above all LIGHT WEIGHT and FOLD UP really nicely to where I could even hang it on the back of a door or put it under a bed or something. We live in 2 bedroom downtown and space is the name of the game

thanks DCUM&D

[Anonymous]

The Snap n' Go doesn't come with the carseat, it's just a universal frame to put pretty much any car seat into. Great for errands, etc. They cost $60 or $70 and great to have. For your other stroller, if you are looking for super lightweight, hang on the door kind of thing, that's an umbrella stroller and you can't put an infant in there. Some people just skip the full sized strollers and start with a Snap n' Go and get an umbrella stroller later, but if you walk a lot, you may want a more substantial stroller. For recommendations there, you should come up with a price range as there is a HUGE range in stroller prices.

[Anonymous]

Unless you are thinking of getting one of those universal strollers (e.g., bugaboo, uppa baby, etc.), I would recommend that you just register for a snap and go for now and wait on the other stroller until after you have your baby. The snap and go is what you will most likely use for several months in the beginning anyway and it will give you time to figure out what it is you want and how you will probably use your stroller(s). It is essentially a light weight frame that you snap the infant car seat into (you have to buy the car seat separately). I wouldn't get two snap and go frames.

FWIW, I started with a snap and go. At the time, I thought all I would want was another light weight umbrella stroller for when the baby is older. It wasn't until after I had the baby that I realized I wanted something that I could use to go on long walks and possible jogs with my baby. (I got a BOB Revoluation and am SO glad I did because I love it and use it a ton. I also ended up getting a Maclaren Triumph, which has been a handy umbrella stroller.)

Also, I can't recommend enough having a carrier so you can "wear" your baby those first few months. (I actually used my moby wrap a ton more than my snap and go.) It can be just as easy to go on walks or on errands when you are carrying your baby and can be more comfortable and easy because you have your hands free. So that might be something else to consider registering for instead of a second stroller (or in addition to).

[Anonymous]

The Maclaren Techno is an umbrella stroller that you can use with an infant. But I agree that you might want to wait on the stroller if you're getting the snap and go. I think you'll find that you're always carrying the baby into the house in the car seat so you won't have to run down to the car to get it as much as you think.

[Anonymous]

I agree that, if you are buying it yourself, you may want to wait until your baby has grown out of the infant car seat / snap & go stroller in order to have a better idea of the circumstances in which you'll use the stroller. But if you are expecting to get it as a registry gift, you'll want to make the decision earlier. I got one of the lighter and less expensive McClarren strollers, thinking I'd be using it a lot on public transportation. But after my child was born, I realized that taking public transportation is a huge pain with a child, and so I drive almost all the time. I'm still happy with my McClaren, but I would have opted with a heavier model that has more features had I realized that I wouldn't be carrying it on and off buses a lot. I regret not registering for a Bob Revolution jogging stroller, as I think I would have really benefitted from it. I ended up buying a very beat up, second hand jogging stroller. It was cheap, but it would have been nice to get a fancy new one as a gift.

[Anonymous]

I heart my Bob. It has a bar that you can mount and "snap" the carseat in. I hated the snap and go. We live in DC and mostly walk everywhere and I've had no trouble with Bob on metro, urban sidewalks, etc. Also agree with the value of a carrier - we got both the Bjorn and the Ergo - the Ergo is amazing. My son is 19 months and 25 lbs and I can still load him in there and carry him comfortably - getting him to comply now is another matter!

[Anonymous]

thanks for the responses so far -

I am expecting to get it as a gift from my in laws which is why I was hoping to get the 2nd stroller now -

A couple of you mentioned McClaren? Is that a good option for what I am looking for?

I guess ideally it would be light weight and fold up but it would also be appropriate for an infant and be able to transition later for a toddler? Is there anything that might fit the bill that I can register for now?

[vster]

The McClaren isn't for newborns and young infants. There's no head support, so the child has to be able to sit up himself/herself. I started using mine when my child was 7 or 8 months old. You'll need something else for the first several months of your child's life.

[Anonymous]

We used the carseat and stroller frame for the first 6 months. Then got two strollers. The BOB and a MacLaren Volo. Like others have said, I don't think you use a MaClaren until they are a bit older. Maybe if you get one that reclines, you can start around 3 months. So, I think that carseat either in the stroller frame or on another stroller are your best bets. FWIW, we live in a two bedroom apt. in dupont also. We usually leave the MacLaren out in the living room and put the BOB in the closet or vice versa. The stroller frame is now in storage since we don't use it anymore.

[Anonymous]

same issue here... we have the snap and go in the car and the uppababy for the walks from our condo to the metro, grocery, mall, restaurants, parks, whatever is walking distance for us.
they're suitable from birth up to 3 older children (2 sitting 1 standing).

[Anonymous]

OP, in my experience, the only thing that is super lightweight that can accommodate a newborn is something you snap the carseat into. The umbrella strollers are not for newborns. If you plan to use the stroller to walk a lot with your newborn and do not like the idea of the baby being in his or her carseat, you will need to get a stroller with a bassinet attachment. We debated this at great length and ended up shocking ourselves by purchasing an UPPAbaby Vista for almost $700, but it was really the only stroller that we could find that totally met our needs. We use it every single day and we're headed out of town this weekend and DS will sleep in the UPPA bassinet as his travel bed. We're not big spenders so I thought this was a crazy purchase at first, but your other options is something the carseat can snap into -- and that's pretty much anything except the lightweight umbrella strollers.

[Anonymous]

We went through a very similar analysis as the PP and settled on the Quinny Buzz.

[Anonymous]

i hate to say this but i think you need 3 strollers.
we started w snap n go and loved it. that's basically all we used at first. esp for travel - thru airports etc. etc

then we wanted something for walks and the like. We went for the Phil and Ted - but lots of people like the bob. She's two and we still use all the time. (we even got the bar w it to hold car seat which was unnecessary, although she did kind of roll around in the P&T so maybe usedf

Then when she gets older and grows out of the snap n go (maybe 10-12 months depending on kid) then you have a new issue as to what you want to take around with you bc the P*T and bob are very big. That's when we went with the maclaren which is now stroller #2. We didn't get the basic one but the third one up or whatever that leans back. (ours will nap at pool etc so we like that). Anyway, now that is what we travel with, as the P&T would be really annoying and heavy to travel with.

Of course, there are ways to cut back from this: if you don't walk around a lot no real need for the bob or P&T or if you don;t go many places that you don;t walk to then no real need for other two (my sister in nyc got by just on bob)

but we went in whole hog (and this is about the only place we did that for baby - all of her clothes/bouncy seats etc are from yard sales and hand-me-downs. But we thought strollers were a worthy longer term investment and i still think that is right...

[Anonymous]

Not the OP but can anyone recommend a good snap n go that would fit a chicco carrier? TIA

[Anonymous]

The UppaBaby stroller has a frame you can buy that will fit a Chicco Keyfit 30.