Do people steal strollers?

[Anonymous]

We're expecting our first and we have the uppababy vista. I guess there are places that you can't take your stroller, but is it risky to park your stroller unattended? You don't lock it up, right? Has anyone discovered someone has taken their stroller? Now I'm worried!

[Anonymous]

I have not seen it, but I have never personally owned a $600 stroller.

[Anonymous]

Why wouldn't they? Ifsomeone is a thief - everything is fair game.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I'm in Baltimore. My used Zooper Umbrella stroller (which someone in DC gave me for free) was stolen from our front porch recently. In DC, some guy at Kalorama Park in Adams Morgan once rummaged our stroller and took my daughter's Garfield stuffed animal. What a jerk. If you care about your stroller -- especially if you paid big bucks for it -- lock it up if you are planning on leaving it unattended.

[Anonymous]

I don't think there's a big black market for stollen strollers.

[Anonymous]

About two months ago, someone stole a crappy $20 Babies-R-Us umbrella stroller from my trunk. (They had broken into the car ... but apparently couldn't drive a stick shift and didn't steal the car itself -- but took what they could from the car. Fortunately the Britax wasn't portable enough, I guess.)

And more to your point, friends of mine had their Bugaboo stolen from the back of their SUV.

I'm sure electronics or whatever are more appealing, but if you don't want to replace a pricey stroller, you will probably need to think about where you leave it and how you secure it.

[Anonymous]

People breaking into your car and stealing whatever they can find, or rummaging in your stroller and stealing things, or coming onto your porch and stealing what they can find, do not strike me as "stroller thieves."

[Anonymous]

We leave our stroller unattended pretty regularly in front of our house during the day and it's never been a problem. I think there's always a chance someone will steal something. But you have to live your life. It's not particularly practical to lock up your stroller or drag it inside with you when you're bringing your baby or toddler back from somewhere and you're alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People breaking into your car and stealing whatever they can find, or rummaging in your stroller and stealing things, or coming onto your porch and stealing what they can find, do not strike me as "stroller thieves."

I'm the one with the Zooper that was stolen. It doesn't really matter to me if the thief was a "stroller thief" or not (whatever that means). What matters to me was that my stroller was gone when I needed it. The point remains: If you care about your stroller and would be upset to lose it, I recommend locking it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People breaking into your car and stealing whatever they can find, or rummaging in your stroller and stealing things, or coming onto your porch and stealing what they can find, do not strike me as "stroller thieves."

The OP didn't ask if there was a secret underground ring of stroller thieves, she asked if strollers get stolen. They do. Even when they aren't an expensive/big-ticket type stroller, so if she's going to invest in a really expensive stroller, she should be prepared to secure it, or replace it if it gets stolen.

[Anonymous]

This is the first I have heard of this. While bikes and packages occasionally get taken from front porches--i have never heard of a stroller being stolen. I live in a "young family" neighborhood and bugaboos and stokkes sit in plain sight day after day. If this happened I would assume it is more vandalism and less resale value.

[Anonymous]

The only stroller we had stolen was a cheaper Chicco umbrella stroller from the gate check at Miami Airport. Luckily it was on the trip home1

[Anonymous]

We use a bike lock for our stroller when we leave it outdoors unattended. I don't know anyone who has had one stolen, but we live in Adams Morgan and figure once the bike thieves realize how much they can get for fancy strollers on Craig's List they might target them. Not worth the risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People breaking into your car and stealing whatever they can find, or rummaging in your stroller and stealing things, or coming onto your porch and stealing what they can find, do not strike me as "stroller thieves."

The OP didn't ask if there was a secret underground ring of stroller thieves, she asked if strollers get stolen. They do. Even when they aren't an expensive/big-ticket type stroller, so if she's going to invest in a really expensive stroller, she should be prepared to secure it, or replace it if it gets stolen.

But the apparent lack of a ring of stroller thieves does make a difference, I believe. No one would consider leaving a bicycle unlocked for more than a moment, because basically everyone recognizes the value of a bicycle, and there are a number of easy ways to get money from a stolen bike. Whereas there doesn't seem to be a lot of knowledge among non-parents about the value of strollers. Lots of people in my neighborhood leave their strollers unlocked on the front porch overnight and think nothing of it. I'm only aware of one neighbor whose stroller has been taken under those circumstances.

That said, the only stroller I'd leave on our porch would be our $14 Toys-R-Us umbrella stroller.

[Anonymous]

I think the pros and cons of high-end cars vs beater cars apply to strollers for possible theft. Higher-end strollers seem to be at greater risk; or at least, its a greater loss if a $500 stroller is stolen rather than a $50 one.

We have had relatively cheap strollers ($50-100), and they are well-worn through years of use. But I do generally feel pretty safe leaving them, since they are not so nice to attract attention.

You could consider having a cheaper stroller for use in some situations where it helps to just leave your stroller out, so it is less appealing.