Before actually getting pregnant I became very interested in 3 things: researching birth, strollers, and cloth diapers. While I only made one pre-pregnancy purchase (more on that later), I spent many hours last fall researching strollers. For some reason a stroller seems to me a pretty essential baby item, and there doesn't seem to be a perfect one! First and probably the hardest: what are your wants/needs? Compact or full sized? Jogger? Do you want to use it with a car seat? How big of a sun shade do you need? Should it be able to hold more than one child? How big of a basket? Is a cup holder important? Do you want an adjustable handlebar? Can baby use the stroller from birth? Air filled, foam, or plastic tires? What color? What's the warranty/customer service like? How much do you want to spend? A quick amazon.com search of "stroller" yields 8,110 results!
Only in the last week or so have we really narrowed our list down:
-one stroller that does it all (so many reviews are from parents that are on their 5th or 7th stroller)
-ability to use from birth (with a car seat & bassinet)
-substantial, non-air filled tires. I know me - I do not have the patience for tire maintenance
-washable seat
-large sun shade
-large storage basket
-full sized stroller of medium weight & easy maneuverability & compact fold
-ability to add another child (but a stroller primarily made as a single)
-adjustable handle bar (we are tall people!)
That is a big list, plus add to the fact that we are not truly an urban or suburban family. I need my stroller to fit in my trunk and on the T. (Many articles seem to divide families into one of the two categories. Thank goodness we don't live in NYC where I believe parents must fold up their stroller before boarding any public transportation). Overall I think my use will be daily walks with the dog, occasional trips into Boston (definitely not during rush hour - I admit I do get annoyed at parents with strollers on the T during rush hour), trips to Maine & the grandparents, and some car based errands.
After probably six months of research, I think I've finally found it: the Uppababy Vista in red (Arthur loves red - I probably would have picked black or green, but red is nice too and gender neutral). It has
-Foam filled tires with rubber coating
-adjustable handle bar
-can be used with a car seat
-large basket
-large sunshade
-can add either a 2nd seat or rider board depending on age & preferences of older child.
-all materials can be removed and are machine washable
-toddler seat is one of the largest on the market, and the sunshade is adjustable for taller children.
The Uppababy Vista comes with both the toddler seat & bassinet. I went back and forth on the necessity of a bassinet - kids outgrow them in 4-6 months, but at the same time the general opinion seems to be that limiting car seat time is better for neck & spine development. What really sold me on the bassinet is that this is approved as a sleeper and so we can use it as baby's primary bed (and perfect travel bed). I'm pretty certain I would have wanted something for baby to sleep in our bedroom for the first couple of months, so this does both. Uppababy makes a nice bassinet stand too so baby isn't on the floor and in Mercedes's curious reach. Also the interior materials are organic cotton & soy
Fully loaded with both rain & bug shields - all those extras really add up! Doesn't come with a cup holder or snack tray, but those weren't on my wish list and can be added later if we decide we want them.
Great sun shade! The silver part pops out when you need extra coverage and it's SPF 50 - perfect as you aren't supposed to use sunscreen before six months. Comes on both the toddler seat & bassinet.
Uppababy is a Massachusetts company based in Hingham. Arthur and I definitely try to support American companies when possible, and the reviews are stellar concerning their customer service. 2 year warranty - pretty standard.
Overall I think it meets our needs the best, but isn't perfect. We will have to buy a car seat adapter (pretty standard on all strollers than can be used with car seats). Cup holder & snack tray would also be add-ons too. It's a bigger stroller and exceeds to 20 lb weight limit most airlines have to gate-check your stroller (Uppababy does sell a travel bag that gives you extra warranty against any air-travel damage so we could just check it with our luggage). It also won't be the smallest stroller on the T (and will be impossible to use if we visit the Bargs in NYC). We could get a small umbrella stroller for travel, but we are trying to avoid buying multiple strollers. It is on the pricier side (ok if we really do just buy 1 stroller) You can't jog with it (fine with me, I much prefer walking to running). Will be a slightly bumpier ride than if it had air filled tires. It isn't the best double stroller (also ok with me - we are only have 1 child right now and who knows how old baby #1 will be if and when we have baby #2). Like I said - I've come to the conclusion that there isn't a perfect stroller. Probably why so many parents end up with multiple ones!
So yesterday Arthur and I went to a little session at Isis Parenting (great Boston based baby store) on strollers. They called it "Stroller School" and they demonstrated 12 or so our their favorite strollers. I had signed up for this class probably 6 weeks ago, before I had found the Uppababy Vista, but we went anyways and came away from the class still convinced Uppababy is the one for us. Plus it was fun to play with all the strollers!
Other strollers I seriously considered:
Bugaboo Chameleon: ok this one mostly caught my eye on looks alone. It comes with both toddler seat & bassinet, but you can't use the bassinet for sleeping. Can only add a roller board, not a 2nd seat. Only a 37lb seat weight limit (almost all I looked at were for 50 lbs). Storage bag seems annoying as opposed to a basket. Crazy expensive. BUT its really pretty, especially in the limited edition Missoni print. Rachel Zoe has it. You can get snow tires (selling point for Arthur perhaps?) Customer service reviews aren't great.
So I think my search for a stroller had finally come to an end. Hopefully I can decide on things like cribs, car seats, pack N plays, high chairs, bouncy seat vs. swing, etc more quickly! I think preparing for baby is much harder than wedding planning (although the constant research & evaluating seems very similar).
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