Baby Registry 101: Lesson #15- Strollers

There are so many different type of strollers on the market today, so how do you choose??
Initially, you may think- it doesn't matter, they are all the same.... well, actually they are not!
After talking with several of my friends, we all decided that a stroller is the one item you should NOT skimp on.

After much research and comparison shopping, I found that there are some key questions you should ask:

• How easy does it turn and maneuver through a crowd (especially if you live in the city)? Most likely it will be you holding the door for yourself and trying to push stroller through. A feature some strollers have are swivel wheels, which allows you to turn it with one hand!
• Does it have some type of "snap and go" feature?
  That means, can your carseat snap onto your stroller base? This is such a great feature because when your little one is in those first few months, they need their sleep but still at that age where they can sleep on the go (usually)... So if you are running errands and baby is asleep in car, instead of waking them up and putting them into a sling or stroller, you can just snap carseat onto stroller
  
• My friend got one of those "Snap & Go" Frames, but she said it was so flimsy she ended up buying 3 of them. If you add up the price of those 3, plus the other stroller she figured it would have been better to have just invested in a nicer one in the beginning
• Does it fold up easily? Check to see if it can stand once folded up.
  
• Is it heavy or lightweight? Can you lift it into your trunk with ease? Remember if you have a c-section you can't left heavy items!
  
• Ask yourself- how will I use my stroller? Is the answer: Daily? Walking outside, through a crowd? Do you live in a city, where you will have to weather the elements and street traffic? Or will you mostly be indoors at a mall?

The following are the ones that have been top rated for the above reasons...

• Bugaboo Frog
  
• Uppa Baby (new to the scene, but have gotten great reviews)
  
• Phil & Ted's
  
• Bob Revolution (can function as a jogger and an "urban" stroller. The only downside is it is bigger)

If you live in an area, where you aren't walking along city streets often and don't think you want all the bells and whistles, the following are ones that work well (and look cute too)

• Quinny Zap (new to the scene in the US)
• Maclaren (the Quest is a nice one)- great umbrella stroller

Finally, there are the typical Travel systems. I am not too familiar with these, so stay tuned and Noel will speak on these ones further... but, the following have been rated well:

• Chicco Cortina Travel System
• Graco
• Peg Perego
• Inglesina (According to the Baby Bargains Book Inglesina was better rated than the Peg Perego)
  

Most importantly, go look and play with the different strollers in the stores- turn them around corners and see how they move with one hand. Try folding & picking it up. Imagine how it would roll over curbs and bumps.

Good luck and happy strolling!