Covering stroller in heat/rain?

[Selket]

We have a child who will be 18 months old when we're at WDW in August. What would you suggest to get to cover his stroller for rain and sun? Those plastic rain covers seem fine for rain but wouldn't it get terribly hot under that? We will probably take the umbrella stroller and hopefully the bigger cushy stroller too.

Thanks!

 

[BevS97]

the rain covers are brilliant for when it's raining, but you MUST take them off, or fold them back when it's not raining, they are like being in a car and they get very hot in the sun. Some of them just fold up and go in the basket underneath, and others open like a hood, and fold up near the handles. Either way, they shouldn't be closed in the sun.

As for sun protection, we use a parasol, it just clips on one side of the stroller and provides shade - you can move it around depending on where the sun is, and with ours we can still collapse the stroller and leave it attached, which is a help on the buses etc.

Bev

 

[NotUrsula]

The folding hood that comes with the stroller is meant to shield the occupant from the sun. However, since they are often dark-coloured, it can still get pretty warm underneath. A clip-on stroller umbrella can be adjusted for angle, and a clip-on battery-powered stroller fan is nice for circulating air around underneath the hood. You can usually find both of those gadgets at a nursery-goods store such as Babies R' Us.

My favorite all-purpose great gadget when travelling with a young child is always a couple of clean flat cloth diapers, the thin kind, not the quilted sort. If you also bring a couple of clothepins or binder clips, the diapers can be draped over the hood and clipped to shade the sun in just the right spots. I found that if I dampened the diaper first with cool water, the breeze passing through it also served to cool the air around the baby. The nice part is that the diapers also make good bibs for messy meals and treats, or a good towel after a splash in a fountain. They are super-absorbent, but dry quickly if you lay them out flat in the sun.

 

[HoosierFantasia]

I don't know how many times someone asked me where I got my stroller rain cover. Or I heard "We should have gotten one of those". It was easy to fold back over the canopy when it wasn't raining. Many times you aren't sure if it is gong to rain while you are in a ride so you just flip it over and you are good to go.
The disadvantages to the rain cover are transferring you rkid from dry quee area to the stroller in the rain. My child didn't have a poncho.
I had a big ziplock bag that i had the rain cover in until i needed it and then if I decided to take it off the stroller and it was still damp, i put it in the ziplock and it didn't get everything else wet.
It is also easier to identify you rstroller in the "sea of strollers" when you have a rain cover on and everyone else doesn't it!
But if you do get wet, don't fret, you're at Disney!

 

[always dreamin']

BevS97-

Did you make your parasol or purchase it?

I'm in great need of something to help shade the sun from my infant who is too young for sunscreen and won't keep a hat or sunglasses on. The canopy on the stollers don't do much good either! Someone on this board recommended this product to me:

www.pepeny.com

(sorry...I don't know how to post links and I apologize if I'm not suppose to do this!)

This product looks excellent and exactly what I need. However, I'm nervous to spend this kind of money on a product unless I know it's really going to work. Does anyone on the board have one and if so...do you like it?

 

[NotUrsula]

... I'm going to butt in and answer the parasol question from a US perspective, since Bev is in the UK.

Graco sells a clip-on umbrella for use on strollers; it will fit just about any stroller, as it attaches with a simple clamp. It sells for about (US)$10, give or take. You can usually find them at any large nursery-goods store, such as BRUS, but Wal-Mart almost always carries them this time of year as well. Here is a link to an online dealer:

http://www.babyuniverse.com/pro.asp?id=8215&catid=61&secid=15

 

[BevS97]

as NotUrsula says - I am in the UK, where parasols are extremely commonplace, which is a bit unusual considering how little sun we get.... Rain covers are also common place, but that's more usual considering how much rain we get....

I couldn't see a price on that website you listed, but my parasol is just like the one NotUrsula linked to, and it was pretty cheap. It's not something i would spend a fortune on.

We can also buy a larger rectangular style one, which fits over a lie flat pram/pushchair which is great for a younger baby. These provide more shade, but are less convenient when you are folding the stroller. For my dd at 3 and 4 we just used a parasol, but we are bringing a baby in December, and will have the bigger sun canopy (of course, in December, the rain cover may be more important!)

I have also seen a third style, which is like a pop-up cube, you know those things that you twist to flatten, and then twist again and they pop up. I've never seen one in real life, but have seen them in a number of catalogs, they may provide a more all over protection if you are going in a very hot time, or with a very small baby.
there's a pic here http://www.grobag.com/products/elements/rainsun.html
But that's an english website. I do think I have seen them on US websites though, just can't find one right now.

Bev

Bev

 

[Colexi's Mom]

I second the clip on umbrella. It is much more convenient that the cover than comes on a stroller, because you can move it to any position. I got a Graco one for our umbrella stroller for $5 at TJMaxx. If you have one of those stores, try there, or a Marshalls or something (Babies R Us were all sold out, even online, when I needed it. I should have bought them in the winter when I saw them, by April when I needed it, they were all gone).

I also second the rain cover. We got it at BabiesRUs for I think $15 (not the graco one, the store one). Using the clip on umbrella, it worked nicely for an umbrella stroller, which you normally can't fit a rain cover over). I don't know how many people came up to us and asked us where we got the rain covers. We could have made good money that night!!

 

[Bexx]

I've just found a large all over sunshade similar to one Bev mentioned on a US website, but this one isn't a pop up, it just drapes over the pushchair. It costs $19.95 - Try http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.js...4&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=1374&change=117 if you want to have a look and click on "detail view" for a picture.

I personally am not a fan of parasols - I find they never clip on firmly enough and start falling over, so I'm going to give this other one a try