Need help picking a stroller...

[ohiominnie]

I know this isn't Disney specific, but hopefully all you moms out there will help me out!! Here's the situation....I'm buying a stroller for my neice who is due in June. I'm having trouble picking a stroller. She did register for one at wal*mart, but told me "most of the stuff on my list is just stuff my friend and I were scanning because we were having fun with the scanner." So, that said, I won't feel badly getting a different stroller than the one on her list.

I've been to consumer reports, but that wasn't so helpful. I test drove some at the store, but was somewhat disappointed....either they were top of the line over the top ($220 monsters) or they were cheap and lacked vital features (IMHO)

It'd be nice to have a travel system stroller/car seat together, but I'd opt for a nice stroller on it's own too.

A VITAL feature is that it must have easy to use FULL recline. I can't believe the number of models I looked at that had two choices: straight sitting up, or 45degree angle.

Tray on the front is nice as is a parent cup holder. Basket on the bottom is needed. I'm not looking for something with every bell and whistle (some out there had a clock/temp guage near the handle!) I have a feeling that my neice will beat the thing to *($&@ so it needs to be somewhat durable, yet not so wonderful that I'll cringe when I see the condition of it!

What all do you have and what do you like/dislike about it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[momof3disneyholics]

You can rent a stroller when you get there. There are a couple of good companies to rent from for length of stay for 7.00 a day. If you want the companies info, pm me.

 

[ohiominnie]

You can rent a stroller when you get there. There are a couple of good companies to rent from for length of stay for 7.00 a day. If you want the companies info, pm me.

Oops, sorry. ....this is for PURCHASING a stroller, not for taking to Disney specifically. Just thought I'd post on the family board b/c that's where most of the ppl with little kids will be. Just need a good shower gift.

 

[Neecoal]

When I was pregnant with my son, I registered for the Graco Quattro travel system, and while it was nice enough, it is really bulky and heavy, so in retrospect I would have skipped the travel system. Don't get me wrong I still would have bought an infant carrier but I would have found a nice light easily manueverable stroller. So after getting the travel system, I tried the Chicco caddy umbrella type stroller but it wasn't a good fit for my son. I then purchased the Peg Perego Aria, which I love. It is not as heavy/solid as the more expensive Peg Models but it is so LIGHT I take it everywhere and my son is very comfortable in it. I believe Peg makes an infant carrier that is compatible with it as well. I never thought that spending a little more on a stroller would be so worth it. I am sure that there are inexpensive great strollers out there, but after having bought 2 I really needed to find the right one so I was willing to spend. A lot of stores that sell baby merchandise like the "r us" stores have online ratings of people who have bought them, so when you find something you think you like, see how it rated among parents. I hope this is helpful and not just rambling, but this is one thing I feel like I finally did right.

 

[Colinsmom]

The Peg Perego Aria is nice, but not suitable for a newborn since it does not have a full recline. I personally am a fan of the Peg Perego Pliko P3. You can usually nab last year's model on eBay or through online stores for under $200. Seems like a lot, but this is a nice stroller, Peg Perego has great customer service, and it fits a newborn as well as a toddler, unlike most strollers. You can tuck an infant seat in any of the models, though the 2005 has a luggage-type strap to fasten any seat in there.

What is your budget for this stroller?

 

[all4fun]

I'd recommend this board for stroller reviews: http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=14
This is the site for Baby Bargains book which I also highly recommend for helping new parents sift their way through the plethora of baby items out there. I treated mine like a bible when I was buying baby gear.

 

[CLEO Z]

I got a Graco travel system when my DD was born. While the car seat was great while she was tiny, they outgrow them FAST. Most of the time I carried the seat on my arm in and out of wherever we were going. Frankly, I can't remember one time where I used the car seat in the stroller! That big single Graco stroller has barely been touched. The lightweight collapsable one gets used ALOT! When DS was born I got the Graco double stoller and have used it quite a bit - even with the car seat. Found that I could shop by putting DS in stroller and use the rest of it like a cart (when DD wasn't around!).

Does she work outside of the home or is she planning on staying home with the baby? In my experience, I used a stroller more once I stayed home when my DD turned 8 mos. Also, is she a homebody or always on the move?

Personally, with one child, balance the following factors:
comfort for baby (recline, padding, sun shade)
comfort for parents (lightweight!)
storage (does it collapse well, will it fit in her car)
storage compartments

Ditto on looking at sites that give user ratings. The one on the Babies-R-Us/Amazon site has saved me from numerous products.

Good Luck

 

[Music Mole]

We love our Bertini stroller. We have the M3 Shuttle and it is great. Fits in the back of our station wagon, yet has air filled tires for a very smooth ride. That is our "going for walks in the park stroller". It has full recline, as well as optional accessories like a sleeping bag or moses basket that straps into to seat area. I think we paid about $240 for it.

For the time that DD has been in her Graco Snugride car seat, we have had a Snap N Go - that has been really nice for trips to the mall etc. Now that she is about to go into her larger car seat, we decided that we did want a more compact, lighter weight stroller for our Disney trip to take on the buses etc. and also for the malls. So we got a Combi - love them as well. The models at Babies R Us (about $100) don't have full recline but other models do. We just got a great deal on the TS 2800 which does have full recline, snack try for the kiddo and a place for water bottles for the parents - it was originally a $280 stroller and because it is last year's model, we got it for $119 with free shipping from www.albeebaby.com

The reason we decided to go with two strollers had to do with the fact that we walk our dogs over some rougher trails, and we felt we really needed the air filled tires of the Bertini. If we didn't do that, I would have been happy with just the Combi.

HTH
(Can you tell I was stroller obsessed when pregnant? ) Good Luck with your purchase.

 

[pyrxtc]

I would reccomend the Jeep Liberty Stroller. It has a huge basket, plus two saddle bags for smaller items on the sides, reclines a few ways and has a tray for mom and tot. It also fits most baby car seats in it for when the baby is little and will roll on any surface. I have taken it on dirt trails and in the sand on the beach. It folds quite easily and I would buy one again in a heartbeat. You can see a partial picture of on above in All4fun's post. My DS loves it and lots of kids come over to check it out (especially the steering wheel). It turns really well and I use it everywhere.

I would never reccomend a travel system since the stroller never folds as easily and it is often very bulky once it is folded. You are better off buying a stroller and infant seat separately. My 2 cents!

 

[cinjam]

Oh, we have a lot of strollers In the single catagory my favorites are: Graco Metro Lite - reclines almost fully (170 degrees), good cup holdesd for both parent & child, decent size basket; and the Peg Perrego Aria (reclines to 150 degrees), very light (something like 10 lbs)

Cuurently, I am on a quest for a Maclaren Quest since DS#1 is 4 years old, still likes to be in a stroller and weighs almost 45 lbs, thereby exceeding the weight limits on the Graco

 

[Magnetic]

I have a Graco Citilite and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It only weighs 13 pounds, folds very easily, and will do a full recline (though you have to unsnap 4 snaps on the back of the backrest to do so -- the rest of the angle adjustments are easily done with a strap.) It also has a good sized basket underneath for stowing a diaper bag. It's not too wide and manuevers easily through aisles and crowds.

Epinions also gave this stroller high marks, which is why I went with it -- it's the only stroller we own. Our son is 3 months old. We have the yellow and black color shown at Epinions -- it's a fun, sporty stroller.


One Step Ahead has a very similar model too (see link) that weighs even less, 11lbs, and sells for $39. It says it does a full recline too, and it folds up even smaller. Had I seen this one first, I probably would have bought it.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I have a 5 month old and bought two strollers:

* the Graco Metrolite travel system. My big boy grew out of the car seat at 4 months though. The stroler itself is nice, but a little bulky. I think it weighs around 17 pounds by itself.

* Peg Aria which I recently purchased on clearance at a mom and pop store here in town for $120. I plan on taking this one to WDW next month too. It's very light (under 10 pounds I believe). Reclines almost all the way down. It's perfect for my five month old. The cup holder stinks though. The Graco is far better as far as a good "mall" stroller (cup holders, lol, and a bigger basket underneath). The Peg is what I use on a daily basis now though and it folds in about 2 seconds and will be great on WDW buses.

 

[alloyd1170]

I cant believe no one has posted about the Maclarens yet! I went through the Graco travel system (too big and bulky), a Graco Lite (better but still too big for my taste), Chicco Caddy (for when our son was older, but being tall I had to hunch over to push it-a real pain), and now the Mac Quest which I love! Wish it had been my first purchase too. I dont think it reclines all the way (I think they said the earliest you could use it is 3 months), but its very easy to push, fold, reclines 4 positions, the sunshade can be moved around, it has a little pull out leg rest for smaller children, and its good up to 55 lbs! You wont find that with most other strollers out there.

With our next baby due in July, I ordered some Hotslings to carry her around in vs the car seat since it gets heavy very quickly. I really only use the stroller for at the mall or long walks.

alison

 

[ohiominnie]

Thanks everyone for all of your help!!! I ended up, between all of your suggestions, and the ratings on various internet sites, going with the Jeep Liberty Limited XT Urban Terrain stroller. It reclines *nearly* flat, which was important to me. It was *reasonably* priced at $139 (the nice Peg's and nice Maclarens were just out of my budget over $250!) It has a really smooth ride, easy to manuever, lots of storage, and has something called "music on the move"---once my dh saw the place for an ipod to plug in I couldn't convince him to buy anything else!! Guess if we ever have #3 we'll be getting this same stroller.

It doesn't fold as flat as I'd like it too, and it's a bit heavy, but it looks well constructed--which is more than I can say for a lot of the strollers out there now a days!!

Thanks everyone for your ideas! I can always count on DIS boarders to give their opinions!!

 

[all4fun]

That's the one our friends bought us - only the scaled down "basic" version. DS is sitting in it in the picture below. Something you should know - if your niece has a small trunk, this stroller might not fit since it has a pretty bulky fold. We have to put it in the front seat of our Nissan Altima. We bought a small SUV and so now we can take it places, but I finally broke down and bought a second umbrella style stroller since the Jeep is just too heavy and bulky for quick errands and takes up too much trunk space when traveling due to needing space for luggage as well. Just thought I would mention that. My ds really is comfy in it, though, and it is great for walking around where there aren't smooth, paved areas.

hth!

 

[BamaGirl]

When ds(4) was born I had another Graco model and it was HUGE I hated it. When ds(15mo) was born I got a Graco Metrolite travel system. I love it. Yes he did grow out of the infant carrier rather quickly but by the time he out grew it he was sitting up do going to Wal-Mart was lots easier. This stroller is really light for a full size one and very compact compared to others. In fact that was one of the biggest selling points. I narrowed my choices down to 2 and this one folded up the smallest! I love this stroller so much that when we were in a car wreck in July(we were rear-ended) and the stroller was destroyed we went and got another one. We took this stroller all over WDW and had no problems at all with it. We even took it on the train at MK when we were tired and did not want to walk from ToonTown to MainStreet. Good Luck on your stoller search.

 

[elmo2wdw]

We have the Jeep stroller and my husband loves it!!!!!! I want to get a Maclaren but he refuses. We have taken it on several Disney vacations and it is great! Good choice!

 

[long4disney]

We also have the jeep stroller with the big 3 wheels. It is a great stroller for toddlers, I don't know if I would have liked it as much when my kids were little because of the recline. We did take the Jeep when my dd was a year old to WDW, and would never bring it again. It is so large when folded that it didn't fit in the trunk of the rental car and it was a huge pain trying to fold on the buses and the trams from the parking lot.

We were back at WDW in December when my dd was 2 and we brought our Peg Perego Pliko P3. What a difference it made to be able to fold it umbrella style and my dd was able to take naps in it since it relined flat and has the adjustable sun canopy to keep the sun out of their eyes when they are sleeping. It truly was the best WDW stroller for us, since she was so comfortable, and we could fold it with great ease!

I know when we go to DL in November, we are taking our other favorite stroller, the Maclaren Volo, since my dd will be a little over 3, we don't need the recline or the bigger basket, cup holders etc... Both the Peg Perego and the Maclaren Volo are outstanding strollers for traveling, and are really good quality. I did however like the jeep stroller for walks in the neighborhood, but it was just to bulky to be taking in and out of the truck all the time!

 

[nemomama]

We have the Peg Perego Pliko P3 too, and I love it! I agree with the previous poster, it really is great for travelling. It's really easy to maneuver, and the handles are adjustable which is a nice feature. I also like the "detached" handles - great for putting shopping bags on! You can fit a ton of bags on the handles. The basket is okay, kind of small, but then, I had a Combi Ultra Savvy before this and that basket was even smaller. It folds really easily and stands up on its own when folded. Plus, it just looks so comfortable for the baby! The seat padding is nice and thick. The footrest (is that what you call it?) adjusts so baby's legs aren't dangling if they're short. It is light, but feels very sturdy. One downside, the parent's cupholder isn't that great...kind of small. Overall though, I love and highly recommend this stroller!