A Stroller
That does it all.
Welcome to the WTF lists. Being pregnant and being a new mom is super confusing. People tell you that you need a million things. You don’t even need most of those things. Let’s explore what you actually need and what’s a giant waste of money & time.
As a mom-to-be, one of the first things you search for is a stroller. It’s an item that you’ll probably use every single day for a very long time.
But if you ever walk into a baby store and start test driving strollers, you’ll find yourself frustrated and confused.
A lot of these strollers look the same. Plus, most of them seem impossible to figure out. The whole experience made me wonder if I was ever going to be ready to be a parent.
I left the store that day and decided that before you shop for anything, you need to first decide what you care about, what is the most practical for your lifestyle, and since baby stuff is expensive, what’s the best product for your budget.
Here’s what I jotted down as my stroller criteria:
Safety: I wanted a stroller with a proven track record and one that came from a brand that had been around for a while, had positive reviews, and also was innovative - coming out with new versions of their products over the years because that shows they care about feedback and are always improving.
Easy to use: Figuring out baby products can seriously be hard and strollers seem so complicated. I wanted one that I could use without too much brainpower, which is actually harder to find than you think. I also wanted a stroller that could fold up fast, in case I was riding solo with it and only had one hand to use.
Good for our lifestyle: Because we live in city and find ourselves always on-the-go, we wanted a stroller that was easy to manuever and could show up for us in all-terrains.
Would grow with the baby: I live in a tiny apartment. I only have room for one stroller so I wanted one that works with a bassinet, a regular seat, the car seat, and can fold up for travel usage too. Also, I wanted one that folded up and wasn’t bulky so I could store it in our 550-square feet apartment.
After I decided what I wanted in a stroller, I decided to ask people in my life, with kids, what stroller they loved the most.
I started with the people in my neighborhood, who live a similar lifestyle to me. I live in Brooklyn, so I want a stroller that can sustain the impact of the stubborn sidewalks and glide with me as I walk circles around the nearby park. We also have a car and are on-the-go, so I wanted one that folded up quickly and easily. I asked neighbors and most people recommended the same stroller from the brand Bugaboo.
This step was super helpful because when you walk into a baby store, the salespeople will show you a bunch of different options, but strollers are personal. You want one that understands you and one that you understand.
I actually asked a neighbor of mine if I could push her Bugaboo stroller around for 30-minutes to make sure I liked it before buying it.
In a store, that’s tough to do. You can push it around their tile or carpet, but it’s not the same as pushing it around where you will be living your life with your baby.
In the end, I picked this Bugaboo Fox 5 stroller because not only did it meet all of my requirements, but when I gave it a test run, it was easy to use, comfortable, and very well-designed. Plus, it was good for all different types of terrains, from the park to the uneven Brooklyn sidewalks. It felt like the kind of stroller that won’t break in a year or two and can grow with our family over the years, making it worth the investment.
While the price tag might seem a little high, it was inline with other strollers I was considering. Plus, I felt it was worth the money because it comes with a bassinet, which is great for the newborn stage, a regular seat that will be good to use as the baby grows, and car seat adaptors, so I can use my car seat with it. It also folds up quickly and was light-weight, so it can double as our travel and weekend stroller too.
Rather than buy two strollers, we went with one that does it all.
Strollers are a personal decision. Know what you care about, ask people around you, take one for a test drive, and then make your ultimate decision.
Love,
Jen Glantz