Stroller Question - Los Angeles,CA

Hallo, ich bin auch von Deutschland.
I have to agree, when my kids where babies, I loved the travel system. It gets really old when you have to unbuckle the sleeping baby and transfer him/her from the car seat to the stroller. I don't think it's unhealthy for them to be in this position, as long as they are not in it all day and all night. I belong to Stroller strides and we also go for long walks. A lot of the other ladies have the BOB, because the baby seat will fit on it. But from what I gather it does not fold all that well.
Viel Glueck. Evi

I love, love, love my Peg Perego Pliko P3. It's lightweight and easy to open/close and take in and out of the car. We even took it on vacation with us to London once and had it in and out of taxis, subways, up and down stairs. The seat reclines fully, cup holders for baby and for you. Easy to manuever. It's only fault is the basket is hard to fully utlize, but that's it. LOVE it! We've had ours four years and it's used by baby boy number two now and still going strong!

-M

PS...BTW I never used a travel system and never was sad about that. I hated the idea of lugging that thing around and either put my kids in the stroller, their convertible car seat, carried them or used the bjorn. It worked great and I had one less thing to buy!

We absolutely love our Uppa Baby Vista, and I can do nothing but endorse it. My daughter is 17 months old now, and I have used it for her since birth. All the material is washable, the stroller folds conveniently, and the bassinet was great. I also dislike the car-seat type strollers, and research has shown that spending too much time in that position can cause respiratory problems in babies, so that made the choice easy. I go on daily walks with my Uppa Baby and it has served me well. Good Luck!

I love my Maxi Cosi Foray. Well made, steers really well. The seat that comes with the stroller reclines well and if you want to use for a small baby might want to get an infant insert for it. I have the car seat also. Used it lots when my baby was younger. He could just stay asleep wherever I needed to take him. He's 10 1/2 months now and it's rare for me to use the car seat in the stroller. One: he usually won't stay asleep in it anymore because of his curiosity and two: it's getting too damn heavy.

It is expensive... but the quality is amazing and I know I will use the stroller for a long time.

Hey MW,
We just recently purchased a Graco stroller that has the infant seat attachment, but the stroller seat has the ability to fold up into a basinett. Not all Graco models offer this, but there are a few of them. One of the models that comes to mind is Townsend which is a light aqua blue and brown.
The stroller itself is very sturdy, and folds up easily, but is a little on the heavy side. The infant car seat has very high ratings for infant safety. I would highly recommend though, that once you purchase your infant car seat that you make an appointment to have it inspected by your local CHP, which helps to ensure that it is installed correctly.

I have the Bugaboo which was a combination (bassinet & situp). but I started off with the Chicco travel system which was a blessing for the car seat & stroller combo. Because once he fell asleep in the car, all I had to do was take out the car seat and plop it in the stroller and go. I used that combo for about 8/9 months. Then he outgrew the carseat, but the stroller was excellent for about 6 months more.

Now, he's 18 months old and I MISS that stroller but LOVE the flexibility of the Bugaboo. It also helps that it has a telescoping handle which works well with my mate being over 6 feet tall and me 5'7". And the seat flips around so that he can look out or at me or I can just flip over the handle to do the same thing. The wheels work really well on the sand (we do a lot of beach activities) and on trails, but the smaller wheels are EXCELLENT for city block maneuvering around people, corners and just turns.

I would suggest too that you look at www.ConsumerReports.com for their ratings of what you're looking for.

Hope that this helps.
-e

just curious- why don't you like the kind where you push the baby in their carseat? Those are sooo conveinent (?)! Baby falls asleep in their carseat all the time and then you can just pop them in the stroller and go without distrubing them (and back in the car too)! and then you just use the stroller like regular later on or when not sleeping. I think they are great! I don't think you can use a bassinet for very long. Once they can roll over or push up it would be a problem and then you'll have to get another stroller. You can use the stroller without the carseat until they don't need it anymore. A bassinet will last you about 4 months. You'll probably need a baby carrier too though because sometimes baby doesn't like stay in their stroller no matter which kind you have! good luck!

I use a combo of slings and a stroller for the longer days so I carry her part of the time and use the stroller to let her stretch out and give me a break here and there. I just use a sling for random errand running. With my third I currently have this stroller by Graco http://www.gracobaby.com/Catalog/Pages/productlistingPage...#
It lies down flat and can incline at any level as the baby's ability allows until they are fully sitting. We've let how well she sits herself up be our gauge as to how inclined to put it and lie her flat when she wants to rest/sleep/stretch out. We took our baby to Disneyland at 17 days old, a 5 day comic book convention at 6 weeks old and we just keep going. We just took a trip to Disneyland yesterday and she's now 5 months old. We looked at the traditional bassinet offerings where they lie flat. I fell in love with the Bugaboo but the price was daunting and we learned that it's a high theft stroller which made it not good for us as we're always parking the stroller at Disney, Sea World etc to go on attractions. The Graco has filled all our needs. The only thing we wish it did was place the baby facing us but it isn't really that bad and you can still see the baby/have them see you in it. It is super light and steers really well. Our 5 year old can ride in it as well on the super long days while I carry the baby in the sling, the 8 year old is too big obviously. It can hold an infant seat if you are so inclined but we've never used one. I am a firm believer that a car seat should stay in the car. We never used an infant car seat with any of our 3 kids, we used convertible seats. This whole worry about waking the baby moving them is silly IMO. We are a very "on the go" family and have always moved the kids from here to there and back again and since they're so used to it they would either not wake or stir enough to gather their surroundings and go right back to sleep. There have been so many recalls on those infant seats because the seat can detach from the base or the seat handle breaks etc. I don't trust something where the part holding the baby isn't the part attached to the car. But that's a whole other issue ;) The stroller is definitely worth a look.

My husband and I are in LOVE w/ our stroller! I don't like keeping baby in a car seat for too long either, so didn't want the travel system, but also didn't want a large, super expensive bassinet system. We bought the Citi Mini by Baby Jogger, and its been awesome! The back folds down, so baby can lay down completely, and big enough to put his pillow and blankets, so he's comfy. The "hood" is really big, so he's really protected from all the elements and a peek window, so I can check on him. The best part, however, is it folds up w/ one hand, in one step! Fits through x-ray machines at airports, and the larger style tires are good for long walks. Happy stroller shopping!!

Hallo MW,

Ich komme auch aus Deutschland.
My mother came to visit from Germany 5 weeks after my son's birth, and insisted on buying a Kinderwagen with a bassinet where the baby could lie down completely flat. We looked at many models, and settled on the Rockstar Baby. It has a very nice bassinet, a half circle shade, later can have a stroller seat that also totally reclines for a larger baby. It fit in the back of our RAV4 (2003), but does not fold up very much for bus rides. It cost just under $ 500.00 back in October 2006, and my 3-year-old is still using it when we go to the Zoo.

OK, so I can only confirm everyone's sling/carrier recommendations (Babytragetuch). I had a Maya sling, an Over-the-Shoulder-Baby-Holder (used mostly through airports, but also at home), a Baby Björn (only first 6 months), and we swear by our Mei Tai and Ergo carriers, which we are still using today. My son is 3 years, 2 months, weights about 32 pounds, and they are rated to about 40 pounds. DH prefers the ergo, I love my Mei Tai, also known as Baby Hawk.
Alles Gute!
C.

We bought the Uppa Baby Vista stroller along with the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio car seat when our daughter was born (she just turned 1). We used the car seat with the Uppa frame constantly. It was extremely convenient and she was comfortable. We never used the bassinet feature of the Uppa with the stroller, but she did nap in it sometimes at home. She outgrew the bassinet quickly (got too long for it). When she outgrew her car seat at about 10 months old, we started using the stroller part of the Uppa and we love it so far. We get lots of comments on how nice the stroller looks.

We got our Vista here:
http://www.peppyparents.com/servlet/the-268/uppababy-vist...

We also have a BOB jogging stroller and a Maclaren Volo umbrella stroller. We don't use the BOB too much, but the Maclaren is really handy.

Good luck!

Hi. Bugabaloo makes a bassinet stroller that is durable and fairly easy to use and it can be converted into a regular stroller when needed. I used a bassinet stroller that I got from Sweden that is amazing but is impossible to get over here (I had a friend bring it from Sweden). It was pricey but well worth it! I took it everywhere and still use it today.

We had a pram that turned into an upright stroller and we loved it. We kept the baby totally flat until she could sit up on her own as we felt strongly this was developmentally appropriate. She loved the freedom of movement she had and I really liked being able to see her. The car seat adaptors are much more convenient, but my understanding is that there are contraindications for keeping an infant or child in a car seat for anything other than travel. You will quickly get used to getting any type of stroller you end up with in and out of the car.

I would suggest you go to a store that has they brands you are interested in and trying each out. Don't underestimate the size of the carry bin if you plan on taking long walks.

We also got the Uppa Baby before our son was born and we loved the bassinet and that you can switch them to face you or away. It also seems to sit the child up a little higher then a lot of strollers which was nice cause we could roll him right up to a table if we didn't want to use a restaurant highchair. Also, we got a convertible car seat so we only had to buy one and not replace it every time he outgrew it. I didn't mind taking him out and transferring him. I'm not that strong and didn't want to have to lug a baby + car seat in and out. I also used a sling quite a bit. My only complaint with the Uppa Baby is that the seat seems like it should sit up just a little more straight. My son seems to slouch/slide down just a bit and the strap between his legs seems to ride up a bit. I do think this maybe only be an issue because he has slightly low muscle tone. So this may not be an issue for you. Oh and the wheel base is slightly on the wide side.
Overall I think we have been very happy with the options we went with. I would highly recommend going this route.

Hey there! I bought one of those "car seat strollers" (the Graco Snugrider) and loved it. Inexpensive and very convenient. When my son was about nine months old, we switched him to a new stroller (bigger & forward-facing) but still used the Snugrider as his car seat. When he turned one, we bought a new car seat (forward-facing). This may seem a bit wasteful, but that car seat and stroller were beat to death by the time we replaced them, so I feel OK about it.

When it comes to toting your baby around, if you are athletic and like being mobile, I suggest the Ergo and / or a wrap. I tried slings, wraps, etc, and none of them were very comfy until the Ergo. You'll need the infant insert at first if you use the Ergo right away. No big deal. If you want to try a bunch of different types of wraps, go to one of the two Pump Stations in LA (either Los Feliz or Santa Monica). They offer a freebie class once a week where pregnant ladies / new moms get to try out a bunch of wraps.

Graco Snugrider was great for just getting around (especially when the baby is sleeping so much) and the Ergo was great for bonding, walking, having hands free, and so on. BTW, I am not totally sure what you mean by the baby "lying down." He sort of reclined a bit in the Snugrider, but he was still sitting up. And I liked that he faced me in that stroller as opposed to facing the outside world. Developmentally, that is supposed to be a good thing. (I'm sure next year they'll tell us that developmentally, it's a bad thing! Ha ha! But for now, facing mom is the way to go.) Good luck to you!

I have an uppa baby vista stroller with the bassinet feature. I absolutly love it. I understand the problem with the car seat and moving them around so much. Uppa baby does sell an attachment for around $35 that you can just click the car seat into. I use the bassinet all the time, my daughter is 4 months old and is reaching her length limit on it. But it is worth it!!!! I cannot rave about the stroller enough. It is so light and you can collapse and undo the stroller with one hand. There is a place in orange that is going out of business that carries the stroller and is offering 20% off right now. Its called two monkeys, in the orange circle. Good luck

I can sort of answer your question... a lot of it depends on the size of your baby. My son was over a year old before we switched him out of the carseat (rear-facing) to the forward facing ones. However, when he was able to sit up on his own is when we stopped using the car seat in the stroller. My son is very slim so it was ok for us to do that with him. However, if your child is heavier then you may not want to use it for so long. I have one of the travel systems. The seat does recline and has a little stopper at the bottom so the baby doesn't fall out if you want to recline or have the baby laying down. I don't know anything about the bassinet strollers other than they are WAY expensive for something that is used for such a little time. you figure the child will be up and walking by about one year... so figure that to be about your use as far as constant... we still use ours but I do like my son to be out and walking.

Hi-
I bought the Bugaboo Cameleon stroller which has the bassinet feature and used it all the time. I also purchased the adapters for the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio car seat (which is very heavy) and never really used them. I did some research and read that doctor's do not recommend leaving your baby in their car seat to sleep or for long periods of time for a few reasons: 1) just as our neck can get sore from sleeping in an odd position, so can theirs which will lead to a fussy baby; 2) if their head falls forward while they're sleeping the baby can suffocate; and 3) leaving a baby in their car seat too long can lead to a flat head.

I would don't think you will be disappointed if you buy a system with a bassinet. I used it until my baby was 5 months old, at which point he could sit up. I walked 3-6 miles every day and couldn't imagine making him sit in his car seat for all that time. He loved being in his bassinet, it gave him a lot more freedom then being crammed into his car seat.

Hope this helps!

We didn't buy a stroller when our son was born, we just used a baby carrier everywhere. If you don't like the idea of having the baby lay in the car seat or stroller, or if you want to go hiking or anything where it's hard to maneuver a stroller, that is the way to go. We use our Mai Tei carrier for hiking (my son is now 14 months, we started using that around 2 months), and used a sling when he was younger (for walks, grocery shopping etc). We did end up with a stroller that we started using around 6 months, and we do use it more often now, but still rarely. I think waiting until you know what you really want and need makes sense, since what you get depends on what you will do with it. We ended up with a simple stroller, the Chicco Capri, about $80, folds up pretty small, and it works great for us.