Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

When I was five months pregnant my husband and I naively went to an infant superstore to “check out” equipment. We had no idea that there were so many choices for cribs, gliders and diaper pails, much less strollers.

There were aisles and aisles of strollers in every color of the rainbow. Even though the description for each stroller made it sound infinitely better than the one next to it, they all looked the same. We couldn’t figure out what in the world we needed, except for a degree in how to collapse them. And our friends with children were of little help. People were as passionately hateful or in love with their strollers, as they were about breastfeeding.

After months of research and consideration, I did finally make a decision, but it wasn’t without regrets that I couldn’t have forecast prior to having a baby. So, I’ll share with you what I’ve learned.

There are a few basic main categories for strollers. The SUV, which is large but has everything: Cup holders, large undercarriage, good canopy, reclining seat and brakes. These tend to weigh more and are a bit clunky to maneuver.

There’s the umbrella stroller, light-weight and easy to collapse, but typically can’t support an infant car seat and is devoid of most bells and whistles.

The convertible stroller supports an infant car seat until the baby grows out of it at which point it becomes a regular stroller. These can also be clunky and quite difficult to maneuver.

I wanted something that could be collapsed intuitively, was lighter than a bag of cement and easy to maneuver. After reading many books, the best recommendation for my criteria was the Peg Perego Aria. My husband and I went and test drove about a million strollers before choosing this one.

It was by far the easiest to collapse and weighed nearly nothing. It also allowed us to snap in our car seat, so we wouldn’t have to buy an entirely separate piece of stroller equipment called the Snap-N-Go for her early days. The last thing I wanted to do was clutter my garage, already teeming with broken coffee tables and old cans of paint, with more stuff. 

Once the baby came, my stroller’s inefficiencies became blatantly clear. For one, the cup holder fell off in the first week. Two, the wheels were constantly getting jammed, making me look absolutely crazy in stores when I feverishly tried to unlock them usually crashing baby and stroller into some glassware display. Lastly, the opening to the undercarriage was so unbelievably slender that I’d be lucky to get a piece of paper in it.

I recently purchased an exercise stroller called the B.O.B., which cost more than my car payment. But, it’s totally worth it. The stroller rolls like butter and the undercarriage is big enough to store a bushel of diapers. The only downsize is it’s incredibly clumsy to collapse and it weighs more than a Volkswagen.

Here’s what I would have done if I had the incredible power to rewind time. I would have paid more attention to how the stroller maneuvered and the quality of its accessories (i.e., the size of the undercarriage). I live in an urban setting and the stroller is like a shopping cart to me, so I should have considered how I was going to use it more. While weight and collapsibility are important, utility is key.

I also would have abandoned my paranoia about collecting more junk. You’re having a kid, you’re going to accumulate a lifetime of stuff. It’s why my parents to this day are trying to get me to take boxes of books I haven’t touched since eighth grade. Instead, I would have bought the Snap n’ Go stroller, a basic frame that you can literally snap your car seat into, and used it in those first few months.

Since I am a runner, I would have purchased the jog stroller and used it for my errands and running. Lastly, I would get a cheap umbrella stroller that is lightweight and could be stored in the car for outings to the mall or the zoo.

I suggest test driving as many strollers as you can get your hands on and really considering how you’ll use it.

Do you plan to walk city streets or are you more likely to be on dirt paths?

Do you own an SUV or a small car? This can make a difference in whether the thing fits in your trunk.

Do you plan to do a lot of shopping with the baby, exercising or will it just be a means for taking the baby on basic outings?

I would also consider buying a frame, such as the Snap-N-Go, at first. Then, perhaps after really seeing how you might use a stroller with the baby, shop for what you need next.