In my head and on paper I was all prepared. I created a spread sheet of strollers I wanted to look at with spots to fill in the price, add-ons, weight, type, wheel-wheel distance, how it steers, folds and a spot for notes. I also brought a small notebook where I could go more in detail and a camera to take pictures.
Not a single item came out of my purse and of course I left my tape measurer at home. I even forgot to look at some of the strollers I had wanted to. You could say I was a bit overwhelmed. I know I'll have to make at least 2 other trips there (The closest 2 BBB's from me are about 50 min and 90 min away). Today I actually went to the one further away because my dad lives in a nearby town. I picked him up and tortured him by looking at all these strollers and then we went out to lunch. Anyway - I want to go back with a friend of mine who is also pg with her 2nd. She's 7 weeks and has morning sickness so once she's better we'll load the kids up and test out the strollers with two kids in them. I think that will give us a much better feel of how the stroller will handle. Of course 2 toddlers aren't the same as a toddler and NB - but hey eventually the baby #2 will also be a toddler. Then I'll have to go back with DH and make sure he has some input - this is after I narrow my search down.
I'm pretty picky and have some pretty tough requirements. Driving home I was thinking about all the strollers I looked at and decided I don't like ANY of them. I don't want a double stroller. The perfect stroller does not exist. Sigh. But I NEED a double stroller. I'll have a NB and a 21 month old. We walk our dog nightly. I do a Stroller Strides class multiple times a week. I go to the mall and shopping where I might want to try on clothes and baby wearing won't always work. You're probably wondering what my stroller needs are. Here they are:
- Narrow enough for mall/store shopping. Can fit through doors and aisles.
- Can handle uneven pavement for outdoor walks
- Can steer easily and with one hand
- Not too heavy (I know most - lets change that to ALL double strollers are heavy but I don't want a 40-50 lb stroller. I have to lug this thing in and out of a car).
- Can fit in my car's trunk - I have a toyota corolla. I could trade with DH and drive the ford explorer but I really want to stick with the corolla. The trunk is actually pretty roomer for a small car.
-Both kids can see what's in front of them
-Infant car seat can get attached with adaptor
So enough of boring you - I know you really want to hear about the strollers I tested out.
Baby Jogger City Mini Double
I have the single of this stroller. I LOVE my single. To be honest right now all double strollers scare me. The SBS strollers just seem so wide. The tandem strollers seem so long. I think there will be an adjustment period.
Pros:
M loved sitting in this stroller. It's just like his. He has no clue that there will be another little person sitting next to him. It steers great and is light for a double. I think under 30 lbs. Like I said I was overwhelmed and didn't get much information. Both of the seats fully recline. Nice basket. Great big sunshade. The price is $399.99 which I see as a pro since I'm also looking at strollers that are much more expensive. Depending on your budget the price could be seen as a con.
Cons: It's a SBS (which isn't necessarily a con - but for store shopping I see it as one). While it's one of the narrower ones I still worry about getting around in stores. The wheels - while better than say a Graco stroller system - they still get beat up outside on uneven pavement.
Baby Jogger City Elite
Pros: Great big tires. Great for walks outside. Can have a fixed wheel or a swivel wheel. Both seats can full recline.
Cons: Heavy, Heavy, Heavy. I'd like to think I'm not too much of a weakling but I couldn't imagine lifting that thing in and out of a car all the time. This is a stroller you just leave in your garage. Price is $649.99 not including extras.
So I really on half looked at this stroller. I already knew it wasn't for me but had to look to make comparisions.
Pros: Can seat 2 kids (haha). Cup and snack holder. Large basket. The steering actually wasn't horrible but I didn't have any kids in it. M was too tired of stroller hopping.
Cons: BIG and bulky. The thing folded was just huge. It was also very heavy and I didn't even know where to grab to pick it up so I could put it in a car. The tires are small rinky dink things. Would not do well on uneven pavement. It was also longer than the City Select. Not sure about the width but it was probably wider too.
And now - for the stroller I really went there for and I'm sure the one you're waiting to hear about.
Baby Jogger City Select
This stroller starts off as a single at a whopping $499.99. For a couple extra hundred dollars you can add on a car seat attachment and a second seat and you have a double. The total price would be about $720. They also have a bassinet option but I'm not interested in that.
Pros: This stroller is very versitile. There are more than 16 ways you can configure the 2 seats. The kids can both face you, both face out, they can face each other. It is rather amazing. The wheels are also great. Too bad the stores don't have a pavement, sand and gravel area where you can really test them. It looks like they would do great on pavement on gravel. I don't know about sand - but I'm not near a beach so that's not one of my concerns. The basket is nice and big and I honestly didn't think it was that heavy after lifting some other strollers. I only folded it as a single though. Tried as a double but one of the seats got in the way and since the seats are easy enough to take off I'll probably just do that if I get the select. I think I'll need a seat off for it to fit in my Corolla anyway. The steering was great - could do it with one hand. I *think* the handle bar is adjustable but I forgot to ask.
Cons: It was a tight squeeze with the car seat attached on the top part - closest to mom. The toddler seat wasn't able to recline at all when it was facing out. When you have both seats attached the only way they could both fully recline is when the top one is facing out and the bottom one faces in. Maybe another configuration works that I didn't try but we did try multiple ways. OK - so I just heard that both seats also recline when they are both parent-facing. I'll have to try that the next time I see it. The seats seem kind of small - like they would be outgrown by height quickly. DS has plenty of room in the city mini to grow but he seemed to have 5 inches at the most to the top of the seat. The seat also didn't seem as comfortable as the SBS seats. I wish the seats and the stroller frame itself were a little longer - even though the stroller seemed plenty long as a double it would have given some more room.
I'm now even more confused as ever over which double stroller to get. It's a good thing I have plenty of time to decide. It takes me a while. I left there 90% sure I would end up getting the city select and now the more I think about it I'm not really sure. If we had a couple grand just laying around to spend I'd get the City Select and then a SBS such as the Indie Twin (which I still haven't seen in person, I'm just throwing it out there). However we don't have that kind of money. Even getting the City Select with all the attachments is pushing it but I'd rather splurge and be happy with my stroller than get a cheap one and later end up getting an expensive one anyway.
So I hope this helped someone because I don't think it helped me. Haha. I went planning on looking at 6+ strollers and only really looked at 3 and half looked at one more. There's going to be lots of driving to baby stores in my future.
Next plans are to look at:
Bumbleride Indie Twin
BOB Revolution
icandy peach or pear
I'll also be taking another look at:
City Mini Double
City Select
I'm starting to think I'm more of a SBS stroller girl. Maybe it's because most of the moms with 2+ kids at Stroller Strides have a SBS. Maybe it's because both seats seem comfortable and can both fully recline. I just like the look of them better. However for store shopping it just does not seem practicle. I would have to get 2 strollers - maybe a smaller SBS stroller like a Maclaran. My husband knows me too well, if he were hear and I was telling him all this he'd just say, "You'll change your mind tomorrow anway". I probably will.
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