First off, don’t panic. No fathers-to-be were harmed in the taking of this shot ;)
But we have good news! After hours and hours and hours of research on this stroller thing (and some great tips from you guys!), we finally landed on one! Oh, and if you haven’t seen our “research footage“, it’s a can’t miss.
We were seconds from a gazillion dollar, super cute Uppababy stroller with bassinet and 50 SPF sun shield (standard), then we tried to collapse and open it. Not so fun. The sweet sales lady was “helping” and showed us how we “shouldn’t be afraid” to just slam it hard… Anyway, we started to have doubts.
Right beside it was a just-under-gazillion dollar, almost-as-cute I’coo stroller (also with bassinet, but no SPF). So right away we tried to collapse it, which in its defense was somewhat easier, AND it was significantly lighter than the Uppababy. Then we found out that it doesn’t “snap in” an infant car seat (it has a strap – yet one more thing to deal with when you’re working with a potentially screaming baby). Needless to say, we regrouped.
We’d been pretty set on the Chicco Infant Car Seat (also pictured above) – I mean, it’s THE lightest of any of the 342 we lifted, has a simple (yet safe) puzzle lock, has a LEVEL built in for easy installation, and it’s cute – OH, and above all, it’s highly recommended by Oprah (“As Seen in O Magazine”). Anyway, it has limited strollers that it “clicks” into: Uppababy is one, Chicco has it’s own clunky one, AND it clicks into the simple, cheaper Snap-N-Go frame (which, by the way is incredibly easy to open/close with ONE hand – thanks for that advice, Gary Gisel!)
So here’s what we decided – get the car seat we want (check), get the simple cheaper frame (check), and save our dinero to spend on stroller #2, which ideally will get a lot more play than stroller #1 will… Anyway, that’s the theory. And so ends the saga of what should be ONE easy purchase out of the bazillion (is that more or less than gazillion?) purchases required to have a baby. DONE!
Next up: “co-sleepers” – any suggestions? :)
Emphasis on Joy 
Smart shopping mommy & daddy.
The gazillion $$ hi tech strollers are tempting but not so necessary.
However I do still find myself oggling over the buggaboo when I see them on the street. Those moms also look put together and carefree what’s up with that?
Be strong, Karin ;) I’ve actually heard bad feedback on the bugaboo strollers in particular – the new “rage” is the Uppababy Vista 2010 and the Orbit: http://orbitbabyg2stroller.com/
Regardless, I’m pretty sure our Snap-N-Go will do just fine – plus, our carrier is RED and as you know, RED is the new PINK ;)
BTW – we ordered the Chicco from Diapers.com for the cheapest price out there and for FREE next-day shipping… I’m wow’d.
keep the wordsmith birth control headed my way….wow!
ha – come on, Greg – doesn’t all this sound like FUN?!
I hope Bart still doesn’t have that plastic over his head. But if he does…just cut a big hole in it.
Whew – you’re just in time! Deep breaths…
You will eventually end up with at least 8 strollers. Seriously. So no worries on which one is first. In terms of gear, the stroller decision is definitely the most involved.
EIGHT!? Come on, Jana. I was counting on three, hoping for two, but EIGHT?! We better start saving ;)