More or less everyone will tell you that you need to consider three things, before you buy a stroller. Where you live, where you are taking your baby (and stroller) and how much you want to spend.The paradox is that no-matter what you answer, it won’t help you one bit.
Let me break it down for you.
1. If you live in a big city, chances are only a helicopter-stroller can help you with the parked cars. If you live in the country, only a dragster stroller might help as standard wheels will not take you far.
2. Assuming you are pregnant and reading this, you have no idea yet that you are not taking baby places. You are just pushing the stroller and baby decides where it wants to go. Well, if not baby, toddler for sure. So, no matter how much you try, you won’t be able to predict where you are taking the baby in the next three years.
3. Somehow you’ll spend more than you had thought you would. And it’s money spent on the baby. Related to safety. So, let’s not pretend the price is the deciding factor.
There.
So what can help you decide how to buy a stroller?
Once more: common sense.
Get something that folds and unfolds easily and that is not too heavy. Make sure it fits in your trunk and in the lift, if you are using one. Take it for a test-drive – even inside the store- to see how it feels to push it around, especially between objects or around people. It should be really easy to make turns or climb up a couple of stairs. One of those travel systems, where you get a bassinet and a car seat along with the stroller can be a smarter move, if you are not planning to use a cot from the beginning. As for the cost, prepare to spend a fair amount- a sum that will hurt a little- but it’s ok. You will be using it a lot for the next years so it’s money invested, not just spent.
(Tip: Invest on Safety First- not Looks!)