Stroller Conspiracy

It's happening. I'm becoming a crazy stroller lady.

I am convinced that stroller companies have banded together to make strollers that are good at different things so your forced to buy multiple strollers. I don't think the perfect stroller exists. Depending on what you want to do, you need a different stroller. I honestly think it's a conspiracy forcing you to buy multiple strollers.

Want to go for a jog? There's a stroller for that!
Want to go to the mall? There's a stroller for that!
Want to go for a hike? There's a stroller for that!
Want to go on a trip and need something compact? There's a stroller for that!


Don't even get me started on these $400+ strollers that don't come with all the accessories. Drink holder? Buy it! Key holder? Buy it! Snack tray? Buy it. Give me a break!!

Here's the deal on my strange stroller addiction that is reaching epic proportions at my house these days.

We started out with a Graco DuoGlider. Why? We had Graco infant seats and it fit the seats. It was reasonably priced (about $120). We looked at the fancy pants strollers, but I couldn't understand why a stroller could cost $500+. Um, it pushes babies around. Isn't a stroller a stroller?



The stroller served it's purpose. We went for short walks around the neighborhood. We didn't go out a lot in those early days, so it was fine. Once the twinkies grew out of their infant carriers around 7 months, the stroller's faults became evident. It only has a lap belt and not a 5 point harness. Cue the curious babies leaning over the sides to grab things and nearly falling out on their head. Once they got bigger and I wanted to go on longer walks (2+ miles) and the thing was a beast to push around our hilly neighborhood. Don't even try to off road on grass or go up and down curbs unless you want to tip your babies over on their heads.

So, the hunt for a jogger stroller began. I was still convinced paying a premium to get a decent stroller was not necessary. Through our multiples group, I found someone selling a Baby.Trend Double Jogger. Used double joggers are not easy to come by... It seemed decent and it cost only $60 so I snapped it up. We jogged in it. We did some off roading in it at a pumpkin patch in the fall. We tackled the hills in our neighborhood. The thing was a beast though! It's so wide it can't fit through narrow doors (we have a grocery store within walking distance and I like to walk there to pick up food when it's nice out. We needed a wide load sign on it to get down the grocery aisles.) Plus, it was huge when folded down and the wheels all had to come off to get it in the back of our Subaru. Instead of buying a bigger vehicle I figured it was time to upgrade to a better stroller yet again!



This time we pulled out all the stops and did a TON of research on double strollers. We read the reviews and we tried them out in the store. I had it narrowed down the the City Mini and a BOB. I lost sleep over the decision. I'm not kidding. I really lost sleep. I talked about it nonstop. I kept flip flopping. It was a major decision. BOB won out. It wasn't really close once we tried out both strollers in the store. It was love at first sight. I had to have it.

Although BOB is amazing and we cruise through the neighborhood with ease, hike in the Smoky Mountains without a problem, scale curbs and grass incredibly smoothly, it's too cumbersome to hall around out in stores. We took it to the mall once and got stuck in the Clinique aisle. Not joking...my husband had to move a perfume stand out of the way.

Since rearranging perfume stands is not on my agenda whenever we go out, we stuck with the original Graco stroller for store/mall outings. They have gotten bigger and stronger and it's a pain hauling them around in that thing. It's impossible to go in a store without them leaning out and throwing a stack of shirts on the floor or taking down a mannequin.

I hated the thought of buying yet another stroller, but to make things easier for me to take them out by myself, I started to feel the stroller buying itch again. I started thinking about a City Mini and was creating ways in my mind to justify the purchase. Low and behold, someone posted a Joovy Scooter X2 on our local multiples site. It was gently used and she was selling for only $100. I quickly wrote to the seller, did a quick search on the reviews for the stroller and set up a time to buy it. I'm glad I responded quickly because within hours after I wrote, there were a handful of people interested in it.



 
This beauty has been in my possession for a few weeks and I LOVE IT!! I took it on a walk and it certainly is not a walking stroller. BOB is the ultimate in terms of walking. However, it is fantastic in stores and navigating tight spaces. The storage underneath is amazing!! I can stand the diaper bag up and not have to lay it down and squeeze it in. It works great for bringing to the grocery store (we often walk to grab items) because I can load a lot under it! It has made my life easier and for that I thank you!

I shy away from 'advice' writing posts. However, I have to share a run down of my thoughts on must have strollers: a decent jogger (I'm a huge fan of BOB) to get out to places with uneven terrain (downtown city walking, zoo, walking paths, etc.), a store/mall stroller and single umbrella strollers (it's nice to get 1:1 time).

Since this was stroller number 5 I decided it was time to sell some of the old ones. I dug them all out and set them up during nap time and snapped pics. I sold the jogger the day I listed it! That's the thing with strollers (at least double strollers. I don't claim to know a thing about single strollers), you can always sell the quality strollers without a problem! The strollers were all parked in the garage post nap time and a lady walking by said it looked like 'stroller city' in our garage. 

Yeah, I know, I have a stroller addiction problem... Move over crazy cat lady. Make room for the crazy stroller lady!