Stroller Wars

Since the stroller search has been the main focus for us lately, I figured I’d start there. Let me start with saying that the people at Babies 1st are some of the nicest and most patient folks you will ever meet. I  ould like to take a moment to make a shameless plug for their site for anyone searching for baby supplies. http://babies1st.com/

After hours, days, no weeks of searching online and reading reviews and thinking “we’ve found it!” then “oh wait, maybe not” my husband and I came to a conclusion… We had NO IDEA what stroller would work best for two kids, be durable, work for jogging, and fit in our Fiat. With how expensive a lot of these strollers were, we didn’t want to spend all that money just to buy something we have to return (and probably pay restocking fees, etc). Yet, on the other hand, the strollers we were looking at were not easy to locate in our local babies-r-us or target. The few local stores that had the strollers listed on their web sites, all told us that they were only available online and not in stores. We read tons of reviews on sites like Amazon, etc, but some of the data from other people seemed to conflict and no one really mentioned a car as small as ours, etc. So how could we make sure we made the right choice? Enter Babies 1st.

We found their showroom online and made the trek out to see them. We must have gone to their showroom about 6 or 7 times, wheeling different strollers out to our car to see how easily they would fold and if/how they would fit in our car. Taking JT (our two year old) in rides around the showroom floor to see how well they handled and how well he liked them. We narrowed our choices down to 3 strollers.

1) Baby Jogger City Select

2) Phil & Teds Explorer

3) Britax B-ready

These were all expensive (at least to us) so we wanted to make sure we would have something that would meet our criteria and last for the rest of our children’s stroller needing days. Our criteria were:

1) Small enough to fit in the back of Fiat 500

2) Easy to fold & pop the back wheels off

3) Comfortable ride for both kids

4) good seating options/arrangements

5) Easy to maneuver

6) Good over rougher terrain (I jog on a trail, but there are still bumps, tree roots breaking through, and patches of dirt path, etc.) This stroller needs to be good not just on the sidewalks, but on the paths too.

Our previous stroller was a Jeep Liberty and it was, as we lovingly called it, the SUV of strollers. It was actually pretty big for a single stroller, but it maneuvered well and took the paths I jogged with ease. After hours of looking, test driving JT around the store, and test folding and packing strollers into our car, we finally made our choice. Phil & Ted’s Explorer with Doubles kit.

The Baby city jogger fit well in our car and I loved its multiple seating options, but the seats were already too small for JT and it was a little bulky to pop the wheels off (getting them back on, though, was easy). The Britax again had seating arrangements I really liked, and seemed a bit roomier for the child in the bottom seat, but it was just a little too big for our trunk (and the tires weren’t air). 

For all three models we had to remove the back tires and second seat to fold and then store it allin the trunk. A little extra work, but I was expecting that when getting a double stroller into a small car.

I admit after first picking the Phil & Teds I was still a little skeptical. The seat had plenty of room for JT to grow. It fit great in our trunk with room to spare for the diaper bag and my laptop case for work, but I still wasn’t excited about the (what I thought) limited seating options. We picked out the one in Green and black (we had been testing their all black floor model, but when presented with color options, both loved the green.) So we slipped the boxes in to our Fiat and drove them home. It took my husband a few short minutes to unpack it and put it together and he quickly discovered that there were more seating options then I had realized. Turns out they actually have 3 different ways you can set the seats (Single, Toddler/Infant, Toddler/Toddler). My hubby showed me the very nice option designed for carrying a new born and Toddler in the stroller that I just love! Big bonus! It has a very nice weather screen to protect the baby when in the infant position. Plus something about the colors make the stroller seem to pop and JT just really loves riding in his “gween” stroller. (He wasn’t as thrilled with the floor model.) Finally, (at least in the infant/toddler setting) it folds perfectly with both seats attached and still fits like a glove (with room to spare) in our small trunk. Popping the back wheels on and off (a must to fit it properly in the trunk) is literally the click of a button.

I tested the he Phil & Ted’s out this morning and it was easy as pie! I get up at 4:30 and take JT out to the car to drop him off for daycare on my way in to work. Due to my pregnancy and some pre-existing back problems, I have had to make the poor dear wake up and walk out to the car this last month. This morning I was able to keep him asleep and just wheel him out in the stroller. It handled well down our building front steps and I was able to fold it quickly and get it in the trunk. It is actually a little smaller then our Jeep stroller! I can’t wait to test out maneuvering it through the mall when we go Christmas shopping (that was a nightmare with the big bulky Jeep last year.) So far I have only used it a few times (and only with one child, Ry isn’t here just yet) but I will keep you posted on my thoughts and experience as I use it more and with both kids!

*Side note, the only bad thing I have run into so far with this stroller is a complaint that I did see online a few times, the main sunshade pops off so easily! My husband swears that we just haven’t figured out how to put it on properly to keep it in place. I am thinking of zip-tying it to the stroller, lol. Even so, I am in love with this purchase. I will keep you posted!