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Saturday, October 22, 2011

Primp My Pram: The Winner!

I am sure you have all been waiting with baited breath to know what we finally decided about strollers.  I can assure you that I did not keep you waiting on purpose - we didn't make a decision until today!

If you remember my last post on this topic, the Baum house was divided on this issue as usual: Dan was Team Britax, and while I wasn't opposed to the Britax, I was still Team Uppa.  The bottom line was this: both the Britax and the UPPA are pretty expensive.  If we (or those who love us) are spending this amount of money on a stroller, we want to make sure we love it.  And as much as I loved the Uppa, I felt uneasy about the price and just wasn't sure I could justify it.  The Britax wasn't a ton less, but I figured every penny counts.  I did a LOT of research on those two (y'all know I have OCD tendencies and like to be prepared), and I won't bore you again with all of the details, but I kept seeing another stroller mentioned in all of the reviews on both of these.  Behold, the Baby Jogger City Select:
Now, I will admit that originally when this kept coming up in reviews, it did not even cross my mind to consider it.  Why, you might ask?  Because of the word "jogger" in the title.  No, that is not a joke.  Those of you who do not know me well may not know that while I go to the gym all of the time because I am constantly trying to lose weight (or in my current state keep active and healthy and minimize the gain if I can), I hate to run.  H A T E.  I would literally rather do anything else.  Including drive my car off the nearest cliff.  I really wish I liked to run, because people really seem to enjoy it plus it's kind of trendy these days and there are lots of cute running clothes, but sadly I do not.  Anyway, I assumed this was a running stroller much like the super trendy and awesome Bob and decided it wasn't for me. 

It wasn't until I got an e-mail from my girlfriend Emily with their stroller experience that I reconsidered.  She told me that like us, she and Grant researched strollers to death and finally went with the Baby Jogger.  She said they liked it the best because it is truly for a family "on the grow," in that instead of having the regular stroller seat and the rumble seat like the other two we were considering, you can fit 2 regular sized seats on it.  Not only that, but there are approximately a million and one configurations with which to attach the two seats.  Behold:
The only downside, she said, was that you end up having to buy a lot of the parts separately (especially if you want the bassinet), so it ends up being closer to the price of the UPPA than the Britax.  I forwarded Emily's e-mail to Dan along with a link to the website, and I think it was love at first sight.  Instead of seeing my name pop up in his inbox and immediately choosing to ignore or delete like usual, he sent me approximately 10 e-mails about how cool it was and spent a good amount of time watching the videos on the website about all of the different configurations.  He's a nut.  I will say that while I was originally annoyed that he cared about what stroller we got, in the end I've been happy with his involvement - he has consistently brought up things I hadn't thought about.

So, we went back to the store today to take a look and see what we thought in person, and ended up doing a comparison to the UPPA.  This post is getting long, and I don't want to bore you, so I will instead do a quick (at least I'll try to make it quick) synopsis and declare a "winner" in each category that was important to us:
  • PRICE: Tie.  UPPA is slightly more expensive, but not enough for it to really matter.  You have to buy the infant carseat as well as an adapter separately for both strollers.  The UPPA comes with the bassinet, but you have to buy it separately for the Baby Jogger if you want it, so that's what makes the price close to the same.  Honestly, if we go with the Baby Jogger, I'm not sure we'll get the bassinet anyway - the sales associate helping us today told us that you can only use the bassinet attachment for both strollers for 3 months, and that most babies outgrow it length-wise before then anyway.  Disclaimer: I have not researched this claim, but if it's true it seems silly to spend the money.
  • WHEELS/STEERING:  Both are very good, but UPPA has the edge and is therefore the winner in this category.  The turning was slightly smoother which made the stroller slightly easier to maneuver.
  • WEIGHT:  The UPPA is slightly lighter in weight.  HOWEVER, that is because it is also a little smaller.  The Baby Jogger has a longer/wider frame, making more room for the toddler seat, which makes it a few pounds heavier.
  • EASE OF USE:  Baby Jogger, by far.  The UPPA took us forever to figure out, and even after the sales associate came to show us, it took a few tries to fold it.  The Baby Jogger, in our opinion, was much easier - press one button and it folds right down the center, piece of cake.  User-friendliness is going to be key with the grandparents, I can assure you.
  • ROOM TO GROW:  Baby Jogger.  We both liked the idea of making an investment on a stroller that can hold both baby and toddler, as Baby Geronimina will likely have a sibling sooner than later (not immediately - don't get any ideas, Mom).  This is originally what drew me to the UPPA, but after we saw the rumble seat we were a little more hesitant.  I am sure plenty of parents use it and love it, and I have plenty of girlfriends who have this stroller and love it (none with two children yet), but it just seems so small and cramped when you have the carseat attachment on.  The bigger frame on the Baby Jogger allows for an actual full toddler seat which can be configured quite a few different ways, and there is a lot more room.
So, a tie.  Awesome.  In the end, ease of use and room for the toddler seat was very appealing, so we decided to go with the Baby Jogger.  I know this seems like a silly decision to have stressed so much over, but it truly is an investment.  We will be using this stroller for a long time, and for the amount of money we will be spending, we just wanted to consider every possible aspect to make sure we were choosing the right one.

We also decided to go with the Chicco Keyfit 30 Infant Car Seat.  The safety ratings speak for themselves on this, and we liked the fact that these seats can be used on any of the strollers we were considering - very versatile.  Additionally, the fabric that's used seems like it will be very easy to clean.  I think we'll probably go with a black stroller, and I am leaning towards either the green or yellow car seat.

So, that was the first accomplishment of today - it may seem small, but just having made the decision decreased my anxiety by a LOT.  Other accomplishments of the day: deciding on nursery furniture (more on that in a later post) and a successful trip to the Apple store as an early Christmas present to each other.

Whew, that was a long one - hope I didn't bore you!  Several stresses knocked out - not too shabby for a Saturday.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Sarah

5 comments:

  1. I love this item so does me grandson light weight easy to get on off bus easy folded best buy ever. Thanks a lot for this useful post! Really awesome strollers i am looking here!!!!!! Again Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great article. I’m looking for double stroller and know that Uppababy will release a new one next month. Do you have any idea on it or general on uppababy, I’m so new with this branch.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great reviews! I have teenagers, I don't remember my stroller being quite so sophisticated. A chic black and white vehicle collapsing into a car seat, looking more like a convertible but easier to park.Check out the best baby carriers for hiking reviews. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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