Baby Stollers/Car Seats/Travel Systems

[Fidatelo]

I'm starting to try to research the perplexing world of strollers, car seats, and combo thingies. Any advice from people that have purchased these kinds of things before? Any styles, models, or brands to prefer or avoid?

[gstelmack]

Graco SnugRide Infant seat: Amazon.com: Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat in Betsey: Baby (http://www.amazon.com/Graco-SnugRide-Infant-Seat-Betsey/dp/B000WIEHCM/ref=pd_bxgy_ba_text_b) (pick whatever color obviously)

Graco Quattro stroller: Amazon.com: Graco Quattro Tour Sport Stroller - Platinum: Baby (http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Quattro-Tour-Sport-Stroller/dp/B0013KCE14/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1220983507&sr=1-8) (again, choose your color)

They have a version of the Quattro with an included infant seat, but I have no experience with that seat. But the Quattro accepts the SnugRide in addition to the newer one.

That stroller is THE best I've seen. They mean it when they say collapses and expands with one hand on the handle (push button and twist to close, about the same to open) and it's light enough to lift into the car easily. The SnugRide seat worked great for us, and it snaps onto the stroller while the kid is still an infant for easy pushing (and you can expand / collapse the stroller while holding the seat or kid in the other hand).

[gstelmack]

And on cribs, avoid the ones with collapsing sides. They may seem convenient, but the crib itself is a bit less stable with that one wall down, and they aren't as quiet to drop a side as they claim. Get a step stool if you need it.

[johnnyshaka]

We've got a Graco carseat/stroller combo and love it. Very handy to be able to pop the carseat out of the base in the car onto the stroller without any fussing...more importantly, my wife loved it and found it easy to use. Definitely recommend something like that. Head over to Sears or The Bay and try them out, though.

[gstelmack]

And while I'm at it:

Amazon.com: Summer Infant Secure Surround Play Safe Play Yard: Baby (http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-Secure-Surround-Play/dp/B000G1YW98/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1220983834&sr=1-10)

This is configurable and expandable. Great for blocking stairs (you can hear if the kid collapses it), roping off the Christmas tree, keeping the kid off the marble piece in front of the fireplace, blocking a room exit temporarily, etc.

[Fidatelo]

I've forwarded those Graco things to my wife for review, they look pretty cool. Would that stroller be good for jogging? We like to go running and I'm guessing we'd need a separate jogging stroller, but I'm coming to the conclusion that that will always be the case?

As for the Play Yard thing, I can picture hosting some awesome baby fights in that thing! "And in this corner, wearing the white diaper with Tigger trim, weighing in at 12 pounds 3 ounces, the undisputed champion of the street... JACK... 'The Terrier'... RUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!"

[gstelmack]

You'll want something different for jogging, you have very different requirements. Most joggers I see have the tricycle ones with bike-type tires on them.

[Fidatelo]

Ya, my wife replied saying something to that effect, but she's hoping to avoid having 3-4 different strollers like some of our friends have gone through.

She pointed me to these BOB strollers (Strollers from BOB - single and duallie joggers for active parents. (http://www.bobgear.com/strollers/index.php)) that you can apparently attach a clip to that lets you stick an infant seat (like the SnugRide) into. Anyone have any thoughts on those?

And I'm assuming with all of these things that once the kid outgrows the little SnugRide part I'm going to be buying another car seat? Or are there car seats that can 'grow' with the kid?

As an aside, this stuff ain't cheap! :)

[PurdueBrad]

Fidatello, great question. I was actually going to pose this same thing later in the week. I saw a very cool Jeep stroller that has the large tires and a one click collapse button that we liked as we are going to try to avoid the multiple stroller problem as well. It was much more light-weight than I expected:

http://www.kolcraft.com/product.aspx?id=100&&shopby=category

[PurdueBrad]

Dola

Just have to say that when I saw my sn attached to the stroller thread, I just freaked out a bit. I never thought I would see myself discussing such things as I've always claimed to be allergic to babies and now we have one on the way.

[gstelmack]

You really only need 2 strollers if you're jogging: one for jogging, and the Graco above for around-the-town stuff.

Car seats are sold by height/weight of the kid. Once they hit 35 pounds, you want this one: Amazon.com: Graco TurboBooster SafeSeat Youth Booster in Ionic: Baby (http://www.amazon.com/Graco-TurboBooster-SafeSeat-Youth-Booster/dp/B000LP3VEG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1220988181&sr=8-2)

Easy install / hookup in the car, easy to pull out when needed, cup-holders, etc. The SnugRide is great for infants. For toddlers that outgrow the infant seat and are not big enough for that booster, you're screwed. They need secure LATCH systems because they can't use a regular seatbelt, and those are a pain to get in and out. I was weighing my boy every day until he fit that booster and I could throw away the toddler seat. Keep in mind that you can hand-me-down the infant and toddler seats to future siblings which helps mitigate the cost.

Do buy just a toddler seat though. We tried to save money by buying one that could do toddler/booster and as I said I hated it.

[marcmoustache]

Huh, I'm laughing at the idea that you'll have any energy left to go jogging!

I'd go for a travel system as mentioned above as they're just the easiest.

[Fidatelo]

Huh, I'm laughing at the idea that you'll have any energy left to go jogging!

My wife is the most energetic person I know. She is over 4 months pregnant, and yet on Sunday morning I woke up at 8:15 to the smell of french toast and bacon. When I stumbled out to the kitchen I was informed that she had already painted a wall in the basement, and cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen floor. We then finished eating and both resumed painting until 11:00am, got showered and dressed to go to my 3 year-old nephew's b-day party, then left there at 2:30 to go to the Banjo Bowl (Winnipeg Blue Bomber/Saskatchewan Roughrider rivalry game). We got home at around 7:30, then went for a 5k run with the dog before eating dinner at around 8:30. I think she started to say she was feeling a little tired about that time.

It's incredible, and I have no doubt she'll be jogging up a storm with the baby and dog almost as soon as she's on her feet.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And once you've made the investment in one or more often pricey strollers, let me recommend to you what I wish someone had recommended to me sooner than they did: if you end up flying somewhere during the stroller years and you aren't going to be using the stroller much while out of town, get one of those el cheapo "umbrella" strollers from Wal-Mart before heading to the airport. No sense letting the airlines permanently damage the good one as they seem to inevitably do.

[Draft Dodger]

I also want to add a plus to the cheapo umbrella strollers - they are great for airplanes, like Jon said, but they also are nice and small when folded up, so they also are much more convenient to throw in the trunk for a day trip than those big things. We had a travel system stroller, and liked it, but we got a lot more use out of the little umbrella stroller (later on, when we had two toddlers, we had a double umbrella stroller which was also money).

[gstelmack]

The umbrella strollers are nice for short things, but I hated pushing the darn thing. Much nicer to push the big stroller, plus it had room for shopping bags 'n stuff.

[chesapeake]

My wife and I found the book Baby Bargains indispensible as we went through the process of deciding what to buy. The most recent edition came out last year, but much of the stuff in it should still be relevant.

For safety reasons, we bought one infant car seat (with two bases -- 1 for each car) and two car seats when she got big enough to turn to face forward.

For strollers, we just bought a stroller frame that worked with our infant car seat. You pop it out of the base in the car and lock it into place on the stroller frame and voila! If the baby is asleep, you don't have to wake him/her up to shift to the stroller. We had a bigger stroller, too, but we found that we didn't use it very often.