Dance of the Sugar Plum Strollers

Now I knew when I got pregnant that our materialistic why make it simple when it could be complex society would make buying baby gear an exercise in frustration, but no where in my imagination did I see the dance of the strollers coming. There are literally thousands of strollers out there and they all do different things, are made by different people and have different safety standards and accessories. Now I am a smart girl who does her research and makes mostly good decisions, but this stroller thing might just be the end of me. It is driving me so crazy that I am having dreams that I am being attacked by strollers, like a scene from Hitchcock’s The Birds. Jeff thinks I am stressing too much about this, but I would like to put my baby in a safe mode of transportation that is stylish and practical, is that too much to ask for? Apparently so, so let us go over some of the top contenders, well for funnsies.

First there is the ultimate of baby strollers, the Bugaboo. If all things were equal, and I was rich, I would buy this thing in a heartbeat, it has everything that I want, it has a bassinet for an infant and then a regular stroller for an older kid. It comes in a variety of colors and looks good. And if I had a grand to blow I would certainly own this (maybe, I still don’t know if I would spend that much on a stroller).







I thought about travel systems, but every review I have read urges not to buy one. I guess the cons outweigh the pros. The pros are of course that you can take the infant seat right out of the car and click it into the stroller without waking the baby or moving them. Of all the travel systems I have found I like these two the best, the Baby Trend (green and gray) and Chicco Cortina. I like the Chicco a bit more, but of course it is more expensive. But I guess the cons of travels systems happen after the baby is out of the infant seat. I guess it turns out that the strollers are kind of crappy. And of course since the baby outgrows the infant seat I do not want to be stuck with a stroller that falls apart.

Besides I have decided that I like the pram kind of stroller that can convert into a regular stroller, and with most regular strollers you can also snap in an infant seat. Or I could go this way, and skip the stroller altogether for the first few months. This is a snap and go system that is just a stroller frame into which an infant seat snaps in. This is good for keeping the infant seat going and forgoing the stroller altogether. But I don’t know if I like this system, I am not sure why.

So let’s move on to the strollers I do really like, the ones that convert from a pram to a regular stroller. First there is the Combi Thru.

Now this is the perfect stroller, and the price is just right so of course that means that it is too good to be true. This stroller is not made anymore. Bastards. Now I also really like these two, the Britax (black and tan) and Fischer Price (green), both of which convert, but neither of which can also support an infant seat, where most of the other convertible strollers can. So with these I would get the aesthetic, but not the practicality that I would need.

So now the last of them, the ones I have narrowed my search down to. First is the Peg Perego Pramette (gray right). This stroller is perfect, it goes from a pram to a stroller, has a high safety rating and looks good, it also comes with a price tag to match, around $450. This is still a bit expensive for a stroller. There is the Everbright (below), which is in my price range and comes with all of the things that I want, but of course there is a downside, the reviews for this product are only so-so and there is no ability to snap in an infant seat. This is also a really new product, so there is not a lot that we know about it yet. And so at the end of the day the one I really like is the Peg Perego Centro Completo (hey it’s Italian). This converts from a pram to a stroller, has a high safety rating and is pleasing to look at. Also important, it has an adjustable handle that will come in handy seeing as both Jeff and I are taller than average. So this stroller is almost perfect, it would be more perfect if it was a wee bit cheaper than $300. I mean it is not crazy expensive, but I do wish it were just a little less cash. The upside is that this allows an infant seat to be snapped in, most easily the Peg Perego, but also the Snugride. But for all of that I am still not sure. I mean I like this stroller, but can I justify the cash?

I can not answer all of this yet, I am hoping with enough time I will eventually stumble onto something or make up my mind, but I am not promising anything. And until then I guess the dance with just continue.