Stroller Decision

I've spent countless hours over the past few months in "stroller-land" researching as much as I can on them. Watching online videos (Baby Gizmo, and Stroller Guru are pretty amazing for product reviews), and going to the store multiple times to try them out myself. Strollers are daunting. Jogging strollers, lightweight strollers, 4 wheeled strollers.

I work in the midtown East/Upper East area of Manhattan. I can tell you that alllllll I see is the UppaBaby Vista stroller every single day. If you're a mom in Manhattan, and you live on the East Side, you have an UppaBaby. The Uppababy's seem nice and looks like a great stroller. But there were a number of other strollers out there that I was drawn to as well, and not just because their price tag was much more reasonable.

I still go back and forth almost daily on my decision. But I am pretty confident that the stroller I like the best is the Baby Jogger City Mini GT in Gray/Green.

Where we live in Queens is a sort of pseudo city/suburban environment. It's not as city as Manhattan, but it's not as suburban as where I grew up in Pennsylvania. We don't have a garage to store our stroller, which means that it will always be coming up and down our 5 steps to get in and out of our house every day. I wanted a lightweight stroller that I could fold with one hand, and still be able to go on long walks around the neighborhood, and local parks when I want to.

Here is what I liked about the Baby Jogger City Mini GT:

The Wheels:
Honestly, the wheels were kind of what sold me on this stroller. I initially was looking at the City Mini and the Britax B-Agile - both lightweight, easy to use strollers. My main concern with them was their plastic, lightweight wheels. If they break, you have to send away for new wheels, and they easily wear down over time. The City Mini GT has All-Terrain foam filled tires. They won't go flat like air-filled tires, and they won't wear down like the plastic. This stroller will be good on grass, dirt, hopefully sand, and other types of terrain.

The front wheel locks into place for long walks, and unlocks for easy swiveling and manuevering around corners. Many people seem to think that since this is a "Baby Jogger" stroller it is a jogging stroller. Despite the brand name, this stroller is actually not technically intended for jogging, though I think it will be perfectly fine for some light jogs around my neighborhood, and from what I can tell, many people seem to use it as a jogging stroller.

The Hand-Break:
I love that I can put the break on or off with just a small hand lever on the side of the stroller. No need to mess up my pedicure on a foot-break, or bend down to lock and unlock it!

The really big sun canopy: Really, it's just a large, large sun canopy offering full coverage to my little one.

The weight/size
At 22 pounds, this is not as light as the regular City Mini (17 pounds), but still lighter than many strollers on the market and certainly lighter than a jogging stroller. And with the quick release feature, I can fold it up with one hand.

Fully reclining seat: Many mom friends told me that this was something they wish they had in their stroller and to make sure I got one that could fully recline. It's comfortable for the child if they fall asleep and makes it suitable for a newborn to lay down flat in it if I feel so inclined to use this for that purpose. (I don't intend to fully use this stroller until 6 months or later.)

Adjustable handlebar: Anyone from my 4'11" mom to my 6'3" dad can adjust this stroller to suit their height.

Watch the Baby Gizmo review on the stroller here, and the Baby Jogger official video on the stroller.

Source

The only thing that could throw a wrench into my plans is when Baby Jogger announces the release of the City Versa GT which might be any day now. It's currently available Internationally, and should soon be available in the states. The Versa is different because it has 4 wheels, AND a reversible seat so the child can either face you or face out which I think could be a nice feature. Add those foam-filled, all-terrain tires to it and you've got a pretty darn good stroller there. I get conflicted because I really see 4 wheeled strollers everywhere, and it makes me a little nervous about my "3-wheel stroller" decision. Anyone have a strong case for a 4-wheeler over a 3-wheeler?

Of course, when all is said and done...Chris would rather that I just register for this stroller instead: The VRS Mega-Man Pram

Looks good, right?! Haha, this was actually a joke and was designed strictly to appear in a car advertisement in the UK. Source here.

Tomorrow I'll share my car-seat and snap-n-go frame decisions.