Lambroghini Strollers

Ever heard of a Bugaboo stroller? I never really paid any attention to strollers prior to getting pregnant except to notice that some parents had huge strollers with too much junk in them for their children. Since getting pregnant I've been checking out strollers in stores, on airplanes, in shopping malls, on the streets of Los Angeles etc. Here are my conclusions... 1. Strollers are mostly designed for specific stages of a child's life. They are not designed for a specific use such as grocery shopping and mall shopping or travel. The exception is the baby jogger but I've even seen these being used as everyday strollers. 2. The only way to get a newborn appropriate stroller these days is to buy a stroller that comes with an infant car seat that attaches to the regular stroller seat and must be moved on and off for car to stroller and back use. There are a few very expensive exceptions. 3. Depending on what part of the country you live in a stroller is an extension of style, class and culture. In NYC many of the strollers are very lightweight, single hand foldable, thin in width to assist in maneuvering through the subway, taxis and streets. In Washington DC area many strollers are these huge "travel systems" that are not only bulky but heavy, have multiple accessories such as cup holders and diaper bag holders not to mention space underneath for additional baby stuff along with shopping stuff. In Los Angeles and Miami, it depends on what part of the city you are in. Strollers around downtown and central LA are mainly the umbrella style but very low quality, not neccessarily the lightest, and only used for the youngest/smallest member of a family. In the more affluent areas the brand is key but you also see many more of the pram style with a bassinet for the infants and then convert into the lightweight umbrella style for the older child. There are also the higher quality super light umbrella style strollers being used that actually recline for the child to semi sleep in. 4. Ultimately, buying a stroller is really hard. It involves so much more decision making about your life before you have a child to "test" drive it with. At least when buying a car, I had already driven, had a commute or at least a planned commute to consider and knew that I wanted it to last for several years. A stroller on the other hand involves guess work. Not something I am comfortable with when considering the transportation mechanism for my child. 5. Graco scares me. This company is in so many areas of the baby product market that one would think they are quality products. In researching strollers, a good 10-20% of Graco strollers were recalled due to a major defect that caused an infant death. 6. Finally, strollers come in every price range so depending on your budget your choices can be vast or limited. The cheapest (Kia car comparison) we saw were the very basic umbrella strollers at $20-$30. Not washable or repairable. The middle range (Honda civic/accord car comparison) was about $150-$200 for the regular full size stroller some with/without the infant car seat attached. Some were washable, some had spare parts available but not neccessarily repairable, and heavier than average. A lightweight higher quality umbrella stroller by McLaren fit into this range as well. Graco was the ruling brand within this price range. The upper range (Lexus/Mercedes car comparison) was about $250-$500 for regular full size stroller with multiple car seat options and some pram capabilities but not total bassinet style. Some were washable, some were repairable, most were lighter than average. This is where branding came into play as did the consumer reports being quite positive on the higher end strollers. The ridiculous range (Lotus/Ferrari/Lambroghini car comparison) was about $600-$1000. These were the ultimate luxury strollers. Regular full size stroller that had a bassinet/pram feature that would convert to a full size fully reclinable seat when the child was large enough to sit up. It had real tires that could be replaced, fully washable, in most cases the bassinet could be removed and used as a bedding option on travel, fully repairable and lightweight. So what did Wyatt and I do...bought the Lambroghini of strollers...USED, OFF OF CRAIG's LIST for half of retail price. I researched consumer reports, researched quality and comparison shopped, thought long and hard about what I would be using the stroller for on a daily and weekly basis, as well as thought about our plans for the next five years. The Bugaboo fit those needs to a tee. Most parents I talked to mentioned having to buy a second stroller to replace the first one at about age 1 1/2. In most cases the price we paid for one stroller that will last for five years was less than what parents mentioned spending on two. I fell in love with it, and have fully justified it.

The Bugaboo Frog in Orange: This is the bassinet which can be removed and used as a travel bassinet!