BR (before Ryder) I never understood why people had a garage full of baby crap. Do you really need a lightweight stroller, travel system AND a jogger stroller? Well, I’m starting to find out that finding the perfect stroller is a difficult proposition, hence the reason people invest in so many.
As is well documented in this blog, we started out with the Phil & Teds jogger thing, which turned out to be a disaster. A total rookie mistake - thinking #1 that I would be jogging with the baby and #2 that just because it is compatible with infants means that it’s comfortable for infants.
Next up, we borrowed a Baby Trends Snap ‘n Go and rigged it up to accomodate our car seat. This worked out so well, we kept it for a full five months! I used it for a trip to Colorado and it went on plenty of strolls around Greenlake with my new mom friends. But, I felt like we needed something more substantial, and something of our own, so we could finally return the borrowed buggy.
Enter the Quinny Zapp – a lightweight “umbrella” type of stroller that fits with our Maxi Cosi Infant car seat and has a nice seat for strolls about town. The wheel base is pretty narrow, and it’s kind of difficult to manage up and down curbs – but it’s super lightweight, folds up nicely and manuevers like a dream (one-handed even!). There’s also no cup holder. I used this on a trip to San Diego, and was pleased with the portability.
Although I’m moderately happy with the Zapp, I can’t help but pine for the Zapp’s more robust big brother, the Buzz. This three-wheeled beauty has two air-filled tires in the back for a smooth ride, but the shorter wheel base means it’s considerably more compact and it steers like a dream! Translation – I could actually take this into stores AND use it for longer walks around town (perhaps even on gentle trail hikes?). The feature I like best, though, is that the seat is removable and can be turned around so the babe will face you! I’m so in love with this idea. The main reason I don’t want to take Ryder out of the car seat and move him into the big seat (which he’s physically ready for) is because I don’t want to miss gazing into his beautiful little face while we’re out for an afternoon stroll.
Having the Buzz means I wouldn’t have to. I am mentally beating myself up a bit – wondering why I didn’t just buy this in the first place. We could have been using it with the car seat the whole time! But, I’m also starting to believe it’s better late than never … right?
The hitch is that this beauty comes with a pretty steep price tag – upwards of $550. I’ve found a few on eBay that would fit the bill for $300. So, to make myself feel less guilty about dropping even more coin on yet another stroller, I have started selling off all the baby stuff we don’t use anymore – like BumGenius size small diapers, Bumbo chair, co-sleeper and a host of other things I thought were “necessities” just a few months ago.
It’s a stroller fund drive.
