How to know what stroller to buy
General Stroller Guide | Which Stroller Do I Purchase?
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Here at The Baby Cubby we understand how difficult it can be to narrow down the perfect stroller
for your lifestyle.
Now here in store we can do it fairly easy and we pride ourselves in helping parents
find that perfect stroller for them.
But that's kinda hard if you can't make it into a nice store that has different strollers
to compare and learn about.
So in this video we kind of want to give you a basic knowledge of different strollers and different
options that you have as well as how to narrow down to the perfect stroller for your lifestyle
and your child.
So to start off you have whats called a Full Size stroller.
Now this can be either a single or a double.
This one is actually a double, as you can see.
It's a side by side and that's very typical for a full size stroller to be side by side,
you can get some tandem.
Basically what that means your seat is going to be static it's not going to move around
it's compatible for babies, up until toddler, and even little kids.
Then we get into jogging strollers.
Now I do need to give you a disclaimer.
So it is not recommended to jog with an infant until they are at least 6 months old now I
would actually wait until they are a little bit older to make sure that their spine and
neck are mature enough to withstand the motion of jogging.
That's a lot of movement up and down as the stroller is moving over the pavement.
So you really want to be cautious when jogging with your baby.
Now what makes a jogging stroller is three major components.
First it will have air filled tires and what that's going to do is absorb that energy while
your jogging as well as suspension.Now the suspension you can see just by pushing it
down and again that's going to absorb some of that energy so that your child is not feeling
it as much and also to make it easier for you to push.
Then your also going to have three wheels and then the front wheel will lock into place.
And what that does is make it so your exerting less energy to try to keep your stroller going
straight.
So it's just going to naturally go straight so you don't have to move it as much so you
can focus on jogging.
Now jogging strollers are excellent if your an avid jogger.
Or if the only opportunity you have to jog is when your with your child.
Now the down fall is typically they're going to have a bigger fold and they're going to
be heavier cause they have those awesome energy absorbing features.
Next we get into what's called a modular stroller.
Basically what that means is all the pieces are separate.
So you're going to have a frame, a seat, a bassinet that you can click in, and even a
car seat.
The nice perk about that is that you can take the seat, turn it around and then your child
is facing you while their nice and little.
Now that feature may not be super important as your child gets older or if you're starting
to use a stroller when your child is older because then they start to want to see more
of the world and less of parent.
But I love that feature when your baby is really small.
It also has a nice sleek design and then you can configure it the way you want to without
having an actual seat like you would with a full size stroller.
Now the last category we want to show you is travel and umbrella strollers.
Now these one's are typically very small, lightweight, their great to just throw in
your trunk for small trips or even just traveling.
They are easy to fit in a car or even on a plane.
Now some strollers are even approved to be a carry-on on the airplane which is really
nice because you can take it on a plane with you and you don't have to entrust your stroller
to the oh so gentle handlers at the airport and some of you parents know exactly what
i'm talking about.
The downfall of having these strollers is as you can see to get that lightweight compact
feature of these strollers it typically has smaller wheels and that's not going to be
really maneuverable for every day life but then also they lack a lot of these nice features
that you'll get in some of the other strollers.
So it may not be as convenient but they do have that nice small fold which for your lifestyle
could be the most important thing.
Now a lot of parents choose to have multiple strollers with a travel stroller as well they'll
keep this one just for during travel but then when they have their long walks or amusement
parks they can use their nicer stroller with all those great features.
Now if you want to know what each of these strollers are then reference the description
box below and you can shop all of those online.
If you have more questions feel free to comment below or leave us an email at hello@babycubby.com
we'd be more than happy to answer specific questions on the strollers or even help you
find the right stroller for your family.
So to narrow down with all of these options to the perfect stroller for you, we have some
questions we recommend you asking yourself.
The first one being what's your lifestyle?
Where are you going to be using your stroller the most?
Now the first lifestyle is maybe a city dweller.
A couple of strollers that we'd recommend is probably a modular stroller or even a full
size stroller depending on the features that it has.
The reason for that is say your going shopping a lot and you need a lot of basket space you're
typically going to have a bigger basket on a modular stroller but then also you have
a lot of those nice features that make it convenient to go through the city.
You also want to consider that if you drive a car, you're going to need to fold that up
and put it in your trunck often.
You want to make sure the maneuverability is good.
If you go to the mall you want to be able to get it in and out of clothes wracks so
you don't want anything that's really long or really wide.
To make sure that you can get through crowds really easy.
So those are some things to consider for city dwellers.
Now the next lifestyle to consider is maybe your outdoorsy.
You like to go camping, jogging, hiking, that's where we would recommend a jogging stroller.
This could even include any uneven or rocky terrain.
It could be an uneven side walk.
Even if you live in a suburban area.
So those are a lot of things to consider.
Now one thing that we recommend doing when you're narrowing down the process of choosing
a stroller is actually as you go through your daily life just kind of consider when would
I use a stroller?
If you're going to the grocery store, if you're taking a walk to a park?
Are all of those activities that you want to do with your baby and then consider the
terrain.
If it's pretty flat you could go with the city dwellers like a modular or a full size
stroller but if you're noticing uneven terrain strongly recommend considering a jogging stroller.
Now the last lifestyle to consider is do you travel?
At least often enough to warrant having a travel or lightweight stroller.
Now I can only imagine how difficult it would be to take a jogging stroller on and off a
plane.
Not fun at all.
So I'd really recommend you getting a travel stroller of even an umbrella stroller so it
has that nice compact fold and it's really lightweight.
That's going to make it easy to get it in and out of a car or on and off a plane.
So we do really recommend if you're traveling often to consider those features.
Another question to ask yourself is do I want to use my stroller with my infant car seat
as a travel system?
Now a travel system is where you can easily take your infant seat and click it into your
stroller.
This way you don't have to disrupt your baby, especially while their sleeping which is really
nice and handy.
Now I do need to mention it's not ideal to keep your baby in an infant car seat for long
periods of time just because we want to keep those airways nice and open.
So you want to keep them laying flat as much as possible but it's nice for easy trips to
the store.
Now what that would look like on a lot of strollers at least on the modular, you would
take off the seat and click in your stroller.
So now you have a travel system.
So you just take it in and out of the car just like that.
Now other strollers that work with infant car seats.
Many strollers are going to at least accept their own brand car seat, just like this one
here.
But there are a lot of strollers on the market that are compatible with other brands with
additional adapters.
So that's really nice you just have to make sure the car seat that you want is compatible
with the stroller that you want.
If you have questions about that, please let us know and we can help guide you to the one's
that are compatible with each other.
Now lightweight strollers and umbrella strollers typically are not compatible with any infant
car seats so that's something to consider if you travel frequently.
Now joggers you can typically find some that do, not all joggers are going to be able to
accept an infant car seat.
Now just a reminder you can't jog with your infant even if you're using an infant car
seat, until they're older and have a more developed spine.
Now full size strollers, many full size strollers on the market are going to accept their own
brand and even other brands like I said with additional adapters.
Now the last question to ask yourself is are you planning on growing your family in the
near future?
That's probably within about 3-4 years.
If you're planning on having two children in the stroller at the same time.
I know it seems a little early to be considering a second child when you're just having your
first but it could save you money in the long run.
Now the reason for that a lot of modular strollers you can actually attach a second seat without
having to buy a whole new stroller.
So when you have your second child you just purchase a second seat and you can click it
on just like that and now you have a double stroller.
Now it typically will be more expensive in the beginning but in the long run it's going
to save you a lot of money and then you can keep the stroller that you love long term.
Now maneuverability, and how easy is your stroller to push?
Now that's a really important thing, you don't want to be pushing your stroller and being
really frustrated that it's not easy.
Now the biggest contributing factor to an easily maneuverable stroller is the wheels!
Now the larger and the more tread on those wheels the easier it is to maneuver and that's
what you're going to see on a jogging stroller, especially air filled tires.
You're not going to feel the terrain quite as much.
Now a step down from that is going to be like an all-terrain wheel like this these are actually
foam filled so you don't have to fill them up with air which is nice but it's not going
to have as much energy absorption that a jogging stroller is going to have.
Then you get into like a rubber foam filled tire like on here.
Now it's not going to absorb as much energy but it's still pretty nice and depending on
how large the wheels are you may not feel the terrain quite as much.
Then lastly you're going to have harder plastic wheels like you do on the lightweight or umbrella
strollers and those one's you're going to feel every rock and bump that's on the road.
So those are some things to consider when shopping for your stroller.
Check out the wheels see how big they are.
See if there is tread on them.
We strongly recommend testing your stroller when you're in the store.
Now here in store at The Baby Cubby we actually have a stroller track.
So we have some cobble stone, we have grass, so that you can see how well the stroller
maneuvers over different terrain and really you can feel the difference of different wheels.
Ok another feature to consider is the break.
Now there's two main types of breaks.
A hand break or a foot break.
So on this one as you can see it's a foot break and you're going to push it down and
then you're going to flip it up.
Now it's a jogging stroller, I dont mind that you have to do that because you're probably
wearing tennis shoes.
But something to consider for every day life if you're wearing sandals and you have to
flip up that break with your sandals it kinda hurts your toes and that's where the hand
break comes in.
On this one to break it, you're just going to flip it up and then to release you flip
it down.
So I really do like a hand break for that reason.
I actually wear sandals quite often.
There are some foot breaks that are nice their a tap on top off.
Another great feature to consider is an adjustable handle bar.
Now this is especially important if the parents are differing heights.
Now there's two different types of adjustable handle bars.
There's telescoping which pulls out like a telescope and then there's pivoting which
you'll push on both sides and it will go up and down.
Now me personally I like a telescoping handle bar and the reason for that is the higher
it gets then the further from the stroller it gets.
And what that does is give you more kick room especially if you're tall.
Now you do get that a little bit with a pivoting but there comes a point where the highest
and furthest point is right here but then as you get higher its actually getting closer
to the stroller and that's taking away some of the kick room.
So you defiantly want to test drive strollers with both parents to make sure that the height
is at a comfortable height for both of you.
Now on lightweight and umbrella strollers now I mentioned before you don't have a lot
of features on those strollers and typically an adjustable handle bar is one of them.
Just because it adds to the weight and the bulkiness of the stroller.
So you're most likely not going to get that feature on those strollers.
Now the last feature you want to look for actually depends on the age of the child that
you're planning on using the stroller with.
Now some people dont know that most strollers you cannot put an infant directly in the stroller
you'll have to use an infant car seat so the feature that you're actually looking for is
a lay flat recline.
Like here on the Bumbleride you have a nice lay flat recline, this goes a little bit lower,
but then you also have this foot rest that snaps into a make shift bassinet.
And the reason for that is you need to keep infants laying flat as much as possible so
you need a really deep recline.
Now over here you do have a nice deep recline but it's actually not recommended to put an
infant in here until they are about 3-6 months.
So you would need to get additional adapters to put in your car seat so that it's appropriate
for an infant.
If you're planning on using your stroller with a child thats a little bit older than
you really dont even need to consider that feature.
Ok and the last feature that could be a deal breaker is actually the fold.
So you want to play with the fold, see how well it folds and the most important thing
is that it's going to fit in your car or wherever you need it to go.
So let me show you how each of these folds.
This one is actually notorious for being really easy.
You'll pull up on these two handle bars, really easy.
Now it's not too heavy but it is pretty wide so this is one that might not fit like a compact
car trunk so that one you defiantly want to try out.
Then with this one, jogging strollers this one's pretty typical.
It's nice it does have a handle bar it is a little bit bulky it would be easy because
it has this handle right here but those tires are really big so that one you might have
a little trouble with in a trunk as well.
On this one super easy fold.
I love the stand when folded so you don't have to bend over and pick up the stroller,
it's actually half way there so you can get it in the trunk that way.
The nice thing about modular strollers if it doesn't fit you can pack the pieces seperatly
so I do really like that if it's not fitting the way you want it to.
You can just take it apart.
Now on these lightweight one's their going to win the game every time.
Super small, super lightweight, I don't know a car that this isn't going to fit into.
And then with your umbrella again pretty compact easy fold, it is a little bit long so it might
be tricky getting into a trunk with groceries or if your storing some sporting goods, that
sort of thing.
Defiantly try this one out too.
Thank you so much for tuning into our video we really do enjoy helping parents make these
tougher decisions especially with strollers there's so many options that you have.
Now you can shop for any of these strollers online at babycubby.com where everything ships
for free.
If you found this video helpful please give us a like and even subscribe to our channel
so we can continue to make these helpful videos for you.
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