Flywheel Mama

There are so many stroller reviews out there that all boil down to one simple piece of advice: choose a stroller that fits your family’s unique needs. With the abundance of influencers and social media posts showcasing high-end strollers, it’s easy to feel pressured to buy something flashy or expensive. But don’t let peer pressure or social media trends dictate your choice—what matters most is what works best for your lifestyle, budget, and your baby’s safety.

You may want to ‘look’ good for the ‘gram by buying a high-end stroller costing $1,000+, and convince yourself that it’ll be a great investment. Let me tell you this, as soon as it rolls out the lot, it has already depreciated.

Of course, a new stroller purchase is quite different from a new car purchase. One is a couple hundred (or thousand) bucks while the other requires you to drop about $30,000+.

There are many types of baby strollers on the market. While my job is not to convince you to purchase a particular make and model, I’d like to share some insights based on my personal experience.

First, let’s go through the ABCs of strollers:

Full-sized Strollers

These are sturdy full-size baby strollers that you can use as soon as your baby is born and will last until toddlerhood. Meaning this would be the one and only stroller you’d need. The downside is that they are on the bulkier side.

Travel Systems/Convertible Strollers

They are quite similar to full-sized strollers and sometimes it’s hard to differentiate the two. The more or less official description of a travel system stroller is that you’d be buying a car seat and a stroller as a system where you can easily attach and detach the car seat from the stroller and attach it in your car. This is quite useful especially in the early days where you don’t want to wake up your sleepy baby when moving from stroller to car and vice versa.

There are convertible strollers that are similar to in-line double strollers and are built to grow with the family. They are a great investment if parents foresee having more than one child in a short span of time. Some multi-child strollers can fit up to three kids—one in the front, the second in the back, and a third riding on an attached board. The visual may seem like monkeys crawled up on bars, but it works!

Double Strollers

These are side-by-side double strollers, usually meant for families with twins or those growing their family with baby #2.

Lightweight or Umbrella Stroller

These are fantastic for families who love to travel and need to maneuver in tight spaces. They are also great lightweight compact strollers. The downside is babies need to be at least 6 months old, so their necks are physically developed before they can start sitting on these.

Jogging Strollers

These strollers are perfect for parents who don’t want to compromise their love for running/jogging with their love for their little one. However, keep in mind that while these tend to be super sturdy and flexible, they can be heavy and bulky.

Car Seat Carrier

They are like Transformers but for babies. These are great for parents who want to keep it simple when traveling with their newborn by converting the car seat into a stroller without having to deal with adapters and an extra piece of equipment to take care of. Most babies, however, will grow out of these carriers by or before their 1st birthday. Perhaps at that point, parents can graduate their babies from a car seat carrier to an umbrella stroller to zip around the city.

A few things to consider when purchasing a stroller:

• Longevity: How often and how long will you use it? If you’re working a 9am-5pm 5-day/week job and unless you have a nanny, the odds are you’ll be taking out the stroller after work or on the weekends. Also consider plans for additional children and their modes of transportation.
• Usage: How will you use it? Trips to farmers markets, Whole Foods, shopping malls like Santana Row, local parks, jogging, or even off-roading? Figure out what type of stroller usage you’ll need most of the time.
• Location: City vs. suburbs matters. City dwellers might prefer compact umbrella strollers to zip through the city while those by hills may want a stroller that can handle rugged terrain.
• Affordability and Budget: If you work in tech in the Bay Area, you might afford high-end designer strollers promoted by influencers or seen in department stores. Decide what you’re willing to spend.
• Storage Size: Dependent on your living situation: apartment, townhouse, single-family home. Some families leave strollers outside; others store them in garages.
• Your Health: Consider if you or the caregiver has back pain or physical limitations making heavy/bulky stroller setup difficult. A light, easy-to-use stroller can be a great health investment.
• Safety: Research stroller recalls and compare well-established stroller brands vs newcomers. Established brands often bring more experience and quality assurance.

There isn’t an all-in-one stroller that can do it all. So you’ll have to narrow your selection to strollers that cover about 80% of your needs. While choosing a stroller isn’t like choosing childcare, it is one of the bigger purchases for new parents.

In my next blog, I will cover how I chose and which stroller I ultimately purchased.

Keep the momentum going,
Flywheel Mama