For the baby we have the Baby Trend Snap 'n Go Single Snap stroller. We debated on whether or not to get the single snap 'n go or the sit and stand and ultimately went with the single because our 2 year old was starting to walk on her own at the mall and other stores. Well, as they say hindsight is 20/20. If I had it to do all over again I'd go with the sit and stand because our toddler often gets tired of walking (or decides she's going to walk in the opposite direction we are) and we end up carrying her or having to break out her umbrella stroller and it's kind of a pain to carry two strollers AND a bunch of shopping bags.
Back to the Snap 'n Go.
I love how compact and light it is and how easy it is to collapse and open. It's got a good sized basket underneath which can hold our overstuffed diaper bag, baby wrap, my purse, all of our coats, and all the extra toys and stuffed animals our toddler decides to bring with her.
For our toddler we use the Chicco Capri umbrella stroller.
It's lightweight, compact, and perfect for what we need. It's got a carrying strap so you can throw it over your shoulder like a purse, which we often do when our toddler insists on walking. We mostly use this indoors, so the small canopy isn't a problem for us, but I do wish the basket was a bit larger and easier to access. We didn't get the sit and stand snap 'n go, but we still want the convenience of pushing a double stroller so we're going to buy some stroller links, like these, to attach the snap 'n go to the umbrella stroller.
Now, on to our outdoor strollers. We try to take walks throughout the week, something we've been doing before I was pregnant with our oldest daughter. Honestly, one of the biggest things that swayed me when purchasing a single and double jogger was price, but I still read all of the online reviews and went to Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby to "test drive" every jogger I could.
I finally decided on the Baby Trend Expedition single jogger and we've been so incredibly happy with it.
This thing is great for walking, strolling, meandering, whatever you want to call it. It's got a locking swivel front wheel, but we've kept it locked since we got it and would only ever use it as a swivel wheel indoors. Before we got this stroller we were using our umbrella stroller for walks and the day we took the jogger out I couldn't believe how little I had to work to push this thing and that was with a 20+ pound kid in it. It has a good sized basket, a large canopy, and a parent AND snack tray. The seat fully reclines so your kid can take a nap if you're out and about. Unfortunately the model we have is only compatible with Baby Trend car seats so we can't take our infant out in it, which brings me to our last stroller.
I was on the fence about getting a double stroller for our walks because I figured we'd just use the single jogger for our oldest and then carry the baby in one of our wraps, but after walking a few miles with the baby wrapped to me, I realized it would be much easier on my body to have her in a stroller, too. I started scouring Craigslist because there are tons of great deals on double strollers, but I didn't find one that was compatible with our Graco car seat. So I started doing online research and reading review after review. I finally found a double jogger that would work with our car seat and was happy to see that it was also a Baby Trend stroller: Baby Trend Navigator Double stroller.
This thing is huge. No, really, it's huge. And it's heavy. But I knew that going in - every review mentioned the weight and size of this stroller. But I wasn't looking for something compact to put in the trunk of my car or something to use while walking the mall. I needed something durable for long neighborhood walks and something that would take our car seat. This jogger also has locking swivel wheels in front and like our single jogger, we've kept the wheels in the locked position since we only use the stroller outdoors. Many of the online reviews complained about the front wheels falling off, but we have yet to experience that. You have to assemble the stroller yourself and when I put it together I double and triple checked that the front wheels were secure and then had my husband test them. This beast actually fits (just barely) through a regular sized-door, but I don't think we'll ever use it while shopping since most mall stores have tight spaces that the umbrella stroller barely fits through.
I was definitely surprised by how easy this stroller was to push with a 30+ pound toddler and an infant in a car seat. Don't get me wrong - it's heavy on it's own and definitely heavy with 2 kids in it, but I was expecting to really have to work to get it moving and really it kind of glides on its own. It's got two decent sized baskets, but they're divided as if it was two strollers instead of one. And like it's single counterpart, it's got a great parent console (complete with an mp3 hookup and speakers) and 2 snack trays for the kids.
All in all, we've been really happy with all four of our strollers. Do we really need all four? Probably not. We could probably replace all of them with a more expensive stroller like the Phil and Teds or the City Select, but we're cheap and every one of our strollers was bought on sale, with a coupon/discount, or as a floor sample.
When stroller shopping I strongly recommend that you do the following.
1. Start your research online. See what your options are at different stores and read all of the reviews that you can.
2. Take your kid(s) to the store with you. You'll never really know how you like the stroller if you don't "test drive" it with your kid(s) in it.
3. Check for sales. Babies R Us often has trade in days so you can bring in your old car seat, stroller, pack-n-play, etc. and get a discount on a new one. They also often send 20% off coupons in the mail and you can use that on certain brands. If all else fails, see if you can purchase the floor model or check to see if the same model is being sold for less on Craigslist.
Happy strolling!
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