How many strollers do you need for a child in the first year?

[tanyachristina]

My husband and I just started researching strollers and all the baby gear and are a little overwhelmed when it comes to strollers.

There is the infant car seat with the snap and go that I've heard so many great things about. There is also the light weight stroller that allows you to strap the infant seat into it. Then there are the regular strollers and the umbrella strollers...

Do you really need a regular stroller if you use the lightweight umbrella stroller? The umbrella strollers dont have the bar in the front for the child to hold their bottle and snacks in. Are these really useful?

We're almost convinced to getting the snap and go but we're confused as to whether we need a light weight stroller (like the maclaren) and a regular stroller. Please help...

Thanks!

[miki]

I don't think you can really say what you'll think you need until the baby is here. If you do a search in the stroller forum, you'll get more information than you could imagine. You can just get the snap and go and wait to see what you want to get later. You don't need to buy everything the baby will ever need before the baby is even here. Even though it feels like you should. Good luck.

[lisaE]

I will tell you that we only got the Inglesina Zippy and have loved it. His carseat snapped into it when he was a tiny baby, and now of course he just sits in the regular seat. I was afraid that we would end up buying many strollers but we have been happy with just the one. A lot of my friends who got the "travel system" ended up getting a new stroller because the TS one was so bulky and heavy. The Inglesina was great because you could use it either way and it's comparatively lightweight.

HTH!

[mommyj_2]

I just wanted to agree that it really is a good idea to wait until your baby is born to decide what stroller you want to buy. I did way too much research on strollers before my DS was born (it was fun to do), and ended up with a jogger and an umbrella stroller. I got them both at great prices, but my DS turned out to hate strollers. He would only sit in them for 5 minutes. He hated the car seat too, so the Snap and Go thing would have been a waste if I'd bought one.
I think if you wait until your baby is born, you'll soon know what you want in terms of baby gear.
I ended up selling both of the strollers I'd originally bought, and I now have a $50 Chicco umbrella stroller I use for quick errands (I usually use it to hold my stuff while I carry my DS, or while we walks).
Anyway, I just wanted to give you one perspective from a mom who was once pregnant and really worried about buying just the perfect stroller.
If you do decide to go ahead and buy one now, the stroller forum will give you tons of information. This website really is amazing at providing a lot of information on how to shop. I ended up selling my jogging stroller for $10 less than I'd paid after having it for a year, and that was because of the shopping tips I'd learned from reading here.
Sorry if this is longwinded. I hope you enjoy the rest of your pregnancy :)

[californiagirl]

So far (DD is 11.5 months), we haven't *needed* a stroller at all. We didn't own one until she was 6 months, and then we got three in rapid succession. The expensive one is a jogging stroller/bike trailer, which is a real blessing; DH takes DD jogging on weekend mornings and I sleep in, everybody is very happy. Then I have a cheap stroller which sits in my office (the baby came to work with me for several months, and still does on evenings and weekends) and is used mostly as a baby containment device, sort of like a highchair but more portable and at a better height. Then we have a REALLY cheap umbrella stroller mostly to make my father feel better -- I don't think he's ever put her in it, but if we leave her with him and they might want to go some place we bring the stroller and unfold it for him. He has a damaged arm and can't carry her very far. The slings we couldn't have survived without, but the strollers are really not important baby-moving devices for us.

[quikeye]

Hi, we're not really "stroller people" but have one full sized stroller (a Bebecar Raider) and used a Kolcraft universal car seat carrier w. our bucket seta when ds was little. It was/is a perfect combo for us-- I RARELY bring my stroller in the car so it's mainly used for hour+ long walks dh & i take ds around the neighborhood in, so it's perfectly plush for long rides and I don't mind the bukliness since we don't pack it anywhere. I generally take my son in a pouch if we go in the car anywhere, or use a cart coevr if we go grocery shopping/restaurants.

I also bought a jogger (bought it very cheap used, $15) for dh & i trying to jog together, which is nice but only used for that (it's fixed wheel, I wouldn't recommend anyone getting a jogger for a reg stroller if it has a fixed front wheel, but thats just mo).

MIL bought us a really inexpensive umbrella, but we never used it since we packed the Raider to FL with us since we were going to disney & I wanted ds to have a soft ride. It's sitting in the closet; I would rather carry my son than put him in a stroller if we're at the mall/etc, but thats just me & we dont get to the mall often :)

Good luck!

PS, my raider doesnt havea snack bar, just a bar and I like it fine. I dont give ds many snacks on the go, and we have a snack trap instead of putting anything on a bar-- so we're happy with no snack bar for him. I sometimes wish for a water bottle holder or something for me, but we live without it :)