Can one be a stroller lover & a babywearer?

[Gracie]

I was just wondering what people's preferences/experiences are with carrying your baby vs using a stroller. The reason I ask is because I carried my baby most of the time & hardly used a stroller. Now while in the hunt for a new stroller, I keep running across ones that offer a bassinet feature of some sort & I'm thinking that would be a good option for any future children. But then I wonder, would I even use it? While I love the "pramish" look of a bassinet, I don't know if/when I would use it when I seemed to prefer carrying my baby (but at the time didn't know of all the stroller options out there! :o ). I'd like to hear others' thoughts/experiences so I can be enlightened of when you've enjoyed using a bassinet/stroller vs wearing your baby.
Thanks :)
Grace

[kijip]

What the parents prefer basically depends on what the child prefer. I planned to always sling Toby but Toby did not like slings/carriers much and he loved strolling. Soooo...I had to adjust my expectations. Since this could vary from baby to baby, you may end up using a stroller with your second more or less than with your first. Just my two cents.

[Gracie]

Katie,
That's a very good point. My baby did like the "swaddled" feel for quite a while, thus allowing me to carry him most of the time. Now that he's enjoying strolling, I'm very much into strollers!

By the way, what's a CPS tech?
Grace

[Edensmum]

I basically push a stroller and wear a sling. I wear her when she is happy there and stroll when she is happy there. We swithc in and out often in a shopping trip.
Eden 9/04

[Wife_and_mommy]

This is me too! If we have the stroller(i.e. the mall, park) she starts out there and then I sling her when she wants out. DD has also thrown in being *free* to walk so that's another option now. :)


E

mom to dd 4/5/2004

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Hooray for us! We've made it 13 months.

[npace19147]

We started out strollering and using a bassinet attachment in the beginning, before I found the BW'ing love. DD really liked the stroller and would sleep in it, as long as it was moving. Then she went through a phase where she was only content when held, and BW'ing saved my sanity. I pretty much didn't use the stroller at all during that period. But she's now just too heavy and squirmy for me to carry all the time, so we now have a lightweight stroller that we use most of the time and I keep a pouch in the basket so I can do a hip carry when she wants out of the stroller. I miss the closeness of carrying her, but it just wasn't working for us on a full-time basis anymore.

[JodiM]

I agree with the pp's, it really depends on your baby.

I have found though, with dd who loved to be held (ALLLLLLLLL the time) that even bringing the stroller with helped out.. if she didn't want to sit in it, I could load it full of stuff, and use it as a 'shopping cart'. (This is when you love having a 1handed push stroller!)

[betsydenny]

We are a definite stroller loving and baby wearing family. My DD who is 2 is more of a stroller/walking kid but my DS who is 8 mo always wants to be held and will sleep attached to me but not in the stroller. As we live in NYC and are out and about constantly, he lives in the Ergo and she walks or rides. My Ergo gets far more use than any of my 3 (yes, 3) double strollers. That said, they do both ride together fairly well- just not for long periods.

Neither of my guys would have tolerated the bassinet style strollers as babies. DD refused to lie flat on her back till 2 months and DS not till about 5 months. They both slept in their car seats or bouncy seats. So as nice as those bassinets look, they never would have worked for us. But I do know folks who love them so I think it totally depends on the kid.

Anyway, I did think the double stroller would be perfect for us till our little guy started voicing his opinions. Different kids- different ways of doing things. Heaven knows what number 3 will be like!

Good luck!
Betsy

[dules]

Yes, me me. My DD doesn't love being in a sling/carrier like she loves being in a stroller. In fact, as an infant she absolutely HATED being worn, but LOVED facing me in a stroller (and still does).

Now at 17 months I wear her sometimes and put her in the stroller sometimes. She likes both.

Best,
Mary

[Deborah_Hogan]

Good topic.


I've been intriqued by all the baby wearing forums that deride "stroller mommies" as if strollers are evil. I both wear and stroll, depending on the circumstances. I have equal obsession with both means of transport. But it sounds that most baby wearers only baby wear.

Anyway, I never go anywhere without a carrier in my stroller. Sometimes I have to push older child and carry younger. Or, like previous poster, I cram stroller with stuff and wear child. I knew a woman who brought two strollers--one for the child and one for the gear!

In your circumstances, I'd advise to choose a lightweight stroller. Extra features like bassinettes add lots of weight. Personally, the lighter the better. If you do babywear, the carrier is good for sleeping.

Good luck!

[kijip]

CPS Tech is Child Passenger Safety Tech. So basically a car-seat obsessed freak!

[holliam]

We're another stroll & wear family. We try to be ready for whatever she wants to do!

I also get frustrated with baby wearers who think people who use strollers are evil. After all, being attached to your baby means reading her cues to know what she wants to do. I like being able to do whatever she wants.

Holli

[kijip]

Yeah, Holli, the anti-stroller crowd is pretty silly in my opinion. I had someone try to pitch me a workshop titled "Slings: Goodbye Stroller" like they were exclusive of each other. Whatever.

[Gracie]

>CPS Tech is Child Passenger Safety Tech. So basically a
>car-seat obsessed freak!

Well, congratulations - car seat safety is so important & many parents need the guidance (I know I sure do!). It sure is great to find other moms who are as obsessive about things as I am! :7
Grace

[Wife_and_mommy]

>CPS Tech is Child Passenger Safety Tech. So basically a
>car-seat obsessed freak!

How funny! :D Congrats to you if I haven't said so.

I looked into it in my state. It's too far away to go for several days esp. with dd. Should have done it before she was born. Oh well.

E

mom to dd 4/5/2004

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Hooray for us! We've made it 13 months.

[newmama4]

Great topic - I agree. I baby wear a lot - and also have a zooper waltz - turns out DD loves both - strolling around the neighborhood and being in the sling and mei tai. I also never go out without a carrier. I guess it depends on her mood and what she wants to be doing right then. I definitely love the waltz (easy to push and came with all the stuff - a great deal if you ask me especially for a mainly baby wearer)and don't think strollers are evil though I probably carry her more often.

We used the snap n'go at first - and I found that I rarely used it, though it definitely was the best when I flew with DD at 2 months old. And we also took a car trip to visit the in laws - get away (is that possible?) and took the snap n'go - I used it at the museums - though I also wore her a lot and we just pushed it empty or with the coats etc. I am not sure that I would buy a stroller with a bassinet. I would either use the universal frame or if the stroller I wanted took the snap go I would use that.

It took me a while to decide on which stroller I wanted. I had to concede that no stroller is perfect, and that you have to give up something. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

Good luck,
Elise
Hannah Meira's Eema (11/16/04)

[tarahsolazy]

My son hated the stroller, and is still not a huge fan! I tried a Graco Metrolite when he was little, he hated it, so I slung him, and gave the stroller to my younger sis. I bought a "travel stroller" that I loved when he was 6mo, an SC Mini, and he hates it, always has. He really doesn't fit well in it. (Lesson learned: try baby in stroller before buying, even if you do live in the middle of nowhere). In a last vain attempt to be able to take him shopping without lugging him on my back once in a while, I recently got a great deal on a used Peg Milano XL, with all the newborn goodies. He is surprisingly tolerant of it! YAY! I also figured a second kiddo could use it.

ITA on the whole stroller vs. sling thing, why can't we mamas just get along!