Purchasing car seat and stroller

[MelsyBH]

Hi....I'm looking to buy a car seat and stroller for my daughter, and I'm wondering is it smart to purchase something like this on Amazon, or am I better off at a local store. My only concern is if something is wrong...goes wrong...defective..is it better to buy local? Haven't bought baby things in quite a while and appreciate any advice...thanks :)

[swrc00]

If you find a good deal online, I would buy it. Most of the time you would deal with the manufacturer if you had a problem anyways.

[edurnemk]

Returns are easy with Amazon. I do advise that you try them out in person, and then look for the best deal online or at an B&M store when you make a choice. Many posters here get their strollers online.

I bought my Uppababy Vista in a store, but dealt directly with Uppababy when we had an issue with the canopy (amazing CS by the way, they sent the new part overnight and free of charge)

[mom2binsd]

Amazon is fine, there are also lots of online stores like diapers.com, albeebaby.com that are also good, if not better.

Like others said, you want to try and see at least the model (fabrics will vary by store) and test out a stroller before buying online.

I would not recommend buying one of the "Travel Systems" though, most people around here will tell you you will probably get a so so car seat and so so or terrible stroller.

It's much better to buy the infant seat that best suits your needs and then get either a stroller frame for the infant seat and purchase a stroller once you figure out exactly what needs you have as strollers vary so much.

Personally, I'd want to pick out my own of each, not sure how particular your daughter is or if she has researched these items yet.

I encourage you to visit the car seat and stroller forums here to get advice on what to buy.

[wifecat]

I bought all three carseats I've owned online (albeebaby, target.com, and diapers.com). I figured out which seats I wanted and then just found the best price. The infant seat I first purchased was the only one that had an issue - basically it was tough to use with the base and eventually the manufacturer recalled it. I had registered it and got a postcard from the manufacturer, and they then sent my a new base for it.

As for strollers...I bought two online and two others off craigslist. I would absolutely recommend looking into getting one used! People often go through lots of strollers before finding what works for them, and so lots of the used ones haven't seen a ton of use.

Good luck!

[edurnemk]

It's much better to buy the infant seat that best suits your needs and then get either a stroller frame for the infant seat and purchase a stroller once you figure out exactly what needs you have as strollers vary so much.


Many strollers are compatibles with several brands of car seats (some require and adapter) allowing you to "build your own travel system" so you don't even need a stroller frame either if you want to skip it.

[Seitvonzu]

honestly? i lucked into something at target and it worked out really well for us. i was all set to go with the graco snugride (the recommendation in baby bargains at the time) and ran across a travel system 75% once during a baby section clearance. the car seat i wanted was retail 80 dollars, but this whole "system" was something like 42.50!!! so i bought the whole thing on the off chance that the stroller would be "fine." we also got a stroller "frame" (which was the original thing i was going to to do before lucking into the big stroller....)

i wouldn't have felt so lucky, if hadn't found the stroller to be perfectly comfy and just fine for my purposes. i used in primarily to do errands such as grocery shopping and going to the mall or whatnot. also walks in the neighborhood (eventually out of the carseat of course) i would literally use the stroller basket to collect my groceries (no carseat in a shopping cart for my baby :) it worked really well for all that (the basket carried ALOT) it wasn't as cumbersome as some people claim strollers can be. and we blissfully didn't have any issues with wheels popping off (that was my biggest concern , actually)

i bought a britax marathon when lu outgrew her infant seat-- got that at target too for about 30% off. got a roundabout for $60 or so? not sure what the discount was there, but i sorta just lucked into that too.