Looking for a lightweight/umbrella stroller

[raynjen]

The best thing about the Maclaren's is the ease of pushing it. It spins on a dime and the front wheels never 'lock up'.

Have you ever been stationary with your stoller for awhile (say, stopped at a light, or pausing to decide which cough syrup in the store). While you are paused you probably automatically 'rock' the stroller back and forth (a holdover from when they were infants and seemed to need constant motion in order to sleep). Well, after you've been rocking it for awhile, the front wheels sometimes get backwards then when you try and move out your wheels 'lock up' and you have to sort of back up and THEN go forward. The Maclaren that I had (a Techno) NEVER did this.

If you look at the frame of the Maclarens the back wheels sort of sit under the baby. This is what makes them easy to turn, the wheels are very close to the center of gravity.

If money were no issue I probably would buy the Volo (though, if it were no issue, I would probably search around and see what cool stuff I could get, but I'm like that).

The Volo is, hands down, better made than the Kolcraft. For me the issue was how long were we going to continue using the stroller. We had pretty much given up using the stroller when I decided that we would probably need something for our trip back to America (something to contain her in the airport and catch her tired body during all the mall walking, zoo visiting, and museum viewing I planned on doing). Then I figured if I needed something I probably ought to go ahead and get it so I could use it in the interim.

I had NO idea how much we would use this stroller! I figured it would pretty much sit until our trip, but DD wanted to use it right away. She like that she got to choose (do you want to ride in your stroller, ride in the cart, or walk?) and she was old enough to appreciate getting someplace faster if she was riding.

So, we ended up using it A LOT more than I ever dreamed. It did help a lot in the airport, even if it carried our carry-ons more than it carried our DD, and we've used it almost every day on our trip. However, even knowing now how much we use it, I still wouldn't have bought the Maclaren (because DH would have gone into convulsions).

So it kind of depends on what your stoller use is like now. I can promise you that despite being in a completely different locale you will probably use the stroller the same. So, do you use it daily? Do you plan on having any more children? Will you be traveling by plane a lot (say back to the states for visits)? How big is your child? Will they outgrow the Kolcraft by weight soon?

Quality-wise the Maclaren wins hands down. It is sturdier, easier to push, and will last a lot longer. My thought was that at $20 ($10 for initial purchase and $10 for improvements) I can still replace it 5 times before I equal the cost of the Volo. I am shallow though, I go out and sigh over the other strollers, I envy those moms that have the pricier stuff that is sooo cute or elegant. But... I just can't justify the cost - for me.

One thing you might want to consider - a lot of the public buildings here in Okinawa (well, not public, more like shopping malls) have strollers for their patrons to use. Even stores like the 100 yen shops, grocery stores, and DIY (do it yourself) shops have baskets you can put a toddler into.

Oh, and the BX, it is the store on the military base, sort of like a tiny Walmart, that is supposed to keep our cost of living down and provide us with a few American amenities.

Jen in Okinawa
Mom to Noelle (2 1/3)

edited to add:
I was going to attach some photos of our stroller, but DH just confessed that he left some cables (the ones to attach the digital camera to the laptop) back in Japan. He said we might be able to get a replacement one inexpensively, if we do I'll add some photos, if not I'll post them when we get back to Japan.

[Shikimama]

Oh so you are back to the US right now.

>So it kind of depends on what your stoller use is like now.
>I can promise you that despite being in a completely different
>locale you will probably use the stroller the same. So, do
>you use it daily? Do you plan on having any more children?
>Will you be traveling by plane a lot (say back to the states
>for visits)? How big is your child? Will they outgrow the
>Kolcraft by weight soon?

Good questions.

First, my dd has been always light (20-30 percentile) so I don't think the weight is a big issue. Right now she must weigh about 24-25# at the most.

I don't go out very often except to get some grocery. When I do go shop at the mall for instance I cannot concentrate on what I'm doing if I have my dd with me, so I tend to leave her with my dh. Whenever we go out as family my dh tends to carry her from places to places (he thinks the stroller often ends up not being used because dd wants to get out of it, or taking too much space, and it's easier for him to carry her. I don't necessarily agree with him), so we actually don't use our Combi that much. Actually I don't remember when I used it last. Let alone daily.

Having said that, in Tokyo, which may be a little different from life in Okinawa, everywhere we go, it will be by train/subway or by foot. I won't rely on my dh to carry dd around because nowadays my dd is too active to carry in the first place, and starts to be very squirmy if being held for too long. Life in Japan in general requires a lot of walking (from/to stations, bus stops, nearby parks, etc) as we won't be driving on a regular basis like here.

When my dd was 5 months I was back in Tokyo briefly and I did go out alone with her using my Combi. It was crazy. It may depend on the line you have to ride on but there are often only stairs to and from the platform where trains arrive. That means I had to carry the stroller up and down the stairs. She slept in it, and I couldn't pick her up, hold her, and fold the stroller at the same time, and ended up rolling the stroller into the most crowded commuter train during the rush hour. That was really embarrassing. After that experience, when I went out with her (without anyone else with us), I used my carrier (Baby Bjorn) instead (which I don't think is the best option for outings longer than half an hour....)

I don't think I'm going out with her by train/subway every day while there, but when I do, I will definitely need a stroller that doesn't take too much space in a crowded area, that has strong wheels to endure the concrete (and sometimes bumpy) paths, light enough to pick up and carry up/down the stairs.

Also, we will be traveling a lot by plane during the next one year. We'll be flying on the 25th back to Japan, and then we will come back to the US once during the summer. Sometime in fall we will be back to the US again, and there is a possibility we will be visiting Singapore in winter. Then we will be back to the US finally in next spring. All these trips (except one to Singapore) will need at least one transit so I'm talking MANY airports to walk (probably run).

We are planning to have another child sometime in the future so my dd won't be the only and last one to use it.

All this seems to mean that there is no reason for me not to invest on a new nice umbrella stroller.

Now,

>Quality-wise the Maclaren wins hands down. It is sturdier,
>easier to push, and will last a lot longer. My thought was
>that at $20 ($10 for initial purchase and $10 for
>improvements) I can still replace it 5 times before I equal
>the cost of the Volo. I am shallow though, I go out and sigh
>over the other strollers, I envy those moms that have the
>pricier stuff that is sooo cute or elegant. But... I just
>can't justify the cost - for me.

I'm with you. I know the dillemma you felt exactly. I have the feeling that if I pick Kolcraft I will be jealous over other people's fancier strollers, but I do have to have some strong reasons to spend that much money on a little stroller that I may or may not use much.

You are almost selling the Volo to me,,, but I still don't know how to justify the cost when I tell my DH about the purchase that I would be making!!

When I bought the Baby Bjorn carrier, car seat (Britax Marathon), high chair (Chicco), and other stuff I showed relevant pages on Baby Bargains book for him to read, and he was with me all the way (basically). In Toddler Bargains (the first edition) I have, there is no umbrella stroller section (I don't think) so I cannot tell him "Hey this is what they say and so this model got to be great" or use "this model is cheap but has had a lot of accidents including death, that's what it says in the book!" type of scare tactics either...

BTW, did your Maclaren have a little piece that goes in the way to step on another piece to fold it? I don't know how to describe this but like I said in another post, when I saw the Volo at BRU I tried it and it was kinda difficult to fold it. Store clark said the same thing.

Also, do you know anything (good or bad) about Chicco umbrella stroller?

[C99]

I'm coming late to this, but I think the Chicco Caddy would fit the bill on all of your points. It's a bit difficult to fold it w/ one hand, but it can be done w/ practice -- I've done it while holding my 14-month-old on one hip. The weight limit is 33 lbs. I don't know what the height limit is though. The stroller itself only weighs 11 lbs.

[tme]

I'm late to this discussion but I have the Volo so I can tell you a bit about it. I love it! I live in NYC and I take the subway, bus, etc and it's perfect for that. My Mom has the Kolcraft in Ohio and it's great for the suburbs but doesn't compare to the Volo for city living. A couple things to consider, for city living weather is a much bigger issue because you'll be out in it for a lot longer period. So, you need to be looking at strollers with good wind and rain protection. The Volo has an attachment package with those items, so more options but more cost. Just my two cents, you may have already purchased something.

[Shikimama]

Caroline and tme

Thanks for your responce. You are exactly right, budget-wise, Chicco Caddy is a perfect option! I did look into it at BRU, and noticed it was within my budget. But as you said, the weight limit issue (33 lbs is rather small compared to other ones), the weight of the stroller itself (11 lbs compared to say 8 lbs Volo), as well as color options they had (green and blue but no red available) were not attractive to me at the time.

I spent a lot of time comparing Volo and other options and thought through for a long long time. I came to a conclusion that for city life, as "tme" mentioned, Volo was the answer... , I looked for different web sites to buy one at the best rate and found another thread on this site someone mentioned Baby Dealz on Yahoo had the best deal (about 80 dollars including shipping). I was about to spend that much money for the Volo which was way over my budget but thought was worthwhile, when I noticed it doesn't come with the rain cover (sold separately for another 50 bucks). As you said, in the city you are often walking outside and rain cover (which Caddy comes with) I think is a must. And I realized somewhere I have to come to a compromise between what I want, what I need and the $$ I can spend. I really want a Volo but it's beyond my budget.

Now Caddy is my final choice. As we are moving in a few days I cannot buy anything over the Internet. I will go back to BRU to see if they have another color rather than blue or green (those colors in general I don't dislike but for some reason they simply didn't look attractive to me). If not I may just pick one of the two and get settled with it.

All the responces I got from here I really appreciate. They all helped me think twice, formed my opinions about the choices and make decisions.

Shiki