I'm converted to status symbol strollers

Thank you, Melissa, for this post! I have bought 3 strollers (ad sold 2) in the past year trying to find the best one for our lifestyle. We live in Boston without a car. The subway is great, but there are often no elevators making travel with a stroller dificult to say the last. Also, I live up a total of 22 stairs and no elevator. We finally settled on the Phil and Ted's e3 stroller after trying a Peg Perego (wheels too small) and a Zooper (too heavy). It's not as pricey as other strollers, but still far more than I ever thought I spend. It's definately the perfect stroller for us and makes it much more likely for me to get out every day. Also, much cheaper than a car no matter how you count!

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The cost of a lot of those strollers is for the name only. I don't use our stroller(s) much because I still carry my 17 month old in a sling a lot of the time, but we have a Jeep all terrain in our car for longish shopping trips etc...and then a jogging stroller in the house that rarely gets used because I don't jog. The total cost for both was less than $300. I do think that thye higher end ones are made better than some of the lower end ones, and if that is what people want to spend money on, why not?

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Thank you, Melissa, for this post! I have bought 3 strollers (and sold 2) in the past year trying to find the best one for our lifestyle. We live in Boston without a car. The subway is great, but there are often no elevators making travel with a stroller dificult to say the least. Also, I live up a total of 22 stairs and no elevator.

We finally settled on the Phil and Ted's e3 stroller after trying a Peg Perego (wheels too small) and a Zooper (too heavy). It's not as pricey as other strollers, but still far more than I ever thought I spend. It's definately the perfect stroller for us and makes it much more likely for me to get out every day. Also, much cheaper than a car no matter how you count!

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I'm not really much of a stroller person, but again, most of my walking around with Paul involves geocaching and stroller unfriendly terrain. However, a stroller is nice for when we go into DC and walk around. I've always wondered about the pricier strollers, since I see a lot of kids in them when we go to Little Gym.

I have three different strollers, and two never got much use. I have one of those carseat system ones, but it just takes up too much of my trunk area to get much use. I have an umbrella stroller, which is nice for the mall, and other indoor things. I have something in between the two, which doesn't have any advantage over the umbrella stroller, but doesn't handle uneven terrain very well, and it still takes up a good bit of the trunk.

We usually take the umbrella stroller into DC, because anything bigger is an unwelcome hassle because the elevators and escalators -never- work when you need them. If I was in DC more often, and there was something that handled rough terrain as well as my "SUV" stroller, but was as easy to carry around as my umbrella stroller, I'd be hooked.

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I would hope now-a-days a low priced stroller could get the "job done" for those living in both city and other areas.

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Like Melissa was saying, if you live in a city, a stroller is a lot like a car. You log so many more miles in it than your average suburban or rural user, so you maybe money ahead if you just get one good one rather than going through two or three cheap ones.

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Melissa, we're definitely on the same wavelength on this subject.

While my lifestyle doesn't warrant buying a $700 (or higher) stroller, I did fork out $200 for a Maclaren Quest. It's the perfect stroller for me at 13 lbs. and its turning radius is the tightest that I've ever experienced. I can push it with one hand and retain perfect control. It is the perfect conveyance for the mall or shopping center because of its size and maneuverability(sp?).

I wouldn't recommend it (small wheels) for the ridiculous topography of Ann Arbor sidewalks; we have a 6-year-old Bob that tackles that terrain.

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In San Francisco, there are two types of walking attractions:
homeless with their red/gray cart full of precious belonging
and
spanish speaking nannies with they red or gray "cameleon" stroller with equaly precious belonging...
Too often, I have to look twice to figure out which one is which one.... which equally ugly out of proportion wheels, and the body of the SAME red color.

If you dont want to be another homeless, ALWAYS skip the carseat on top of the stroller (ans PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE never a fleece blanky to "shade" the baby), or the Cameleon/Bugaboo. The Stokke is special (you like it or you dont), but for once, it's matching the needs AND the look for SanFrancisco.

As for us, we are finishing to kill a pegperego http://www.kidslandusa.com/images/product/peg_perego_stroller_pliko_p3_classico_small.jpg - with an estimated 800miles on it (and lastly, it's a 30lbs baby IN the stroller, a 40lbs toddler ON the builtin toddler-step PLUS a family of four grocery shopping in basket). At the time, it was the only full size stroller on the market which could handle Hilly San Francisco without tipping in any direction.
Our other "nearly dead" stroller (estimated 500miles) is a $49 yellow (how cute, and HOW SAFE to cross the streets) Caddy http://www.strollers.com/images/products/chicco-caddy.jpg that keeps its suspensions active up to 30lbs of baby weight.


Safety first. Buy what you NEED and put the saved money into the college found!

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I live in a city without a spendy stroller. I walk a lot with my daughter - we run errands with the stroller and can carry home an extraordinary amount of stuff. Our big, heavy Graco stroller is great for our needs (and the handles are high enough for my 6'5" husband to use without getting a backache). If I lived in a city with a subway, I'd want something lighter, but I am not sure I'd need to pay $800 to find that. My friend's bugaboo is beautiful and agile, but I just couldn't get past the sticker price.

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The weight limit on the Stokke is what caught my eye- 33 pounds! My oldest son weighed that at one and my two year old now weighs a little over that. That's a lot of money for not much use.

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Melissa, I said if someone WANTED to spend that much money on a stroller, go for it. High end, low end...doesn't really matter as long as it works. I didn't miss your point at all. Please don't send me another e-mail because I pissed you off.

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Here in The Netherlands (I'm in the south)the brand Quinny rules the streets these days! I have one that's big with 4 huge wheels but I use this stroller for groceries and I NEED the massiveness it has. But the streets here are so different from road to road so it has many perks. Quinny also has the smallest stroller ever made and fits into a backpack. It's on my wish list and pretty cheap when you look at it... around $200 US or 180 Euro! I do kinda want a bugaboo if I get another kid someday! Those aren't just for celebs over here! Even our friends who don't have much money have a bugaboo!

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I live in Italy, Rome. I generally use a normal piece of fabric to walk with my baby girl but i also own a stokke for longer walks. The only reason to buy a Stokke is because it's higher! The baby doesn't have to breath all the heaviest car emissions and her lungs are safe. It's worth the cost of the Stokke... i think.

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I live south of Amsterdam and own both the Quinny Speedy SX for walks into town and the Quinny Zap for when traveling (which is the small one I think Laura is refering to). Here you could not do with one of the flimsy strollers I see when I visit the US. The wheels would pop off after 1 day negotiating the roads. But that being said I never liked the Bugaboo, and find it overpriced even here... I much prefer the look (and more reasonable price) of the Quinny's.

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I too am a big fan of the quinnys. I have the massive 4xl with the reversible seat and no matter what terrain you are on ride is smooth. As a mother of more than one, the stroller is used heavily to hold everyones stuff even though only one child "uses" the stroller. $76 brand new in the box on ebay..
Admittedly, this is not a stroller for traveling as it is very heavy and we plan to by a buzz or a zapp for that.

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I am wondering how city parents without a car do their grocery shopping with a baby in tow. You can't really maneuver a baby cart and shopping cart - do you just resign to do small shopping trips - or have groceries delivered? Curious to hear how people do it- I was wondering if there was a special baby cart for grocery shopping????

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I take the subway with my daughter (now 4) ALL the time. All those expensive strollers are super heavy. I went with a $20 dollar Kolkraft and have never turned back. It's less than 5 pounds and folds like a charm. If it breaks after a few months, I just get another cheapie. You can't get better than light.

As for grocery shopping, I either use a bag attached to the handles and stuff it, or I fold the stroller and put it in a shopping cart.

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