Carseats and Strollers
I know that preference for these items is akin to religion, and some people spend more time researching than they do buying a home. I want to be informed but not obsessed. Using our Consumer Reports online membership has been extremely helpful in this. The things I think we would be looking for:
-rugged but not too rugged (we would walk a lot in our hood)
-strong but not too huge (wide or bulky or heavy), would need to do well at conventions, restaurants, that kind of thing
-practical for a long time (with newborn and older), or is this just setting us up for something that is just ginormous?
-not overlly complicated - I'm not so good with mechanical things
I know that this may be a tall order to fill. I'm partial to the Uppababy from what I've read/seen (like that it has a removeable bassinet that's flat, like how it faces front or back, looks simple/roomy, like that it is a local company and is a greener product). This is one co-worker's favorite while another favors the Bob stroller (sold at REI and LL Bean: rugged). My sister started with a Graco but has a ton of diff ones now I think. A friend loved her Jeep stroller that was since discontinued, but I don't know how that worked for infants.
Then there is the working with the carseat option. I like the idea of carrying kid from car to stroller and not disturbing them, but I'm not sure if I want to be lugging this ginormous heavy bucket around (why I liked the uppababy bassinet). But that couldn't click in a car seat. Or could it? There are whole hosts of 'car seat adapter' things noted but I don't know if that's for a seat bucket to fit on a stroller or if its for a stroller bucket/bassinet to fit in a car seat.
What do you love? I am prepared for a million different opinions, but I'm just curious what they are. Thanks in advance! :)
I am so not technically inclined in this way. My needs are simple, which is often my downfall (it took us forever to find an entertainment center that we both liked - one that worked with all of Brian's components but was simply a rectangular wooden box with doors we could secure later if there was a baby crawling around, and one that fit our decor). :)
We're going to register at Target and Amazon.com. I know that Target doesn't have a ton of options and Amazon has everything, but we're going to have to test drive some big stuff first (probably at Isis Maternity or Babies R Us first - though does that huge discount baby furniture place in Reading sell strollers and car seats?). Babies R Us is just too overwhelming and not very guy-friendly, so we aren't going to register there, but we may end up resorting to checking them out to find the big things (that we'll be buying for ourselves anyway). I figure one online and one brick and mortar is plenty for peeps that may want to get us goodies. I also love how you can add things from other sites to your Amazon lists via their neat toolbar. :)
-rugged but not too rugged (we would walk a lot in our hood)
-strong but not too huge (wide or bulky or heavy), would need to do well at conventions, restaurants, that kind of thing
-practical for a long time (with newborn and older), or is this just setting us up for something that is just ginormous?
-not overlly complicated - I'm not so good with mechanical things
I know that this may be a tall order to fill. I'm partial to the Uppababy from what I've read/seen (like that it has a removeable bassinet that's flat, like how it faces front or back, looks simple/roomy, like that it is a local company and is a greener product). This is one co-worker's favorite while another favors the Bob stroller (sold at REI and LL Bean: rugged). My sister started with a Graco but has a ton of diff ones now I think. A friend loved her Jeep stroller that was since discontinued, but I don't know how that worked for infants.
Then there is the working with the carseat option. I like the idea of carrying kid from car to stroller and not disturbing them, but I'm not sure if I want to be lugging this ginormous heavy bucket around (why I liked the uppababy bassinet). But that couldn't click in a car seat. Or could it? There are whole hosts of 'car seat adapter' things noted but I don't know if that's for a seat bucket to fit on a stroller or if its for a stroller bucket/bassinet to fit in a car seat.
What do you love? I am prepared for a million different opinions, but I'm just curious what they are. Thanks in advance! :)
I am so not technically inclined in this way. My needs are simple, which is often my downfall (it took us forever to find an entertainment center that we both liked - one that worked with all of Brian's components but was simply a rectangular wooden box with doors we could secure later if there was a baby crawling around, and one that fit our decor). :)
We're going to register at Target and Amazon.com. I know that Target doesn't have a ton of options and Amazon has everything, but we're going to have to test drive some big stuff first (probably at Isis Maternity or Babies R Us first - though does that huge discount baby furniture place in Reading sell strollers and car seats?). Babies R Us is just too overwhelming and not very guy-friendly, so we aren't going to register there, but we may end up resorting to checking them out to find the big things (that we'll be buying for ourselves anyway). I figure one online and one brick and mortar is plenty for peeps that may want to get us goodies. I also love how you can add things from other sites to your Amazon lists via their neat toolbar. :)