Strollin’: one mom’s real world strollers experience

Back when I was pregnant for the first time, I thought we would get one stroller—the Phil and Ted’s. It seemed like the ideal stroller for a growing family as it has the double option, plus it accommodated a newborn and most importantly, I could jog with it. Or so I thought.

Then and now:

As it turned out, a $500 stroller like the Phil and Ted’s is not the kind of stroller one wants to take on hard-core jogs. I believe when people say they “jog” with it, they mean 10-minute miles over the course of three miles. When I am running 8 miles at an 8-minute clip, the stroller is coming up flat—literally.

Somewhere along the way, we were given a Chicco fold-up travel stroller that we have never used, but we keep “just in case” that is currently gathering dust in our storage unit. But two strollers was not enough.

Enter stroller #3: the Baby Jogger.
I love, love, love this stroller, it’s true. The ride is so smooth and it can take much abuse. My daughter enjoyed it on long runs. But it is cumbersome, hard to fold and takes up a whole lot of space in our 1,000 square foot apartment. And what I did not realize is that we did not have a stroller that was ideal for the museums we frequented.

And so came stroller #4. The McClaren Volo. This is another fan favorite. Yes, it is a bit more expensive than the traditional umbrella stroller, but it is an extremely compact little guy that travels well, is comfortable for the babies and pivots on a dime—perfect for museums and the mall, not so much for long walks as the plastic wheels do not do well over cobblestone streets.

Not to be outdone, we are now testing our fifth stroller. Yes, five strollers in a 1,000 square foot apartment with two tiny closets, a chock-a-block storage space, two children and two pets. This one appears to be the holy grail of joggers—the BOB Ironman Duallie.

Thus far, I have only taken it on one walk (I have a broken foot), but expect a full review of it’s running capability in a few weeks.

And a memo to the stroller makers of the world: Let’s do ourselves a proper and create a stroller that has a tiny footprint; pivots easily; runs without pushing; has rubber wheels; traverses ice, snow and mud; carries various items; reclines and folds up no bigger than an umbrella. Seems easy enough, right?