Travel and stroller rec's

[Shy0717]

This summer we are going to be doing TONS of traveling which means we'll be spending lots of time in the airport. I think I've got the carseat situation figured out but I really need a different stroller. We have the ginormous Graco stroller which is fine and dandy when we're home but I can only imagine the major pita it'd be traveling with (not to mention putting it in other people's cars). So my plan was to find a stroller that folded up quite small, preferrably something lightweight that would be easy to maneuver in the airport but comfortable enough that he'd enjoy it at the zoo or some other type of day trip. So far I've narrowed it down to the Maclaren (I've heard rave reviews) and the Baby Jogger City Mini(heard nothing about it but tested it in the store). I tried them both out in the store and wasn't really impressed with the Maclaren (am I missing something?). It seemed ok for an umbrella type but I don't know. I just didn't really like it though I can't pinpoint why. I LOVED the city mini though and the bonus is it folds up unbelievably small. The down side is the basket is small but it'd still hold our bag. Does anyone have any recommendations?? We're talking about 6 trips in the next 6 months so I'm willing to splurge on this stroller if I have to so long as it does the job. Thanks in advance :-)

[snoopy5386]

I think you'd be fine with either. We've got a Mac Quest and love it, I've had it for almost 4 years and would buy it again in a heartbeat. The BJ city mini is really nice too and if it had been on the market when DD was a newbie I might have gone with it instead. The umbrella fold and handle or strap on the Mac is awesome for traveling alone on public transport though - I can carry a stroller, a backpack and a kid up and down stairs, on trains, etc.

[Alisse]

I recently went stroller shopping and settled on a valco ion. Like you i wasn't too impressed with the maclarens and i did have my eye on the baby jogger. I didn't like the latter either because of the material it was made of -- i kept imagining my son's skin sweating against it and i found it both large and heavy in comparison to the valco ion. I also liked that it had a bar running across it with a midpiece running from the middle of the bar to the seat. Check it out; i highly recommend it and i did an EXHAUSTIVE search for a lightweight stroller.

[kismetbaby]

I just got a Maclaren triumph off of Craigslist and I love it! Will definitely be using it when we travel and for now its great in the trunk of the car--much easier to use on the go! Wasn't going to spend the $ for a new one, but was happy to get one used. I love how small it folds up and it "drives" nicely and even has a good size sun shade.

Out of curiosity, what carseat did you decide on for traveling? We're still puzzling that one out.

[Shy0717]

Originally Posted by kismetbaby

I just got a Maclaren triumph off of Craigslist and I love it! Will definitely be using it when we travel and for now its great in the trunk of the car--much easier to use on the go! Wasn't going to spend the $ for a new one, but was happy to get one used. I love how small it folds up and it "drives" nicely and even has a good size sun shade.

Out of curiosity, what carseat did you decide on for traveling? We're still puzzling that one out.

I have 2 different ones for home...the Graco MyRide65 and the Britax Marathon. I thought I had decided on a carseat but now I'm back to researching. I've looked at just getting a cheaper carseat just for traveling purposes and so far I'm not happy with my choices. A friend of mine recommended the Cosco Scenera and also the Evenflo Titan as they've got the 5 pt harness and are light and travel easily (also not a big deal if it gets ruined) but I'm not sure quite yet. I went ahead and bought a carseat protective bag (guess that's what you call it). It's got wheels on it and also you can wear it on your back if you need to actually carry your carseat through the airport. I figure that'll help protect the seat a little as well as gate checking. I'm going to head over to the safety forum and see if anyone has any recommendations.

[Beauchamp]

I was looking at Macs, too, and ended up getting this Joovy Kooper in the yellow color. It's great! The sun canopy is enormous. The back is nicely padded. It reclines quite far. I am really happy with it. The only thing I don't 100% love is the lock mechanism-- once you fold the stroller, your rotate this clear/bendy plastic/silicone type piece around and snap it in. So it's not a complete one handed fold. But it's a great price, and looks cool! It takes up a very small footprint, and for us, seemed like the size of an umbrella, with some full size features.