feels like a strange question, but, does anyone here own a stroller for some purpose?

[shell024]

Maybe I haven't researched through the threads enough... I'm just curious if anyone here owns a stroller for reasons other than carrying baby? such as grocery shopping...regular shopping. well now that i'm thinking about it (ha, excuse my pregnant brain.. : ) I guess you'd just use a shopping cart right? or what about traveling?

I'm leaning towards slinging as much as possible, but there is still some little nagging industrial voice in the back of my mind saying "there MIGHT be a use for that stroller...and you won't figure it out till the last minute".

[gottaknit]

I have a jogstroller that I occasionally have used for shopping. : DS and I travel by bus/foot, and if I need to buy something heavy, like kitty litter or dog food, I carry DS in the ergo and push the groceries in the stroller. Gets lots of funny looks, believe me. :LOL

A cheap wheeled cart thingy like old ladies use would be more economical, though. I just use the stroller because we already have it.

ETA: Slings are soooo much easier than strollers for travel. We are on and off planes in a jiffy, while the stroller people take forever and slow everyone down.

[AngelBee]

I have two strollers....a double and a covered umbrella stroller.

They do come in handy and I have used them quite a bit. I also wear whoever would like to be carried. The older two don't want to be carried usually, but get tired of walking to far. Also ds2 sleeps in it when out and about. He sleeps better when he is not being worn.

Check the babies forum. There would be more info on strollers in there.

Also get a used one if possible.....better for the environment.

[alegna]

We do use a stroller- we actually have 2. It has been useful a few times- at a ren faire- carried baby stuff most of the day and the baby on a few naps. In an airport - for the car seat and extra bags and such, on walks when it is just too hot to wear baby (happens a lot here in Houston)

-Angela

[gotmilkmama]

Well yes I do have a stroller. A few actually. I love wearing my babies but there are times for strollers too for me. I had 3 babies with 1 1/2 years so I couldn't sling them all - although I have tried this on occasion.

First off we (dh and I) are big on going for jogs/runs for exercise. We have a single and a double jogging stroller for this use.

Also when I go out by myself with my 3 babies (which is often) I need the help of stroller. I can either sling 2 and put one in stroller or sling one and put 2 in stroller. My 2 1/2 yo obviously can walk but he usually likes to run (very fast) and sometimes I need him attached to me (holding him or in sling)for safety or strapped in stroller if I'm wearing the twins.

So let's see...with this being your first right? Would you need a stroller...well when I just had my ds I would use stroller for shopping trips. Not so much grocery shopping. But more like xmas shopping. Going from store to store and then accumulating lots of packages that I either had to carry or shove in stroller. Other option is if you are going shopping for yourself. It's pretty hard to try on nursing bras while wearing your baby. And before he was standing I didn't always want to put him on the floor - depending on how clean the floor was and if he was in his suck on everything phase.

Also I am large busted and nursing made them even bigger . So if it was a long trip out there were times where I just needed to walk around without any extra weight.

But all in all I loved just being able to plop him (them) in the sling and go. So easy and we all loved it - me and my kids and I even got dh doing it.

[Parthenia]

I have 3 strollers, an Ergo, a Kelty frame pack, 2 ring slings, an Ellaroo wrap, and a bjorn--at the moment.

One stroller is used in the kitchen when I'm cooking and we need to put dd down somewhere. I think my MIL uses it, too, but she also loves the ring sling.
Another stroller (baby jogger) I use on long walks. 6 yo dd uses it more than the baby. I also carry groceries in it. I got it on Freecycle.
My most recent stroller aquisition is a Peg Perego that someone left in front of their house to give away. It was in perfect condition, except it had a stinky pet smell. I hosed it down, washed the cloth seat cover and canopy and it's as good as new. I might put it in the car, but since it has a larger basket, it will be helpful for groceries.

I've put a request on Freecycle for a wagon, but no bites yet. I've gone through several strollers and other baby carriers. I get them (usually) cheap or free, test them out, and get rid of them cheap or free.

I don't leave the house without a ring sling.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

We use ours for getting beer home from the local store. :LOL

[catnip]

We got ours at a garage sale for $5 and used it once to carry groceries and the dipe bag on an on foot store run.

[Patrice#1]

Yup! Before we got a new car, I would use the double stroller to walk to the grocery store and load it up with bags and bags of groceries! I am all too familiar with those 'looks' that the 2nd poster was referring too, lol

[shell024]

wow i'm glad i asked. reason being, MIL is trying to buy the graco travel system... but i don't want her to spend money on something we might not even use. i'd almost rather just stick to getting the infant carseat, cloth dipes and slings--i mean if she really wants to buy something-- then if I feel like a stroller would come in handy, then i'll consider getting one later, used.

[Quindin]

Strollers were our cars when we lived in Denmark and depended solely on public transportation - the big European strollers worked great to bring kids + a bunch of groceries home.

I still have 2 strollers (a carriage one and a umbrella one) and I do still use the big one to carry my big toddler in it when I need to walk to the nearby co-op with my little baby in a carrier + 2 my other kids on each side. It does not happen very often though - I would say we used it only twice this year..

[Babytime]

I couldn't live without my sling, but I also love my stroller! Mostly so when I'm shopping, I can sling the baby and store my packages in the stroller. :LOL However, the baby likes to stretch out sometimes and gets frustrated in the sling, so at those times, the stroller comes in quite handy.

[Aura_Kitten]

we have a stroller and up until very recently used it for groceries + trips to the park. now we have a grocery cart but when i go ou w/ my daughter (just me, not the whole family) i put her in the stroller, because since i hurt my back i can't carry her. (her daddy is the babywearer in the family. )

strollers as groceries carts = very good idea.

[gour0]

Originally Posted by shell024

wow i'm glad i asked. reason being, MIL is trying to buy the graco travel system... but i don't want her to spend money on something we might not even use. i'd almost rather just stick to getting the infant carseat, cloth dipes and slings--i mean if she really wants to buy something-- then if I feel like a stroller would come in handy, then i'll consider getting one later, used.

You definitely don't want a Graco. They're mostly junk. You can try your local craigslist for a used stroller or join the strollerswap group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stroll...guid=145153311

I bought my single used off ebay. I am also buying a double from a friend.

[alybeans]

I have 2 strollers and I use them on occassion. I'm definitely glad I have them even though I wear her 95% of the time. They great while you're shopping for clothes and can't wear the baby. They're also great if you're going somewhere and you'll need a place for baby to sit (I brought one to my cousin's baby shower so DD could sit in it while I ate), I use it when we go to swimming lessons (I need a place to put her while I change), etc.

I say get one. It will come in handy on occassion, especially if you're going to have more than one child.

[crunchykd]

1. jogging stroller for running/brisk walking

2. Umbrella stroller that DS#2 sometimes sits in under a big umbrella in the pool area while DS#1 and I play in the pool. It keeps him out of the son. DS#2 LOVES sitting next to the pool and watching all the other kids play.

[broodymama]

We have a travel system that MIL bought when she visited when DS was a month old. It was handy to have the 2nd infant seat - my dad took it to his house at Thanksgiving so when I flew up for Christmas I didn't have to carry the carseat on the plane. The stroller is gathering dust in the closet, never been used. I didn't want her to buy it but she insisted we need one.

I also have a jogging stroller that I use when going for walks (jog for 50 feet, then huff & puff) around the neighborhood.

[Aura_Kitten]

Originally Posted by gour0

You definitely don't want a Graco. They're mostly junk.

WHAT?! our Graco stroller has lasted through almost 5 years of hard use ~ "hard" being rough terrain, up and down hills, hauling groceries and toys and picnic supplies, hauling my 3 year old around while he was still a 3 year old, and still is in good enough shape to take my daughter out for walks and still haul a few bags of groceries.

[KyleAnn]

When my ds was born the IL's got us a treavel system and I returned it and bought a simple umbrella style inglesina...we've used it here or there, borrowed it to friends-when my IL's visit, Grandma likes to take ds for walks...so I think it is definitely good to have one, yes. Even if you don't use it much at all-you never know when or for what it may come in handy.
I don't have anything against them, I just prefer to sling ds while he still lets me!

[ZeldasMom]

The mainstream idea is that you *need* a stroller. I don't think this is true--I think the answer to whether it makes sense for you to have one ultimately depends on your lifestyle/individual situation. The other items you mentioned (sling, car seat, diapers) are all moe important than a stroller imo.

I am not a big travel system fan because they are so big. If you are getting an infant seat you could get a kohlcraft universal stroller frame if you want to have a stroller. The baby seat snaps into it. The down side is once the baby grows out of the infant seat you have no stroller. This is when we got our umbrella stroller.

We have a jog stroller which I take DS for a walk in twice a day. This is how I get him to nap. Once he's asleep I bring the stroller into the house if it's too hot or cold to stay outside and he sleeps in the stroller. In the summer we generally sit outside while he naps and I knit or read.

We have an umbrella stroller we use for places where we are going to be on our feet a long time and have a lot of stuff we're hauling (like the zoo and airports--though sometimes I wear him a lot in the airport and I have flown w/o a stroller--it's a nice luggage cart though).