You guys have been asking me for a stroller comparison guide for honestly years now. I’m sorry. I’m usually so much better at being responsive to requests, but honestly, every time I go to write this post I feel overwhelmed. I have so much to say on the topic. But I’m starting to realize that if I wait for a big chunk of time to write up all my thoughts and recs on strollers, it’ll never happen, so I’m going to share this guide now and reserve the right to update it if more thoughts come to me and/or we should acquire another stroller that we love. I will preface this stroller comparison guide by saying that I never intended to be the mom with ten million strollers. In fact, I swore I’d only have one. And then we had James… And then we had Charlotte… And then we had Brooks… And now we own like ten strollers, and I’m embarrassed to even admit that. It’s not that bad though — we keep one at the lake house, one in Park City, and we inherited and were gifted a couple. And it’s more like seven. Ok, it’s still ridiculous. But my garage’s overcrowding will hopefully serve you well because I have tried many of the top strollers out there (and a few you’ve probably never heard of) and I have lots to say and review. So without any more procrastinating, here’s my stroller comparison guide.
Uppa Baby Cruz
Best for: City moms
We got the Uppa Baby Cruz before we had James. We bought it secondhand from someone in my best friend’s building who was selling hers, and it was in like new condition, so I felt pretty great about the situation. We got the bassinet and car seat to go with it and settled on it based on what other mom friends recommended. At the time, it felt like every mom in NYC had one and well, I was an NYC-mom-to-be so I got it. We loved that stroller and got so much use out of it. It has great storage, converts as your child grows, is easy to navigate on NYC streets and sidewalks, is narrow enough to fit into NYC stores but wide enough for your child to be comfortable. We found it relatively easy tot travel with and to break down. You can’t do it one handed and it’s heavy so definitely not a lightweight travel stroller, but easy to break down to take in the car when you go to the mall or travel. We did even fly with it a couple of times. It held up well though we had to replace the wheels once, but honestly, I think that’s fine given how much we used and that we bought it second hand. When we had Charlotte, we kept it and added the kickboard for James. James was almost three when we had Charlotte and while people rave about the Vista, it really only fits two smaller children and James was getting too big that he would grow out of the second seat, so we opted to get a separate double stroller, but if you’re having babies back to back, my friends who had it, all loved the Vista. We eventually sold the Cruz on Facebook Marketplace to another new family when our family grew and we realized we needed a double.
Baby Zen YoYo Stroller
Best for: Traveling especially on planes as well as every day
The Yo-Yo was gifted to us by a friend who was working with the company at the time and I was so grateful. I hate having to wait for our stroller at gate check after along flight, especially when flying solo which I do from time to time. This stroller folds up so it can fit in the overhead compartment and is also super small for a trunk trip. But it’s sturdy when open and navigates so well. It’s so easy to push especially one handed. We loved it so much that we actually got the kickboard for it and sold our Uppa Baby because we found it was great for every day too and we didn’t have a lot of storage in our last home so this was nice to fold up and stick in the hall closet. I truly cannot say enough good things about this stroller. I love it and we still use all the time to this day. My one gripe is that it doesn’t have tons of storage space (but there are add-ons you can get for that). The clip part to buckle the kids in broke on one side for us. It’s still useable but annoying. I’m sure we could call and get it fixed but have honestly been lazy but I will say we’ve been rought with it for travel so it’s probably partly our fault. I wrote a bit more about the YoYo here too.
Maclaren Globetrotter Umbrella Stroller
Best for: Traveling and in/out of car
We got this umbrella stroller at the recommendation of a friend for our first big trip with James when he was around six months and we didn’t want to lug the Uppa Baby. I’m not sure if they still make it tbh but wanted to include in my stroller comparison guide since we used it. The GLite is probably a comparable stroller from what I’ve heard. This is a perfectly great travel stroller. It folds up long but has a sling so you can carry over your shoulder, is fairly lightweight and navigates well. We’ve used to sightsee around cities and for airports and around town and have no complaints. I found it a bit hard to fold up on my own so there’s that and it doesn’t fold up as small as other travel strollers they make now like the Yo-Yo, so you have to gate check. We eventually gave this to a friend, but it served us well in the days before the Yo Yo and other fold up strollers existed.
Doona
Best for: Newborn until one year old traveling and if you are in the car running around with your baby a lot
Yes, you need a Doona. This wasn’t around for my first two and it’s such a game-changer. It’s the. only thing we bought for baby #3 (well the only big thing) and it’s wroth every penny. In fact, I’m so bummer that Brooks has finally grown out of it. This car seat to stroller will make your life so much easier, especially if you’re a car driving mom, which I was for Brooks since we moved to the burbs. It’s great for travel because you just need to bring the Doona instead of a car seat and stroller and all the carriers. You can gate check it or strap it into an airplane seat. I love for school pick up and drop off and running errands with a baby. It’s truly a life-changer and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s very easy to fold and unfold and put into the car. The one thing I’ll say is that it isn’t light as the baby gets bigger and Brooks was a big baby but I have found all car seats to be that way and you get to push it so you don’t have to carry it far, but lifting Brooks in the seat into the car as he got big was heavy. If you take one thing away from my stroller comparison guide, it’s to get this stroller/car seat if you’re expecting.
Baby Jogger Double Stroller
Best for: Traveling with multiple kids, easy storage
We got this double stroller in an overnight Amazon prime buy before traveling for the first time on an airplane with Charlotte and James. Tbh, I didn’t do too much research on double strollers. I wanted something that would fold up flat for travel and storage, which this one does. I also wanted one that wasn’t too heavy and that was narrow enough to fit through city doors. This one is all that. It has pretty decent storage and has gone with us to Disney World *(twice), Universal Studios, and on a bunch of other trips as well as around town and sometimes I’ll take the kids running in it. It’s held up and is a good double stroller. I will say that it can be hard to turn and navigate. This is in part because James is now really big and still insists on sitting in it and he’s heavy so it weights the stroller down. We mostly use the double stroller for traveling so the fact that it’s light and can fold up flat is paramount for us so we’ll take that it’s not the easiest to navigate but if you’re using it every day in the city with bigger kids, you may not love it.
Joovy Zoom 360 Jogging Stroller
Best for: Jogging around the neighborhood
We got this when I decided to get back in shape after having James. I missed my morning runs but realized I needed to take him with me or I wouldn’t do it. So invested in this stroller. I didn’t want to spend a fortune because we had other strollers and needed one that would fold up flat to put in our closet, so I found this one and was really happy with it. It’s a great jogger, roomy for the kids and I really have no complaints. I don’t know that you can hook up infant seats to it, so it’s probably better for six months plus, but it’s a great jogging option at a good price point and size. We don’t really use it for anything else besides jogging and the tires need to be inflated if we haven’t used in awhile so something to keep in mind.
Bob Jogging Stroller
Best for: Big joggers and big garages
Yes, we have three jogging strollers, but this one was gifted to us from cousins as a hand-me-down. We keep it up at the Lake so I can run with the kids there or take them for long walks. This is a great stroller. It’s lasted for years and is still in great shape and it’s easy to run with. It’s a fan favorite for a reason. It’s big so you probably want to use it as your main stroller and get the car seat attachments etc. unless you have ample garage space. I think it rides better for jogging than the Joovy but is much bigger and doesn’t fold up as flat, so not as easy to travel with and store. I know a lot of people who used this as their main stroller and have loved so if you’re a big jogger this could be a great option.
Veer All Terrain Jogging Stroller
Best for: Trail running and runner parents
I was lucky enough to get to test out the Veer for the Good Housekeeping Institute and they let me keep it, which. I’m thrilled about. This stroller is amazing if you plan to do lots of trail running or hiking with the kids or want a stroller that you can push through anything. It’s my favorite jogging stroller I’ve tried. It’s super sturdy, offers lots of storage, the kids love sitting in it, and it’s so easy to push even with the bigger/heavier kids. I love running with it and now that. we live somewhere with lots of trails, I get to run on them with the stroller and not miss a beat. This is the all-terrain stroller you need if you’re an adventurous family. It has shocks and suspension that make it a smooth ride for the kids and easy to push and it’s compatible with most car seats it says although we haven’t tried that so I can’t speak to that.
Bugaboo Fox
Best for: Every day stroller for running errands, walks, shopping, taking the baby everywhere with you
Full disclosure: My friend works for Bugaboo and was kind enough to send Brooks the Fox and wow, I’m in love. I honestly wish we had gotten it sooner. It’s got great seat/handle placement that offers lots of room for storage and is easy to push and the kids really like the view and seat. I think they probably find it the most comfortable of the strollers. It has a bassinet and kick board option so you’re set for baby through multiples and I find the kick board the easiest to push. of all the ones I’ve tried with strollers. It’s really chic which I appreciate as an aesthetics person and it’s easy to fold up and put in car for traveling. I would even bring it with us on an airplane trip if we were going somewhere for longer than a few days. It’s become my go-to stroller for my daily morning walks with Brooks and for our adventures – to the aquarium, mall, amusement parks, etc. This is probably my top rec after the Doona in my stroller comparison guide.
And there you go for my stroller comparison guide. I hope that was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. I could really talk about strollers all day but tried to keep this concise.
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