Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc...

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Hello Moms,
I was looking for a review thread on what products to purchase and what things to buy in preparation for a new baby! I was reading reviews on baby center but for some reason the product reviews weren’t seeming to fit what I need. There are so many different version of one stroller etc, I am so confused! How to shop for a stroller and other large items and what should I be looking for?

Obviously convenience and practicality for me are first most priority, for example having a car seat and stroller in one system, but now how do I go about picking the one I need that will last me at least a year+. Some strollers are not good for new borns, and I have to buy another seating for them, does that make sense? Just for two months in the beginning. What kind of products will help me from start to at least one year if not more of course. How do I chose, what do you guys recommend? Where can I go for more info?

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

Have you searched this forum? There’s a big thread on which stroller and car seat to buy.

In general it comes down to budget as all strollers will accommodate a car seat also to turn them into travel systems. You buy that adaptor separately.

For a stroller to be used from birth, it either should come with a bassinet like the hugely popular Uppababy Vista, or the seat should lie completely flat like the Mamas and Papas Sola and Urbo strollers. These are just examples. You can also opt to buy a bassinet separately but at usually $250 more, it doesn’t seem worthwhile. Babies only use them for about two months. We just popped the kid into his car seat and on to the stroller when he was too little for the seat altho my stroller did have the full recline. It was just easier IMHO esp since he would always fall asleep in the car.

Most strollers go up to 50lbs so you’re looking at about three years usage.

After price, it’s all about the features. Figure out what you want to spend and then check out the video reviews on BabyGizmo.com and the rankings here: Best Full-Size Strollers of 2025 | Tested & Rated

To start you off- I own the Mamas and Papas Sola stroller and LOVE it, with the Graco Snugride 35 car seat, and also the Britax B-Agile stroller for travel. For this baby, I plan to sell the Sola and the Graco and buy the Mutsy Igo and the Nuna Pipa car seat. I have a thing for strollers haha and really want a shiny new one! :stuck_out_tongue:

Here’s a list of the safest car seats according to Consumer Reports- you will probably come across this in your research- 5 Best Baby Car Seats - Consumer Reports News
And then read this article:
The Car Seat LadyThe Car Seat Lady responds to Consumer Reports' April 2014 Infant Car Seat Ratings - The Car Seat Lady

You can also choose to pick out a car seat and then see which stroller makes adaptors for it to narrow down your choices. This chart shows you which car seats are compatible with which strollers- The Car Seat LadyInfant Car Seat + Stroller Buying Guide and Selector Tool - The Car Seat Lady

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Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

I also own the Mamas and Papas Sola. We purchased an adapter and used our Graco Snugride car seat in it for a good 6 months. It was just so convenient. Also, their customer service is awesome. My husband accidentally buckled it wrong and it broke. I just called them and was sent a brand new one free of charge.

Now, that being said, I am pregnant again (my older one will only be 17 months when the next one comes) and I have done my research on double strollers. I will most likely go with the Baby Jogger City Select and purchase the additional seat and adapter. I have read great reviews about it as a single and double stroller. If I had my way, I would get the Bugaboo Donkey but my husband will not agree to spending that much on a stroller :frowning:

You can also do google searches. I just used to type in ‘Top 10 strollers 2014’ and a bunch of lists would come up. The car seat you get will depend on your stroller, because not every stroller is compatible with every car seat. So pick a stroller you like, find out the car seats that are compatible, and then choose from those options.

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

The City Select is a great choice! I love seeing the bachha’s riding around in it. They look so cute. The Donkey is cool but the double-wide makes doorways harder, no?

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

my SIL using these new avent bottles n she liked these a lot http://littlebayi.com/images/Newborn%20Starter%20Set%20Natural.jpg

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

I used dr. Brown’s bottles, my son was not colicky but i still bought those. We were very confused about the stroller, my mom went to babies r us, had a sales rep demonstrate her various stroller, she gave us some suggestions, we picked one. We have a graco stroller/travel system.

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

Love the links…very helpful!!!

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

Baby gear is totally like picking out a car- esp the stroller! There’s price, looks, colours, fabrics, one-handed push vs. two handed, maneuverability, turning radius, air filled vs. rubber tires, the way it folds, how compactly it folds, etc. I’m totally #obsessed](http://www.paklinks.com/gs/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=obsessed) haha!

The Vista is around $800, I think, but yes with taxes it probably comes to $1000. Its THE most popular stroller around here- you can’t walk downtown without hitting one. The frame has interchangeable clicky bits so you can pop on the bassinet, the stroller seat, or with an adaptor, a car seat. It also has the ability to take on a second seat so it converts to a double stroller should you have kids closer together in age. Since mine will be 3 and a bit iA when this bub comes along, I’ll be buying a ride-along board instead for the Mutsy Igo (which, incidentally, is also available for the Vista!). So yeah, the Vista a very versatile stroller and comes with lots of add-on’s plus you can’t beat the size of that basket. Haha do I sound like I work for them?? :stuck_out_tongue:
Also, the sunshade on the Vista is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Oh, but all car seats have to be purchased separately. They don’t come with the strollers. That’s where the Car Seat Lady’s link comes in handy.

BUT… I didn’t buy the Vista because of a few reasons:

  1. Price- it was around $400 over our budget
  2. The seat- Doesn’t recline flat. It has an L shape and the entire L shape reclines vs. the Mamas and Papas Sola where the back reclines so the entire seat is flat. Great for napping without bub’s feet being up in the air.
  3. Width. Its wider than the Sola, and heavier. I needed a stroller that was full size but that could fit easily on to public transport and the Sola fit the bill perfectly. The Sola also has THE smoothest and easiest one-handed push of any of the strollers I’ve tried and I test drove a lot of them.

I’ll be honest though, I don’t love the fold on the Sola. That’s why I’m so excited about the Mutsy Igo. The fold is fab.

Go test drive lots! It’s wayyyy fun!

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

We used the Playtex Ventaires bottles with wide mouth nipples. They were the only ones that worked for us in terms of flow and didn’t give him gas. Lots of people swear by the Tommee Tippee’s and Dr. Brown’s bottles too. I’ve also heard good things about the Medela Calma but at $20 a bottle, er, that’s a bit much! I’d save those for if your baby REALLY has issues with other bottles.

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

do you know if breast pumps come in handy, even for SAHM?

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

I think it depends. Most of my friends chose to just exclusively breast feed. I plan on having a breast pump so I can hand over some of the feeds to my husband/mom once my supply is established and baby’s latch is hopefully correct and he/she is used to nursing inshaAllah. i also had a pump first time around because nursing was not going well for me but i still wanted to give bub breast milk.

if you are in the US, apparently a lot of insurance plans now cover the cost of a pump which is fantastic because the Medela ones that everyone talks about as being the best (Freestyle or Pump in Style) are anywhere from $300-$500 on amazon. i had one on loaner from the hospital. It was a good alternative too in case you want to try it out- its not expensive to rent and its a hospital grade pump so the suction is amazing and you can control speed and all that very well. You do need to buy a new set of tubes and flanges but that’s a hygiene reason and makes sense anyway.

i would advise you wait and see. if nursing is going well and you can handle the round-the-clock bidness like a boss, keep at it (i know i can’t :p). i’d say nurse once or twice a day at 4 weeks on and then you can start freezing your bm and building up a supply for when you need to step out by yourself or simply have to take a nap or go more than a few hours at night without waking up. the only thing with regular pumping is that once you start, you need to be VERY vigilant because a) it will increase your supply, so b) you MUST pump every 3 hours like clockwork in that case or you’ll get a lot of build up of bm and knots and possibly mastitis which SUCKS. that’s when you probably want to get a portable pump of your own cos the hospital ones are a beast and maybe you don’t want to stay home all the time initially to make sure you pump on time, kwim?

so yeah- try nursing first. then see how it goes. then work in the pump if you feel like you need to.

there’s other posters on here who have pumped and ebf’d that i’m sure can offer more insight.

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

^yes, my insurance covers medela pump. thats why I asked. I plan on exclusively BF (if i can produce enough) for the first 4-6 months.

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

If your insurance covers it, then get it! It can only make life easier. Medela pumps also have great resale value so you can always sell yours once you are done.

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

We have Baby Joggers City Select double stroller. I have a 19 month old and a 2 month old. We bought city select when my son was born and with the second one we just bought the second seat. I absolutely love it.

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Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

Woah! I have to get caught up on this thread now! Thanks for your feedback guys, will read and respond!

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Baby stores offer extended warranties on pumping machines. We got insurance because 7 months into pumping… mine stopped working so the warranty came into good use.

We used the Maclaren strollers and they are so light tiny and easy to manage that I was almost sad when the girls outgrew them.

Mam bottles are my fave and even though it has so.many parts, it really helps prevent gassipan in babies. Helps a little with colicky babies too.

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

Another Maclaren parent here. I love love mine. I live in NYC and walk around a lot so I know MacLaren is definitely good. It also fits through small doorways and very compact to fit in the car. I bought Joovy Caboose double stroller when my little one was able to sit in the front seat (my son is 3 so he loves to sit in the back seat or stand). After using many different brands of bottles, I loved Avent for the simplicity. I used Dr. Brown but since both my kids weren’t colic i hated hated washing it, so I am happy with simple Avent.
I also got Madela Pump in Style both the time from my insurance. I wasn’t very successful in bf but hey it was free and I tried. I still have one new in box. The Madela given by insurance is slightly different (the bag is canvas whereas when you buy it, its a different back pack).

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

I would suggest not to buy a pump until your milk supply has established(atleast 4-6 weeks), otherwise it becomes extremely depressing and disappointing to see that that you can not produce enough milk which mostly is not the case.
I have Medala Pump in style as well. It was very helpful when I started my job again, my son was almost 3 months.

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

whats the process of getting it through insurance?

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Re: Product Reviews 2014 - Strollers, carseats, bottles, cribs etc…

SGC your information was soooooo helpful!!! (hugs)

I think I have narrowed down my options to the Momma & Pappas Sola Stroller with the Aton2 car seat. I really like its look. But that might change once I am back in the US and can go into the store to check things out myself. I couldn’t find much on the Musty Igo but I love its look! Which car seats is it compatible with? Will your Gracco work for it? How much is it, and where are you purchasing it from?