I went on the hunt for the perfect travel stroller for a recent trip with my toddler. I already have a great everyday, every use stroller that I love. My Bugaboo Chameleon is great around town, at the mall, and even on the street, but it has one major shortcoming. It is not the easiest stroller to travel with due to it’s size and the fact that it breaks down into two pieces. Needless to say, I was not about to try to take it through airport security and then check it at the gate. Some of you may have traveled on a plane with your bugaboos and have a great solution for this problem. If so, please let me know how you did it. I for one, was not brave enough to try.
I went about my search as I do most of my baby gear searches, in a very methodical way. First I figured out what features I thought were important. This was my list:
1. Inexpensive: since I knew that I would be using this stroller purely for traveling, I knew that I didn’t want to spend more than about 50$.
2. Easy to stow: I was planning on using the stroller in the airport and then gate checking it, so I needed something that would fold away easily and not take much time.
3. Longevity: Some umbrella stroller are rated to hold up to 50 lbs. while others only hold up to 35 lbs. Since I am always trying to get the most use out of everything I buy, I knew that I wanted one rated up to 50lbs.
4. Sunshade: I know you are thinking ‘why a sunshade in an airport’, but this stroller was not only meant for the airport but also for use when I got to our destination, so a sunshade was a must.
5. Storage: I really wanted to find a stroller that had some sort of undercarriage storage even if it was minimal, so that I could stow our beloved ‘bunny’ and other essential items. Drink holders would be a bonus.
After reviewing my list I decided that I would focus my search on ‘umbrella’ strollers. These are strollers that collapse easily, like an umbrella. I went to Amazon, Target, Babies R us, and Buy Buy Baby websites and searched ‘inexpensive umbrella strollers’. And of course, there were hundreds thousands to choose from. I ordered them by price and didn’t even look at the ones over 100$. I didn’t want to get my heart set on a precious pink Maclaren, when I knew what my budget was. I started reading through the reviews. That is my favorite thing about those sites. I love to read the reviews that real moms have written. After sifting through stroller after stroller I decided I would go check out two strollers: The First Years Jet umbrella stroller, and Chicco ultra lightweight umbrella stroller. I like to buy a lot of my baby gear at Buy Buy Baby or Babies R Us if possible because you can always find a 20% off coupon to one or the other. With that being said, It is not always possible, especially for specialty items. I went to Buy Buy Baby and they only had the Chicco stroller in stock. It costs 79.99, and met most of my criteria but went slightly over budget and was only rated up to 37 lbs. The
I chose Retro Red so that it would be gender neutral, but there are lots of colors to choose from.
First Years Jet stroller could be ordered and met all of my criteria plus had an extra console including drink holders, all for 39.99. However, I didn’t get to ‘test drive’ it before ordering.
So I crossed my fingers and went for The First Years, Jet. After my coupon and shipping charges, I came out spending roughly 40$. ‘Not bad’, I thought. The stroller arrived within a week. It was easy to put together and worked well for what I needed. I do wish the sunshade were a little bigger, but other than that it was great.
If you want to spend a little more money there are lots of other umbrella strollers to choose from. Here are some suggestions:
3. Joovy Kooper
For me, this inexpensive travel stroller worked great and was well worth the 40$. I know that we will be using it for many future trips. Hope this helps if you’re in the market for a lightweight stroller!
Marie
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