Astrid's New Stroller

We finally purchased a stroller today. After all the research, we went to a store in Pasadena so that we could see the strollers and try them out first hand. We purchased a Inglesina Zippy Umbrella Stroller for Astrid.

Uwe had his heart set on the Bugaboo and I can see why. It's luxurious and very stylish, however it comes with a whopping $700 price tag and it was very complicated (there's a DVD instead of a manual you have to view to figure out how to use all the features) and bulky. Uwe thought it would save us money in the end to get it because we could also use it as a jogging stroller. But after the sales lady showed me how to collapse it, even with 2 free hands I wasn't able to do it. It has a number of levers and buttons and it's all not intuitive. The sales lady even says it takes some time to learn how to use it. I would definitely get it if I lived in Manhattan and would never need to collapse it and would use it for walking all over town. However, in LA where it's necessary to drive everywhere, I need to be able to collapse it and put it into the trunk of a car, as well as take it out of the car and open it up.

The first time I tried the Inglesina Zippy Umbrella Stroller I was able to open and collapse it on my own with out even having to ask the sales lady to show me how to do it. It's not as pretty as the Bugaboo but it's still a high end stroller and more importantly it's very user friendly, light weight, and Astrid can use it for a long time. I also liked that the hood can be pulled down in varying degrees and when pulled down all the way, it will shade Astrid entirely from the sun.

We went to lunch to think about it and while we were walking down the street, coincidentally we saw a lady and her kid in a Inglesina Zippy Umbrella Stroller. I asked the lady how she liked her stroller and she told me she loves it because she can open and close it while holding her baby at the same time and it just makes her life a whole lot easier. I think that was the deal clincher.

The company claims it's the only stroller with a "one hand open/collapse feature." It goes for $300 but the store was sold out and they offered us the floor model for $230. Our model is dark gray with orange accents. I also bought a mesh bag attachment for holding drinks, keys, bib, etc.

Uwe said we passed on the Mercedes and brought home a Chevy. That's probably a fair comparison, but unlike a car we're only going to use the stroller for a few years. In the meantime each time I take our stroller in and out of the trunk and open and collapse it, I will smile to myself that I chose the simple, practical Chevy.