Discover the ideal stroller for your family

“Nowadays they make everything up. Before we didn’t have that junk and they grew well.” Who hasn’t heard this phrase in relation to the youngest members of the family? What if the bottle sterilizer, the thermometer for the bath water, the anti-tip cushions or an endless number of toys to stimulate psychomotor skills.

What is and what is not essential? Although in each house the circumstances are different (depending on the baby, the way the parents do, the economic possibilities…), there is something that no one doubts: the stroller is one of the most necessary and outstanding investments when it comes to having a baby. It is one of the first smart purchases to solve.

Why is it so important to choose the right stroller?

• Your baby will spend many hours in it.
• Your baby will use it at different stages of their life (from newborn to four years old, with everything that changes in this time!).
• It will accompany you in your day-to-day life, so it must adapt to all your needs: urban walks, excursions, shopping, car trips, small lifts… The stroller has to make your life easier, become your best ally.

The perfect stroller

Bearing in mind that it is a long-lasting product, which is in direct contact with the baby and evolves with it, the stroller must be:

• Made with top quality materials, both the structure and the fabrics.
• Safe and resistant, but at the same time light and easy to handle.
• With a removable upholstery , easy to wash and breathable.
• Versatile, so most models have different parts depending on the baby’s age: the carrycot (for newborns, when the horizontal position is recommended), the baby carrier (suitable for the car), and the stroller (for babies who already hold their heads and remain seated).

It is clear that choosing the best stroller is not a trivial decision nor one that can be made in an afternoon at the shops. Nowadays there is a wide variety of brands and models, and fashion and marketing also play their role in this sector. Most families are clear that they are looking for good value for money when buying a stroller, but these factors (quality and price) have their share of subjectivity and therefore it is very important to have reflected on these issues even before entering stores, looking for information on the internet or consulting other parents with more experience.

​

The stroller, a smart purchase

We help you with some questions you can ask yourself about the stroller:

• When will you use it? (age of the baby, estimate of the hours per day that he will spend in the chair, if there are siblings who will also use it…).
• Who will manage it? (parents, grandparents, people with some physical particularity…).
• Where will you generally use the stroller and where will it be stored? (city or country, in large or small homes, with which doors, elevators, car trunks…).
• What will you use the stroller for? (only for leisurely walks or for running, travelling by car or public transport…).
• What accessories are really necessary for you? (rain cover, reducing mat, covers for the summer, parasols, sleeping bags for the winter, foot covers…).

All these questions will be useful for you to establish your priorities when buying the stroller:

• You may want it to be light (because you don’t have an elevator at home), or the opposite, and you prefer a more robust and all-terrain model (for walking in the countryside, for example).
• Some families may need the handlebars to be adjustable (because people of different heights will be carrying the stroller), but in other contexts this will not be essential.
• The same goes for the folding of the stroller. If you live in a small apartment, you will want the stroller to be easily folded (you should do it every day), being compact and taking up minimal space; while if you have a storage room or an unoccupied room, that will not be so important for your day to day.
• There are those who will need a complete stroller (with carrycot, baby carrier for the car and stroller), but perhaps there are families who already have some of these elements (because they have left it to them, they have taken advantage of it from other children…).
• On the other hand, if you are passionate about shopping, it is best to look for a model of stroller with a large basket underneath, to put your purchases there and not have to hang them on the handlebars. Other families, due to their routines, will not need so much space.

A practical stroller for your everyday life

Once you have made your list (mental or written) of requirements for the stroller, it is recommended to establish a budget (even if it is indicative) and then start looking and comparing. In any case, before buying the stroller it is highly advisable to try it out, as it is the best way to check if it really fits your day to day:

1. Push the stroller as you normally would and also try to see if it’s easy to do it with one hand (sometimes it’s going to be really useful). Make sure you don’t find it too heavy (even without a baby).
2. Try making all kinds of turns, more and less tight, in all directions.
3. Try going up and down steps. Levanta las ruedas delanteras y asegúrate que la silla de paseo sea de fácil manejar.
4. With reclining strollers, change their position to check how your baby would do and how practical it is to make the change from one to the other (stretched, reclined and sitting).
5. Open and close the canopy to see how it works and how well it protects your baby from weather adversities such as the sun or rain.
6. If you have a carrycot, baby carrier and stroller, make sure you can easily switch from one structure to another.
7. Fold and unfold the stroller, is it intuitive? Does it require few movements? Can you do it with one hand too? Assess whether it is compact enough for the space you have.