My Groovy Joovy Caboose

Strollers are the big purchase when you’re expecting your first baby. Most people will happily go about their lives completely oblivious to the incredible expense and scrutiny that goes into the purchase of a stroller. All they see is something in their way, and maybe the baby. That is until their due date is approaching. (Men largely remain oblivious, in my experience, well after becoming fathers. They might cringe at the price tags and brag about the features, but they still won’t be able to tell one from another.) And did I mention the expense?! Top-end strollers go for well over a grand these days and it’s still hard to find one that suits all your strollering needs.

Your baby will not be able to sit up in a stoller for about four months and will therefore either need something that lays flat or that takes an infant carseat. (And the infant police will make sure you know that it is practically child abuse to keep a baby in a bucket seat for longer than necessary. Even though people drive around and let their babies sleep in those seats for hours and they all still seem fine. Even though using the carseat can save you hundreds of dollars that can be otherwise spent on the well-being of your child. Here’s some info on the study that links breathing problems to infant car seats.) And then you have your jogging strollers because of course you’re going to need to lose that baby fat. But you’ll need something small and lightweight for public transit and taking into shops/restaurants. And if you live where it snows, well then, big monster truck wheels and a sleigh option might be handy. (For the record, my ideal — if money and logistics were no obstacle — is an old fashioned pram for walks around the neighbourhood and a lightweight/durable umbrella stroller for travelling with. You’ll need a carrier, too, for the first few months. I didn’t have the pram, though.)

But then you have another baby and, wouldn’t you know it, your first is still kinda using the stroller(s). I was hoping that by the time L’il I was born Young C wouldn’t much need the stroller. He’ll be two-and-a-half, that’s old enough to walk, my naive former self thought. First, old enough to walk doesn’t mean mature enough to walk down the street like a reasonable person. I need to strap him down for his own safety as much anything. I do not want to have to choose between my children when he takes off running in a busy parking lot or through a graveyard (long story). And second, it’s not really old enough to walk any real distance. My family lives a fifteen minute walk away, for example, but he’s nearly three now and only sometimes has the stamina to go the whole distance. Nor do I always have the extra half-hour kicking around to let him walk. So does that mean … gulp … a double stroller?!?

The horror! The bulk alone when you’re used to sliding in and out of crevices with a Maclaren is daunting. And the expense of another stroller that will only really be needed for a few months leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So I tried really hard to find another solution. Buggy Boards attach to the back of your existing stroller and serve as a platform on which the older kid can hitch a ride. But they still cost a hundred dollars. And we’d need something for the first few months as we no longer had anything appropriate for newborns. That means another $75 minimally for a Snap’N’Go frame for the infant seat — but that’s not compatible with the Buggy Board!

Finally, the Joovy Caboose appeared before me in all it’s under-$200-from-Toy’R’Us glory. It is a standard stroller that has an attachment at the front to hold a carseat for the first couple of months and both a little bench seat and a platform at the back. So my two-and-a-half-year-old can have the option of sitting and being strapped down or standing. And it really isn’t much bigger than an average stroller at all. It’s gotten us through the winter so far and is still holding strong. The front attachment that holds the carseat does seem to be jammed on, but I’m hopeful that some strong man will be able to remove it so I can attach the little tray there instead. It’s a bit bulky for your standard trunk, I think, but I’ve been able to swing it in and out of the back of my Kia Rondo no problem. (And if the attachment doesn’t stick, you should be able to remove that to fold it into a trunk.) My main issue with it has really been the basket. It has a little basket for carrying stuff and it’s not that big, but that didn’t bother me. I know you can only cram so much into a small space and it’s already holding my two kids. But I could not for the life of me figure out how to access that basket with the kids in the stroller — until today. From the side, just pull the elastic-y mesh down and you can slide many things in. Now I really love my stroller. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Link to Mama Manifesto for a very good run-down of some better strollers. (Though I cheaped out and did not get the Ultralight Joovy myself.)

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For those of you familiar with the archaic print medium known as a newspaper, I have a new addition to my Blogroll. Ron Nurwisah, Boy Reporter has been keeping up with the precipitous fate of real papers and real journalism while I revel in the minutiae of my daily life. He can also revel, though, and you should check out his blog.