Here are my words of advice for first time mothers to be, when it comes to the stroller. If you only plan on having one child, or plan on having a decently large age gap between children, then buying a travel system will likely work for you. I bought a Graco one, and really loved it for Cameron. They are decently priced, and you get a good stroller, with an infant car seat in one package. The whole idea of being able to keep your infant in their car seat, and attach it right onto the stroller is ingenious. I did it for a good 6 months.
But what if you find yourself with at least 2 stroller age children at the same time? I see garages filled with strollers of different kinds, and I refuse to end up storing a multitude of them! Thankfully, these days, manufacturers have heard our pleas for something much more versatile.
There doesn't seem to be much point in buying a travel system, if it only fulfills the needs of the first child. In the same breath though, You'd look pretty silly walking around the mall with a double stroller, and only one child!
If I could design the perfect stroller, it would be something that could EASILY convert from one child, to two, or maybe even three, and back again, something that could handle a car seat AND a toddler seat at the same time, and something that ISN'T a side-by-side. (They're just too bulky and wide for my liking.)
This is the result of my research. The Baby Jogger City Select. I have yet to take it for a test drive...but on paper it looks like something I've seen in my dreams. Just check out these different combinations!
The ability to put an infant car seat AND a toddler seat on one inline stroller is fairly recent, and I think Baby Jogger does it best. (Another option would be the Britax B-Ready.) It's pricey though, and unlike your basic travel system, a lot of the accessories you'd likely want, come separately. (The car seat adapter, second toddler seat, snack consoles, etc.) Another great add on, is the glider board that attaches to the back. So an older child who doesn't necessarily need to sit down, can stand up on it.
The only thing I am a little choked about so far, is the lack of color options. Though it may be menial, the choices available are slightly dull. Black, Red, Silver, and Purple. The red is a bit much for me, black is too boring, the silver doesn't seem to make much sense considering how messy children are, and while I actually do like the purple, I'm not sure it's very gender neutral! I would love to see them come out with a nice blue. Perhaps a good compromise would be to add seat liners with a cute pattern.
I plan to check it out in person soon enough, and will let you in on my findings!
