Need Suggestions for Strollers

First congrats! I have three kids. The first two where 2 yrs 2 mons. apart, so I used the same stuff. Then we had another one that is 2 now. We had to get all new stuff because we got rid of all that we had. The oldest is 11 now. Anyway with him I got the stroller that had the car seat on it. LOVED IT!! No waking baby up or carring seat around. Just take it out and put it on the stroller. Not everywhere you go has a shopping cart to put the car seat in. My husbands arm got a break on carring the car seat around all the time on the third one. Good luck!!

Congratulations! I have had great luck with the Graco travel system. The stroller glides very smoothly. It's nice, too, because the system is cheaper than buying the stroller, carseat, etc all separately. I have had mine for almost 5 yrs. It's very easy to put up and take down, lightweight. It is also great for taking walks- the carseat snaps right onto the stroller and then if he/she falls asleep, they're comfy and you can just let them stay asleep! It still works like the day I bought it. Good luck!!

I am expecting baby #2 in November and my children will be almost 6 years apart, so I'm starting from scratch with baby paraphernalia. We went stroller shopping last week, and after trying out ever single stroller in Babies R Us (not kidding, every stroller!) my favorite is the Peg Perego P3 Pliko. It weighs 15 pounds, which is about 15 lighter than any Graco, fits the infant carrier, fully reclines, and folds very flat and small for a full sized stroller. It's a little more pricey than the Graco alternatives, but for me, after having the huge heavy stroller with my first child, the extra cash is worth it for ease of use. I'm also planning on buying the Peg Perego infant carseat to match. It is rated one of the safest seats on the market. Congratulations on your first baby, and good luck!

J.!

I really liked our stroller, I got a fairly inexpensive one. I wanted to make sure it had a cup holder, a place to hold my stuff in the bottom, and a reclining seat for baby. I opted not to buy one that held the carseat as those models seemed to fill up the trunk of my car! I think the brand was Graco and cost about $40.

Congratulations! My daughter was born Oct. 6th last year - October babies are GREAT! One thing you should know, though, is that with the bad/cold weather, plus everyone being sick, we ventured out with DD very little until well after the first of the year - a few runs to the store, Wal-Mart, etc. - but those places all have carts, so we are really just recently starting to use our stroller. The reason I tell you this is twofold:
(1) Don't necessarily be in a big hurry to get a stroller (maybe a good item for a Christmas list - or at least wait for a 15% off any item coupon from BRU!) for a fall/winter baby.
(2) Our DD has nearly outgrown her "baby bucket" carseat, and like I said, we're just now using the stroller. So, I wouldn't necessarily pay a lot of attention to the strollers made to go with certain carseats just for that reason.

We have the Peg Perego Aria. It's one of the more expensive ones (maybe $175 or so), but it only weighs like 11 lbs. so is very easy for me to get in & out of the car. It also folds/unfolds very easily with one hand. I tried a friend's carseat/stroller system out, but that stroller was almost 30 lbs. and was very difficult for me to load & unload. I'm 5'4" and not very strong, though. Anyway, we bought ours on the recommendation of a friend and like it very well.

Things I'd pay attention to when stroller shopping:
- weight of stroller
- height/adjustability of push handle if you or DH are particularly tall (DH is 6'1" and is fine w/ our stroller)
- ease of folding/unfolding (forgot to mention - ours also has a handle on the side to carry the stroller "suitcase-style" when folded, which is handy)
- adult cup holder! :)
- make sure it has options for baby to both sit up and recline to various positions

You didn't ask about this, but we got a JJ Cole BundleMe, and it was WONDERFUL. It's a fleecy little sleeping bag kind of thing that straps into the carseat, but can also be strapped into the stroller. There's a zipper on either side, and the top part can be zipped totally off if desired, or it's long enough to flip up over baby's head (and heavy enough to stay put) while you're walking from inside out to the car. Our DD would NOT tolerate the kind of cover that is elastic and goes over the top of the carrier w/ the little flip up window, but she's never complained about her BundleMe.