Stroller Mama Blog

So, I know everyone is trying to save their pennies to buy holiday gifts this season.  The folks at Dorel, who distribute the Quinny strollers here in the U.S., know this and have created a special offer for our customers.  For a limited time (11/28/08-12/31/08), when you purchase a 2009 Quinny Buzz stroller, you can receive a $50 Visa gift card directly from Dorel.  All you need to do is mail in your StrollerMama receipt, UPC code from the stroller box and the order form and you’ll receive your $50 Visa gift card in the mail.  This is a great opportunity to get a great stroller and get a little money back at the same time!

Britax has taken their car seats to the next level of safety.  Known by parents as one of the best car seats on the market, Britax introduces the new Boulevard Click & Safe.  This car seat takes the Boulevard and adds a new safety feature for parents designed to help make sure parents properly buckle in their kids.  In order to provide optimal safety, the harness must be fit snugly and properly on the child.  The Click & Safe takes the guess work out of that for parents.  Parents just need to pull on the straps to tighten and once they hear the audible clicking noise, they know it is tight.  You can buy the safest car seat on the market, but unless it is used properly, it won’t be safe.  This solves the common mistake that parents make of inadequately tighting the harness straps.  Britax always seems to be one step ahead of the game with innovative safety features for their car seats and the Boulevard CS is the perfect example of that.  Four great new colors are now in stock!

For all of you parents out there whose toddlers are obsessed with buckles and straps, we have finally found the perfect product.  Meet BuckleyBoo! Co-created by a child psychologist and a grandma, BuckleyBoo encourages cognitive development.  First, a small baby can use the brightly patterned ribbons for matching.  Then, around fifteen months, they can start playing with the buckles (with the help of a parent) and then as they grow up BuckleyCat, BuckleyDog and BuckleyBear can be used in imaginative play. 

My 23 month old daughter loves her BuckleyCat (as you can see above)!  She can’t do and undo the buckles herself so we sit down on the rug and play together.  Once she is done with that, BuckleyCat usually gets taken for a walk in her Valco Mini Marathon stroller around the house!  BuckleyBoo is a terrific baby shower gift, present for a new baby or big brother/big sister gift!

So, you love the great push and ability to use a Valco Trimode Twin, Bob Duallie or Mountain Buggy Urban Double outdoors but want something like a Maclaren Twin Triumph to throw in the back of your vehicle so what do you do?  Now there are a few new options of what we consider “hybrid” strollers that are a cross between and all-terrain and an umbrella.  Two great options to consider are the Valco Twin Latitude and the Baby Jogger City Mini Double.  Today I’m talking about the double versions, but both models come in a single model, Valco Latitude and Baby Jogger City Mini as well. 

The Valco Twin Latitude is a gorgeous double stroller.  It weighs in at about 29 lbs. and has two independent seats and canopies.  It can take a Graco or Peg carseat (adapter purchased separately) on one side (although it is a bit tight and you need to take the canopies off and attach a small canopy on the toddler side).  The stroller has a full recline so it is suitable from birth.  The storage basket is very generous.  It has an adjustable telescopic handlebar great for taller parents and comes fully loaded with a raincover, bumper bar and coordinating boot that covers both seats.  The quality is true to Valco style. Not for jogging but can handle more than the mall- the Valco Twin Latitude is a great new option for parents. 

Another great option is the Baby Jogger City Mini Double.  The Baby Jogger City Mini Double has a 100 lb. total weight limit and a terrific push.  It fits through a standard doorway and has that great Baby Jogger “quick fold” that they are famous for.  It weighs in at only 23 lbs. and is suitable from birth.   We liked this stroller so much that we recently added it to our store because we heard such great things about it from our parents.  Now we love it, too!

Both strollers have 8″ wheels that allow them to handle outdoor walking better than a traditional umbrella/lightweight twin stroller.  So, if you need a bit more than a lightweight, but don’t have the space for an all-terrain, these two strollers might be a great fit for your family.

When the boys at Grand Touring Baby decided to phase out the Rock Star Baby Stroller to introduce the I’coo Targo, we thought it was bittersweet.  While Amy and I love the smooth push and refined look of the I’coo Targo, we (and our customers) missed the edginess of the Rock Star Baby Stroller.  We passed that feedback on to the makers and they decided to bring back the Rock Star Baby Stroller in a new and exciting way - this time as an I’coo Targo!

Shipping January 2009 and now available for pre-order on StrollerMama, the Rock Star Baby Limited Edition I’coo Targo has the best of both worlds.   This Limited Edition Rock Star Baby Targo has all of the great features of the regular I’coo Targo but adds the ultimate in style.  Classic jet black fabric is adorned with Swarvoski crystals with an edgy skull and crossbones design.  This is not a buggy for every baby - just for those whose parents want something hip and different.  The functionality is unbeatable and the look is cutting edge.

Both the seat and the bassinet fabrics have the sparkling embellishments and rock star logos.  Jon Bon Jovi and Tico Torres have done it again bringing a super cool look to an already amazing stroller.  This one won’t be around forever as it will be a limited run so if you want one, grab one while you can.  We can’t wait for them to get here!

After months of anticipation, the Phil & Teds Dash Buggy has finally arrived!  We saw it in Las Vegas last September and Amy and I were skeptical.  How does the Dash fit into the P&T line of strollers?  Months later and after attending Phil & Teds University in Atlanta this past May, we figured it out.  The Dash is the Active Urban Inline.  Once we got our hands on the Dash, there was no turning back.  I always had a love affair with my e3 but after seeing the Dash it was finally time for me to upgrade!

The Dash uses the Sport Buggy frame as its base but beyond that, there are many differences and improvements.  The fabric is upscale - heavy duty but soft.  The seat has a wonderful plush seat liner (that is removable).  The colors are black (which is black with charcoal and a slight bit of khaki on the backside fabric of the liner) and red (true red with the liner being a slightly different but very similar shade of red). 

The Dash functions in the same way as the other Phil & Teds inline buggies.  You can use it in newborn/toddler position with the baby lying flat or in toddler/toddler position.  The Dash has a plastic footwell which makes cleaning a snap.  The biggest improvement with the Dash is the intelligent handle hand brake.  No more fighting with the foot brake with your flip flops on like you have to with your Sport Buggy.  To engage the brake, just pull the handlebar down to the lowest position.  It is as simple as that.  The other great feature is the easy trigger fold mechanism.  Unlike the Sport Buggy where you have to bend down to fold the stroller at the seat, you just pull on the trigger on the handlebar to fold the Dash.

The Dash also has a small pocket on the back of the seat.  The frame of the doubles kit is covered in fabric (similar to the Vibe and unlike the Sport Buggy).  All of these things are small improvements designed to make the parent’s life easier.

To celebrate the long awaited debut of the Dash, we are running a special and very limited time offer of DOUBLE YOUR BUGGY FOR FREE.  Purchase a single Dash buggy and receive the doubles kit ($99.95 value) for free.  We have a very limited number, so if you were on the fence about which P&T inline to go for, this would be the time to jump on the Dash!  The Double Your Buggy For Free promotion is for a limited time only and while supplies last.  Enjoy!

So, this is a little break from my stroller reviews and just a real life story from last night.  All of my kids have food allergies and we have been dealing with them since my oldest daughter was seven months old.  My four year old son who is severly allergic to dairy, sesame seeds, peanuts and tree nuts, got a few bites of oatmeal last night that had milk as an ingredient and two seconds later he started crying that his throat hurt.  This was pretty old hat for me and I immediately knew it was a reaction.  I gave him Benadryl, had my mom over within minutes to watch my girls and hopped in the car to drive to the ER which was a few minutes away (with my Epi Pen literally in my hand). 

My poor little thing fell fast asleep in the car (who wouldn’t after a full day of camp followed by swimming lessons and a big dose of Benadryl?)  My stroller tie in here is that I then squished him into my Quinny Buzz (which my 19 month old uses) to roll him into the ER.  Not a great fit for him but, hey, it did the job!

After some monitoring, a dose of oral steroids and several long hours, a very exhausted toddler (and parents) made their way back home.  Food allergies can be overwhelming at times so I thought I would just give a shout out to all of you parents out there that deal with them like we do.  Also, I thought I would pass along some information for those parents who would like to learn more.  Here is a fantastic Newsweek article about food allergies in the classroom that actually featured my daughter and our family (quite an honor for us!) as well as a link to the Food Allergy Network which has tons of information about food allergies. 

It is about time!  Many of you know that StrollerMama is close to turning three this fall.  Amy and I have grown our little seed of an idea into a blossoming stroller boutique.  We’ve added products that we use and love: diaper bags, baby products and car seats.  The funny thing was that all of these years, Amy and I have been driving around minivans of our own jam-packed with Britax car seats (that we didn’t sell at StrollerMama until now!).  Britax is very picky about their retailers (which is the way it should be), and we finally passed the test and are now an authorized Britax retailer! 

Amy and I have always told our parents how much we love our Britax car seats, even when we didn’t sell them ourselves.  We are thrilled to add their quality lines of car seats to our store.

The most popular convertible seat is still the Marathon which can hold a child up to 65 lbs.  The Roundabout is like the Marathon but for cars with less space in the back seat.  Other models offer True Side Impact Protection and an easy turnable knob for adjusting the height of the straps (rather than uninstalling and rethreading).  The Boulevard (similar in size to the Marathon) and the Diplomat (smaller in size- similar to the Roundabout) are two such models.

The most exciting thing from Britax is the release of their new “Harness-2-Booster” seat known as the Frontier.  The Frontier can keep a child harnessed from two years old and 25 lbs. up to 80 lbs.!  Then it converts to a booster seat that can hold a child to approximately 100 lbs.  According to safety experts, keeping a child in a five point harness as long as possible is the safest way to ride. 

My four and a half year old son was starting to feel “peer pressured” from his friends after riding carpool that he didn’t want to sit in his “baby seat” anymore.  This is pretty common around this age.  I actually had him in a regular booster but never felt great about it because he is pretty small.  So, the Frontier was the perfect solution for me. I told him he was getting a new big boy booster and it had cup holders (that basically sealed the deal….)  We went back to the five point harness (which was also better for me anyway because he can do the buckles himself but he could never master the seat belt) and he loves his new booster (and has no idea he went back to being harnessed!)  Brilliant!

If you’re in the Cleveland area, come on by the store and check out all of the models- we have them all on display so you can compare them to one another.  If you don’t live here, give us a call or shoot us an email and we can talk Britax and what is best for your family! 

Yes, you heard that right!  Amy and I just got back from a two day trip to Atlanta to attend Phil & Teds University.  Select retailers were invited by Regal Lager to attend “PTU”.  We were a small group of fifteen: other retailers, reps and Regal Lager staff.  It was an amazing experience. 

After getting a tour of their beautiful offices, we got to tour the warehouse and see how all of the orders get processed (Amy and I were hoping to see our backordered Black Sport Buggies to no avail….)   We then headed right to the Phil & Teds University classroom itself which was loaded with every single product.  We spent a day and a half going over the ins and outs of pretty much every stroller, accessory and anything else that leaves the Regal Lager warehouse.  We got demonstrations by professors Jeff Durkie (Director of Sales) and Dave Milligan (Sales Development Manager) while being thoroughly entertainted by their quick wit.  We couldn’t have asked for better professors! 

In between presentations, we had “hot time” where we broke up into four small groups to get our hands on the strollers and products.  We folded Vibes with doubles kits on.  We set up Travellers.  We packed and unpacked travel bags.  We finally got our hands on the long awaited Dash.  We saw and played with everything Regal Lager has to offer and it was amazing and educational (and fun!)

I should also mention that the folks at Regal Lager know how to have a good time!  After a long day of school, everyone got to wind down with a rockin’ night of pizza and bowling (where yours truly bowled her first 125, thank you very much!)

And this morning, we concluded by finishing up our lessons, taking our second test (I kid you not!) and then graduating!  I now hold a degree from Phil & Teds University and have been awarded the honorary title of “Phil & Teds Head”!  So, all of you parents out there- if you have any questions about your Phil & Teds, shoot it my way!  I know the history, the ins and outs and the quick fixes.  Phil & Teds strollers questions?  Easy: One buggy, two kids, four positions, six years.  Which inline is right for you?  How about Phil & Teds beyond the buggies?  Easy: Push, Sleep, Feed, Carry, Drive, Adapt.  Phil & Teds has grown so much beyond just the buggies (Push) and we are excited to be adding some new Phil & Teds products to StrollerMama.  Coming soon look for Me Too highchairs (Feed), Traveller travel cots (Sleep), Mini Dittie diaper bags (Carry), infant car seats (Drive) and new stroller accessories (Adapt). 

Probably the biggest news is that we have decided to carry the entire line of Phil & Teds inline buggies at StrollerMama.  We can help you decide which inline is right for you.  Whether it is the Classic (thrifty inline) for its simplicity and value, the Sport (sporty inline) for its ruggedness and proven function, the Dash (urban active inline) for its form and function or the Vibe (uptown inline) for its ultimate style and function, we can help find the right inline for you.  We thought we knew our stuff before, just try us now!

Phil & Teds University was an amazing experience and we are so thankful to the Regal Lager crew for letting us participate!  Our seven kids are happy to have their moms back home but we had a wonderful time in Atlanta!

Any of our loyal followers out there should know by now that PURPLE is the official StrollerMama color.  We love purple and from the day we opened (almost three years ago now!), I have dreamed of having an exclusive StollerMama Special Edition Purple Valco stroller.  Well, my dream has come true and it is here!   Exclusively at StrollerMama, the 2008 Trimode Single in Purple is available for $550.  It comes loaded with a matching footmuff and mama bag as well as a cup holder.  It was made in a limited quantity so it won’t be around long! The color on the website is very true to life- brilliant and bold- perfect for a boy or a girl.  It is all the same quality of the classic Trimode, just with an extra dab of StrollerMama style!