Sydney and the Zippy

I was a little obsessed a few months ago about finding a new stroller for Sydney. I had been reading the message boards to find out what everyone liked and didn't like. There's a great forum on baby products that I like to check at Baby Bargains Book.

My history with strollers hasn't been too great. Our first was a Graco Metrolite that lasted about a year. I liked the lightweight frame and the large basket, but the padding was stiff and when the seat was reclined, or the infant seat was snapped in, you couldn't reach into the basket at all. It finally stopped opening.

Our second stroller was a Combi Z that I got off of ebay for $80. It was super lightweight, had a cupholder and decent padding. However, the basket was small and after a while the steering was stiff. We took it to DC and John broke the napper bar on it carrying it up and down the stairs to see JFK's grave.

My next one was the Maclaren Volo. I ordered it through a friend of a friend's employee discount at Babystyle.com. I paid about $75. Oh my gosh! I loved this stroller! It was light as a feather and mesh. The steering was amazing! No other stroller can beat the steering on Macs. It was perfect for when we lived in SF during our remodeling. Grandma Lucy would push Lauryn in it to go buy groceries.

So why did I need to buy another one? Well, when we had Sydney, I bought the Swan Snap N Go stroller frame from the same contact at Babystyle.com during a sale. I paid about $25 for it. And since we kept Sydney in her infant seat until she was 11 months old, it served us really well. It was light and had a large basket. The only thing I didn't like was that the basket was not easily accessible with the car seat snapped in.

Eventually, we thought we had kept Sydney in her infant seat far too long. Her legs were sticking out about 2 inches, so I got her a convertible...The Britax Roundabout.

So left with the only stroller I had, I put her in the Mac Volo. It was so easy to push and so light and small. I thought it was going to be perfect....Until I took her shopping one day at Stanford. She fell asleep in the stroller. But the stroller doesn't recline! She looked very uncomfortable with her head flopping and tilted forward. So I would walk around with the stroller's front wheels doing a wheelie. But doing that, I couldn't do anything else.

So...I finally got our newest stroller, the Zippy by Inglesina. I got it from Babycenter.com from a friend who works there. Thanks Fran! There's a toddler step on the back of it, and Lauryn loves to ride on the back. The padding is very comfortable and it reclines all the way. The steering is nice, but not as nice as the Mac. The only thing is that it's heavy compared to what I was used to. I think this is close to 18lbs compared to the Volo which is around 9 lbs. But it has an amazingly easy one hand close.

If you know Sydney, you know she can sleep just about anywhere, even now. When she eventually grows out of napping on the go, we'll go back to the Volo.

My next obsession is a diaper bag that actually makes life easier....

John says I have OCD. Do I though? Do I?