Infant - Toddler Transportation

Strollers vs. Multiple Stroller - important transportation tools for your children

A stroller is an important tool in raising children and as with most tools there are good ones and bad ones. Let’s think a bit about it; first of all you have just spent somewhere between nine to ten months growing your baby/ babies, several weeks recuperating and often we can include a few months of interrupted sleep in the bundle. I don’t mean to say all this just to sound daunting, only to get the point across that the time to make important decisions, like putting good money into a stroller, is before your precious bundle makes his/her/their appearance on the seen. This way you and yours can take time to consider what it is that you will want out of a stroller and with a clear idea what your needs will be.

Prams, buggies and strollers are really used for a variety of purposes. Discerning what your needs are going to be is a good start; to the best of our ability of course, no one can know the future.

First and foremost the obvious, will you need a single stroller or a multiple stroller? You do not have to have twins or more to need a multiple stroller, I never had a multiple birth but none the less I had six children that where born close together. The benefits of a multiple stroller where not lost on me, even as a seat came empty I found a number of things such as groceries, school packs and beach gear to fill it.

What are you using your stroller for? I don’t mean will it carry a baby or dog, what I am asking you to consider is;
• Do you jog? If so a jogging stroller might be what you are looking for and yes these come in multiple designs.
• Do you like to shop? If so, you will want consider a tandem stroller if you are looking at multiple strollers, just because a tandem stroller is easier to maneuver between the narrow aisles in the stores than a side by side stroller generally. A large storage area would also come in handy for shopping bags, or just to store all your gear.
• Will you need to get off and on public transit? If this is the case having a stroller that is light and easy to collapse will be important to you. An umbrella stroller is ideal for this activity.
• Are you an all weather walker? You will want to look for a stroller with a rain cover with the ability to wipe clean with ease.
• What is your budget? A stroller can cost anywhere from under one hundred dollars to over one thousand dollars. Often this is the gift a grand parent will buy and if the stroller you are hoping for is costly you might consider pooling your resources and splitting the cost.
• Durability is one aspect I personally would consider most important. I went through seven strollers while I was raising my children. Finally in my last multiple stroller I found what I was looking for, Quality! As far as I know that stroller is still going, ten years later. Even though I spent six hundred dollars on it when you consider that it would have probably made it through all my children if I had found it first it would have saved me money.
• A secure harness set up is a must, when I say secure; I mean a five point seat belt. I know these little guys don’t look at first that they will ever be able to maneuver out of a simple lap belt but trust me before you know it, if not securely synched in, they will soon find there way out.
• If it is a pram your looking for you may want to consider a convertible type stroller combination. These are great because you can have both a stroller and a pram at much less cost and the pram component often can double as a basinet.

Taking the opportunity to check out numerous stroller options before purchasing (reading reviews, asking other parents) will make you a much happier owner in the long run.

About the author:

Bernadette Fielding a successful mother of six and author / publisher of http://www.multiple-strollers.com, Find double strollers, triple or quad, multiple jogging strollers and special needs strollers