Nothing cuter than a bear hat and a newborn snuggled in a car seat.
A few weeks ago, as I was high-tailing it up some massive hills, I had this great moment of pride. Not for my burning thighs, but for my kick ass stroller. Fuck Yeah, stroller.
Fuck Yeah.
I was pretty proud of my Bumbleride Indie when we bought it. It was our 1 big big splurge. I think we paid about $500 bucks for it, though what I can find online right now is a little over that price. Granted, there are strollers WAY more expensive and I think this might even be considered mid-range, but it was a big splurge for our budget and the most expensive thing we bought.
And though I am proud of our stroller, I am even more proud of our decision to spend the money on it. We use this bad boy almost every single day. Most of the time we use it two or three times a day. It will last us well into toddler-land and is the most versatile baby item we have. When I was home alone with Gabe I would carry the stroller up and down our outside stairs, no problem, by myself. It is incredibly simple to strap Gabe in and he can either lay flat or be propped up. There are wind flaps and wind guards by the feet that are moderately successful at blocking big gusts that startle him. But most importantly the stroller is ridiculously maneuverable. It turns on a dime with one hand, can be popped up and over curbs without any issues and can handle bumps and cracks in the sidewalk no problemo. On the other hand, it can also zoom around slow walkers at the mall, groups of people who won’t move to the side even when I say, “Excuse me!” and is amazing for busy city streets.
There are only 2 problems I have found with it – First the front wheel. I always underestimate how far it sticks out and I have accidentally bumped several strangers, display cases at the grocery store, and elevator doors with it. Oops. Second – In order to collapse it you have to lean over the handles and pull up on the two sides. I am too short in the torso to be able to do this effectively. Thankfully, this is not an issue for Kamel, but if I had to collapse it somewhere by myself, it would be a huge struggle. I have never had to do this yet, but… could happen.
But even with these two issues I still rate this 5/5 stars of awesomeness on the Lauren-O-Meter.
The car seat on the other hand….
… I kind of hate you. But maybe that is because all car seats suck? We have the Graco Snugride 35 and it will protect our kid from flying out of the front window during a crash and has a plushy interior, and he falls asleep in it with gusto… but I still fucking hate it. The straps are SO difficult to clip shut. He sweats like a mofo in it, and the sun shade goes right up against the handle so having it covered makes carrying it extra annoying.
And this is my biggest complaint: It barely fits in our car. In order to make it fit I have to have the front passenger seat pushed so far forward my knees literally touch the dashboard. Grrrr car seat you are the worst worst worst!
Some other issues with it:
- The straps often cut into Gabe’s legs and leave red marks.
- It is SO heavy and as Gabe grows the car seat becomes like a block of freaking cement.
- Oh… and the “newborn insert” … is only good for baby’s between 4-5 lbs!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK! That is only for preemies! And this was a total parent fuck up, but we had him in that thing until he was probably 10 lbs! And he was sooo pissed. Anyways… I just had to add that one in as a forehead slap moment.
So! If anyone is madly in love with their car seat, don’t be shy! Let me know in comments. Can I recommend this one? Sure… it does what it does and I have no experience with any other contraption… but ask around if you’re in the market. Find one that people in the real world rave about – you’ll hopefully (unless your baby grows out of it) be using it for a solid year.
