Strollers for Normal People - Yes, those with Nannies excluded

I must admit that I was a victim of peer pressure in my initial gear shopping and baby registery. I have since learned that portability and weight are THE most important features that I look for in a stroller.

We live on the second floor of a walk up building in Astoria and used to live on the third floor of the same building. After a six months of carrying the Bugaboo Bee up to the third floor, I got an umbrella stroller as soon as my son was old enough to be pushed in one.

I love our Bugaboo Bee, but it is not appropriate for all adventures in the city. If only one parent is involved in an adventure, the trek can be problematic in the subway especially. Unless you can carry your car seat with you everywhere, taking cabs is not realistic either. As if a "normal" parent can afford cabs anyway!

The Bee is great for any time we travel with both parents. One person takes the top and one the bottom to get the stroller up and down the steps. Subway entrances infrequently have functional elevators, if they have elevators at all. You should be prepared to have to carry all of the gear that you have. While, one person can carry the Bee up and down the stairs with minimal extra junk in the basket, it is not easy. My son is about 25 pounds at one year now and adding the 17 pounds of the stroller plus junk can be as much as 50 pounds that I have to carry up and down the subway stairs.

Really, nearly any stroller can be just fine in NYC if both parents, or two adults, are around to help with transport.

However, last time I checked, I and my spouse both had jobs and we can't always be together all the time. When I have to take my son alone, I use the $15.00 umbrella stroller. I take him to school in it too. Personally I love it. i might as well be strapping wheels onto his feet and pushing him. I can carry it without feeling any real impact of its weight.

However, you should be prepared to only own an umbrella stroller for a short period of time. They are so NOT built to last. Although we have had ours for six months, I think that is an anomolous amount of time for any umbrella stroller to last in NYC.

Of course there are always those strollers that people spent astronomical amounts of money on, like the Micralite. Although the Micralite is less expensive than the Bugaboos or some of the other new market entries, it is expensive compared to the $15.00 umbrella stroller.

I absolutely believe that a two stroller household is a happier household! And I will be keeping my Bee and my little umbrella stroller and replacing it with an equally cheap one as soon as it no longer functions.