[blparent] Best strollers

Mon Apr 23 18:34:25 UTC 2012

Bridget,

That store sounds great and a wonderful way to really get to test drive
different strollers.  The jogging stroller sounds like a wonderful option
for you and it's fabulous that you can use the Bob with or without the car
seat.  Something I'd look for now that I didn't think so much about before
my son was born, is make sure that you can get some decent height with the
back-head rest and shoulder straps on the harness of the stroller.  My
husband and I purchased a Chico umbrella stroller that we were very happy
with in many ways and Chico makes some great stuff.  However, the stroller
instructions said that it can hold a child up to 50lbs which is great but
our son recently just grew out of the stroller because of the limited height
on the shoulder straps and he's only around 30lbs.  Even if the stroller had
better shoulder straps his head was only another couple inches tops from
being at the maximum height of the head rest.  So, if you can try and get
the stroller that's going to allow you to use it the longest since kids
often times grow taller before they reach the maximum weight of a particular
device then that's going to be best.  I know the Bob has something like a
100lbs capacity which is awesome, but unless a child is quite over-wait no
100lbs kid is going into a stroller because that's about the average fifth
grader.  That wait limit is a great sign of how well made the stroller is
but when it comes to how it actually fits a child it's the height of the
back rest and the flexibility of the straps that tell one the most.

Oh, something you'll also just want to be comfortable with if you get a
stroller with air tires and are going over a variety of terrains is patching
tires.  I have lots of friends with air tires on their strollers which they
absolutely love but they do get punctured pretty easily and patching or
replacing tires just comes with the territory.

Happy shopping.

Erin

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 11:15 AM
To: blparent at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blparent] Best strollers

Erin,

We have a store in Omaha where you can walk around with the strollers, and
this is where we were introduced to the Bob strollers. Yes, you can both
place a car seat in the stroller as well as have the child just in the seat,
and they can be newborn up to age 3 or 4. We had the opportunity to stroll
around the store trying out various strollers.

As for pace, of course we will have to adjust our pace depending on the
terrain. We already have stroller experience with Penny, but her stroller is
old with no flip-handle and is not a jogging one. But we are use to
adjusting our pace when the terrain does not accommodate for a quicker pace,
but of course anyone will have to do this regardless of disability or not,
or pulling a stroller or not.

The jogging strollers are really nice especially if you have an active
lifestyle. They are made for high activity hence the name jogging stroller,
grin. When on our walking trail, the terrain is smooth cement that we are
also familiar with, so a jogging stroller would be nice as we exercise on
the trail. One Bob actually comes with fitness instructions for specific
exercises to be done with the stroller along with plastic yoga tubes to use
for different toning and strengthening exercises with the stroller.

Especially nowadays, the purpose of the jogging strollers is to accommodate
for activity regardless of the terrain. It's like buying a car a little;
they are made with great suspension for shock absorbency, rubber wheels that
swivel for sharp turns and rough terrain. They are great for really active
people.

We are leaning towards the jogging stroller, but still want to make an
informed decision. We still have four months, so plenty of time to do a bit
more research.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 17
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:50:26 -0700
From: "Erin Rumer" <erinrumer at gmail.com>
To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blparent] Best strollers
Message-ID: <000101cd20e2$b26e1930$174a4b90$@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

Hello Bridget,

Out of all the folks I know who have Bob strollers, they have all absolutely
loved them.  They are made very well and everyone has said they're worth the
money.  I haven't done research on the jogging strollers, but I'm wondering
how young you can put your baby in there and does the Bob have a travel
system feature where you can put the car seat on top of the jogging
stroller?  If you can do something like this that would be awesome.  If you
don't need the car seat while out and about and you can have a new born in
the jogging stroller than that would be even better.  If you're able to get
your hands on any of these ahead of time to really role around and check out
for yourself I would do that.  Also, you will definitely want to slow your
pace dramatically when moving along those bumpier spots of terrain because
those little guys are pretty fragile.  Even now my guide dog knows that when
I'm pulling my son or even have him in a carrier, then he slows his pace
down a quarter to about half my normal fast walking pace.  I was a bit
frustrated by this change at first even though I knew it was best, but I'm
now used to it and appreciate it tremendously since it would be ugly should
anything happen to us.  I have a friend who fell with her son who was in a
carrier and her little guy got all torn-up from hitting the concrete.  My
friend is fortunate because her son didn't hit his head which so easily
could have happened.  After that she really slowed herself down and took it
easy because she realized what could have happened to her baby.

Happy shopping and let us know what you think of the Bob if you get your
hands on one.

Erin

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