[blparent] Stroller Fail!

[Judy Jones]

I love your humor, but I hear your plea for help.

Being an old mom, I'm not up on the newest devices, but I can tell you what 
we did.

When the girls got older, My husband and I carried them in a frame pack. 
I'm small but have a strong back, and at that time could carry up to 40 
pounds, although the girls never did get that heavy before growing out of 
their pack.  Unlike the cloth carrier for newer babies that can make your 
shoulders and neck tired, the frame pack is not meant to put the weight on 
your back anyway, but on its frame, plus there are padded shoulder straps, 
and a belt to cinch around your waist that gives even more support.  I'm 
almost certain my husband bought both frame packs at Toys R Us.

That was our favorite mode of travel for the toddlers.  Our bus systems had 
child seats that would fold down out of the back of the seats, but it wasn't 
long before they could safely ride with a seat belt according to car seat 
laws in the state at the time.

To start with, with the advice of another blind mom, I bought the umbrella 
stroller.  It is a skinny fold-up stroller that has handles off the back 
that angle up, that look like umbrella handles..  The great thing about this 
stroller, aside from the fact that it folds up for storage, is that it is 
skinny, and you can slightly tilt it on its back wheels as you pull it 
directly behind you.  I was able to use this stroller with either dog or 
cane.  You always would want to slow down when negotiating a corner, a curb, 
or any deviation in the ground or line of direction.

Like you, I tried this out before baby.  Still worked with baby.

Another thing we had was a car seat that doubled as a baby carrier.  The 
carrier part unsnapped from the car seat part so you could carry it around 
when not in the vehicle.  It had a handle that came up from the top end and 
one from the bottom end, and you could hold it in one hand like a suit case.

I remember becoming acquainted with certain drop-off points, like the 
dry-cleaner in our strip mall near the house.  If I had a lot of shopping to 
do, they gladly let me leave any extra baggage and stuff in the corner of 
their shop until I was ready to catch a cab.

There are lots of creative ways being mobile.  I never would have thought of 
these things unless I had been in situations where I needed mobility on the 
fly, and you will be just as creative when the time comes.

I hope some of this helps and encourages you.

Judy

-----Original Message----- 
From: Allison via BlParent
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 9:27 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Cc: Allison
Subject: [blparent] Stroller Fail!



Hi Everybody,

My daughter, Allyssa, is 9 weeks old now. I love my baby. It turns out that
I also love getting out of my house sometimes. I had a lot of great plans
for this when I was pregnant, plans about how I could successfully get out
in the world with my child, and I can now safely say that almost none of
them have worked out. LOL.

I tried a bunch of strollers at a local store before my daughter, Allyssa,
was born. I bought a Graco Click Connect in the end because it seemed like
the best balance of usability and affordability that I could find at the
time. It has a stroller with a car seat that clicks right into and out of
it. I tested it at the store with my cane and verified that I could in fact
pull it behind me. I also tried it on the sidewalk in front of my house when
I brought it home. Great, right? Yeah, only great because it did not yet
have a baby in it. I tried it with said baby in it last weekend and it was
less than successful. The stroller now wobbles and wavers when I try to pull
it behind me. It is only slightly less awful when I pull it next to me, but
when it's next to me, I worry that my cane arc isn't wide enough to safely
cover me and baby both because the stroller takes up a lot of space.
Moreover, the stroller was nearly impossible to manage when encountering
anything other than a 100% flat surface, and turning or changing directions
was something like trying to heard cats. As a result, I've mostly been
wearing Allyssa in a front carrier when I'm out. I like this option a lot
because she's safe, my hands are free, and Allyssa likes it, but I'm worried
that my body won't allow me to wear her as she grows heavier. Pretty much
every carrier I've tried pulls on my neck or shoulders at least a little.
Sooner or later, I will probably want to travel with her in a stroller. And
so far, the stroller has been a bit of a fail as it zigs and zags all over
the place. I could buy a new one, but buying multiple strollers will get
expensive quickly. Does anyone have any solutions for this stroller
craziness? Does it get better somehow? Will I become that blind mom who
never leaves the house alone with her kids? Please please tell me that is
not my future. If I start to think that it is, I may be tempted to drown
myself in my breast milk. So please share some words of wisdom!

Thanks,
Allison



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