Stroller Savvy

I don't know about you, but I'm always nervous when I load and unload my children from their stroller or shopping cart in a parking lot. There is rarely enough space to safely put a stroller when your car is parked, so you are generally left with few options, all of which could be hazardous to your child.

I've come up with a list of the most common ways people handle strollers in parking lots:

1. You put the stroller directly behind your car. Potential danger: Cars backing up behind your car could hit the stroller or shopping cart if they go too fast or don't pay attention to their surroundings. Similarly, cars driving down the parking row too fast could hit the stroller without seeing it.

2. You tuck your stroller between your car and the car parked next to you. Potential danger: Cars that back up out of the space next to you while you're loading/unloading the stroller or cart could make contact with it.

3. You park in a space that is next to an empty space. You put the stroller partially into the empty space. Potential danger: While this provides you more space for the stroller, another car could drive into the space and not see the stroller until it's made contact.

4. In parking areas where there is a sidewalk adjacent to the parking space, you put the stroller on the sidewalk. Potential danger: In this case, the danger is not from a car but from potential kidnappers, who could roll the stroller away with the child inside while you're still unloading the car.

You may wonder: Why am I so paranoid about strollers and parking lots?

Well, I have had several harrowing experiences involving my children in the stroller and shopping cart with cars in the parking lot. These incidents have made me hyperaware of the dangers in the parking lot, and I hope they will increase your awareness as well.

My first stroller incident occurred when I parked my stroller between my car and the car next to mine. I had just put my daughter in the stroller and I was tending to some packages in my car. All of a sudden, the car next to me started to back up at an angle so that it headed directly toward my daughter's stroller.

In this case, the car involved was a SUV, and the driver was not able to see the stroller parked alongside her, as it was in her blind spot. I ran for the stroller as soon as I saw the backup lights, but before I knew it, that car had hit the stroller with my daughter sitting inside it.

Fortunately, the car stopped immediately and I was able to pull the stroller away from that car, and my daughter was completely unhurt and mercifully unaware of the incident.

The second incident involved a shopping cart. We had just finished grocery shopping and the shopping cart (with my children still sitting in it) was directly behind my car as we were getting the doors opened to unload the groceries and put my children in the car.

The car parked directly behind (across the aisle from) mine began to back up, and the driver did not look behind her before she began to back up. She backed up so fast that she would have hit the shopping cart with my children still inside.

We were fortunate that my husband was close enough to the cart that he lunged for the cart and was able to move it to safety. Otherwise that car would most certainly have hit the shopping cart with my children still inside.

The driver was completely unaware of what might have happened as she drove off without a single glance behind her.

The third incident occurred at a popular theme park. These parks have parking attendants that direct you to park in a specific order to fill the spaces. In this case, each parking aisle consisted of two rows of cars, parked front to back. We were in the front row of cars, and we put the stroller directly behind our car.

We had just put our children in the stroller and we were both looking in the car to make sure we had everything we needed when all of a sudden, a car appeared in the parking space directly behind us and started driving toward our stroller. We were fortunate that the driver was going slowly and was parked far enough behind our car so that there was enough space for maneuvering the stroller.

However, I've seen people pull into these parking spaces still driving fast. Had that been the case, they might not have seen the stroller in time to keep from hitting it. I made sure the park management got a piece of my mind with that incident! That parking attendant endangered our children by directing a car to park into the space directly behind while the stroller was exposed, and they had put our children in danger.

So with all these potentially dangerous stroller situations, what do I personally do? Here are a couple things that I do, which I hope will help keep my children safer.

1. After parking, I keep my children in the car until just before I am ready to go into the store. This means that after unfolding the stroller, I put the diaper bag and all my supplies or packages into the stroller first. I put my children in the stroller or shopping cart last. They're much safer staying in the car until just before I'm ready to go.

2. When I am leaving, I put my children into the car first. I wait until after I have buckled them both into the car before I unload the groceries and packages.

3. I push my stroller as close to my car as possible and push it all the way up to the door. I never leave it behind the car when my children are still inside the stroller.

4. I roll the stroller to one side of the car and have my older daughter climb out directly into the open door of the car. After she's buckled in, I roll the stroller to the other side of the car to take my younger daughter out of the stroller and buckle her into the car.

5. When my children are in the stroller and in the parking lot, I never allow the stroller to be out of my sight. I just don't trust the cars and crazy drivers that are out there, especially in parking lots!

While this may sound like the rantings of a paranoid mom, I maintain that a healthy dose of paranoia is perfectly acceptable when it comes to keeping my children safe.

I hope this will help increase everyone's awareness when in a parking lot, both as a pedestrian pushing a stroller, and also as a driver. Please be careful ... it's a (concrete and asphalt) jungle out there!

Unprecedented evolution of baby carriages

The wheel is such an important invention that all our lives revolve around the means of transport. If the first thing we think of is the car, childhood presents the most varied forms of transport. From the bicycle, the remote control car, to the stroller we were strolling when we were very young. That's why we take a quick look at the history and evolution of the latter, and answer the question: How do we have such varied carts for children?

The birth of the concept

To begin with, we mention that they are not 100 years old when they are used in the usual way. However, the first baby stroller was built in 1733 by the British William Kent. Kent, a crafts architect, had been asked by the Duke of Devonshire to build a transport environment to entertain his children. The British invented a basket of wheeled balls, goats or pony, for the fun of the little ones. This primitive cart was quite unstable, and at that time it was always animal-drawn.

In 1848, American Charles Burton decided to put the baby cart in hand so that they could walk their babies. His invention was not homologated in America, so Burton went to England, where his trolley was immediately adopted by the wealthy families in England.

Signs of sophistication

Later on, in 1899, the stroller with separable land appeared, and it is hardly the precursor of today's carriage. His creator was William Richardson. For the first time the wheels of a trolley could spin independently of each other and the separable basket could be placed with the back or face of the parent pushing the trolley.

Since 1920, after the invention has been perfected, it has begun to be widely used by parents, first only in middle-class families, since they were not really cheap. Brake systems also appeared during the same period. Until 1950, the baby cart was an indispensable object in families with children.

Baby trolleys with new materials

In 1965, Owen Maclaren, an aeronautical engineer, created for his wife, who constantly complained that it was difficult for him to operate a so heavy stroller, a much lighter aluminum stroller. This has also solved the problem of transporting side-carriages from one side to another. At the same time, it also created the roof protection against the whims of the weather, which the trolleys did not have until then.

After 1980, the baby carriage industry experienced an impressive stunt. Various safety systems and accessories have been approved and have become an integral part of the construction of baby carriages, basically reaching what we find today on the market.

How to Choose a Double Stroller

Double strollers make life much easier for parents with more than one young child. They allow a parent the freedom to shop, travel, and take long walks with their children without worry or confusion. When it comes to shopping for a double stroller there are many options to choose from.

Front and Back Design

Some strollers are designed in a way that allows one child to sit next to the other. Graco is one brand that makes this particular type of stroller and prices for this kind of double stroller can range from $150 to well over $200.

Front and back designed double strollers are good for parents who have an infant and an older child. Most brands of this design allow a parent to put an infant in the stroller while still in a carrier or infant car seat. Parents who desire this feature need to make sure they are choosing a stroller that is compatible with the infant seat they plan to use.

This type of stroller is narrow enough to fit through standard doorways and is good if a parent has to take the stroller to a doctor's office or stores with narrow entry ways. A drawback to this design is children may fight over who gets to sit up front when they are older.

Side-by-Side Design

Children sit next to one another in a double stroller that has a side-by-side design and this type is a better choice for toddlers and older. The price for a side-by-side stroller is about the same as that of the front and back design.

Side-by-side strollers tend to be less bulky than front and back double strollers, but they are also wider and parents might have a problem getting this type of stroller through a narrow doorway. This type of stroller might be a good choice for parents who will be using the stroller outdoors or to go mall walking with their children.

Some side by side strollers are designed as jogging strollers and are perfect for parents who plan to take their children with them when they go for a run.

Sit and Stand Design

Sit and stand strollers are good for families who have one child who is a toddler or older. This allows the smaller child to sit up front in a seat and the older child to stand in the back. These range from $100-$200+.

The sit and stand strollers are lighter than other types of double strollers and fit easily into doorways.

No matter what type of stroller a parent chooses, she needs to make sure she reads directions and uses it properly. Children need to be safely strapped in to avoid unnecessary accidents.

Stroller Reviews

One of my favorite baby things to shop for is a stroller because it is kind of like buying a car. A stroller is something you will use everyday and for at least a year.

Who would have thought that there were so many brands of strollers out there and so many different models. Buying a stroller is also like buying a car: you have to know what you want before you go out looking, otherwise you'll spend a lot of time looking at everything out there (which is A LOT).

As a first time parent (and someone not too strong) I needed a stroller that was lightweight and compact. Since this was our first and only child we hadn't succumbed to getting a van yet so a stroller that didn't take up too much room was very important.

Other criteria were good maneuverability with one hand, some basket storage, and a cup holder. Also, since our infant was still using the infant car seat we wanted a stroller that was compatible with an infant car seat.

We looked at various Graco models, Combi models, and Peg Perego. Graco travel systems were a good deal and their MetroLite strollers were light (17 pounds), but they were not compact.

Combis were nice and light, folded up small, but they did not maneuver well. Peg Perego is a good quality stroller, but on the expensive side (more than $199 and that does not include the car seat) and they did not fold up small.

Then we found the Snap and Go and the Graco Snug Rider. Both are very compact (they are stroller frames so it can only be used with infant carriers) and are the same price. We went with the Graco Snug Rider because it maneuvered better. It has a basket that can hold up to 10 pound worth of stuff.

Not a bad buy for around $60. We figured this stroller would last about a year since our child is small and it would take about a year for her to get up to 22 pounds (the weight limit for our infant carrier).

We knew our infant child would eventually grow out of the Snug Rider so we began making a list of what we wanted in a stroller for a child more than 22 pounds.

We decided we wanted a stroller that maneuvered well, was compact and had a LARGE canopy (this is a must if you live in sunny states and want extra protection for your kid from UVA and UVB rays, in addition to the copious amount of sun block you would put on your child).

The two strollers that we found that matched our criteria and budget were the Joovy Kooper and Baby Jogger City Mini (both are around $200 and weigh approximately 17 pounds).

Both had large canopies, but the City Mini had a larger one. City Mini was easier to maneuver, especially when we tried to push the stroller with a 26 pound weight in it. The Kooper was easy to maneuver with nothing in it, but it got a lot tougher to push with one arm when a heavy object was placed in the seat. The best part about the City Mini is the folding mechanism. It really only requires ONE hand.

You just lift the strap in the center and the stroller folds in half. VERY EASY and VERY COMPACT!!!! The Kooper required two steps, but was fairly easy to fold and fairly compact. The Kooper took up more room lengthwise. The seat and canopy material, and the restraints of the Kooper seemed better quality.

Also, the Kooper had more pockets. It was a tough decision, but we decided that being able to maneuver the stroller easily and the one step folding was more important to us than the other features. Have fun stroller shopping!!

Negative effects of strollers in the development of small ones

Baby strollers fall into the category of indispensable necessities for parents during the training of the little ones. Fortunately, the varied range of carriage models on the market offers the freedom for each family to choose those carriages that truly match the specific needs and requirements they have, starting from some practical features such as security, design, dimensions, or colors.

However, we note that there is still a degree of uncertainty about the optimal age until it is advisable for babies to use their trolleys. Once they are accustomed to them, even if they have learned to take the first steps and should venture into a new way, some children still prefer to use the trolleys. What should parents do in this situation?

Specialists indicate that, by the age of 3 years at the most, children should give up their strollers. The change should be done naturally by presenting alternative sources to children, which naturally stimulate their curiosity. Waiver of trolleys is not a fad and should not be seen as a spoil that is denied to the child. In fact, children who become accustomed to the comfort of their trolleys are likely to suffer from some gaps in development.

The first problem that comes in this context is that the youngsters are making it harder to develop their social connections. When it's always in the stroller, it's difficult for the little ones to explore those steps needed to shape emotional interactions with others, such as establishing direct visual contact. Another problem is that these children are prone to be overweight because they spend more time in carriages than doing other activities that would favor their healthy development. At the psychological level, they also become accustomed to being extremely pampered, which will then lead to other problems of social interaction with others.

While it is natural for parents to give the little ones all the comfort they need, it is important to have a clear boundary between the beneficial effects of certain actions and the moment when they turn into negative effects in the development of the little ones.

Tags: #strollers, #baby, #babies, #children, #development

Thanks for the texts to Christina Liu, M, Grace Kang