Guys, I am having a stroller crisis. And yes, I waited until the baby is practically crowning to deal with it.
My mom got us the parts to convert our iCandy Apple Jogger into an iCandy Pear Tandem, which is what I planned all along. It came and I got really excited, until I tried to assemble it and I ended up covered in black grease streaks and sobbing in a heap on the floor with stroller pieces everywhere and an allen wrench the size of a Jolly Rancher. Turns out the kit is totally incompatible. It doesn’t work with the iCandy Apple Jogger, just the iCandy Apple. Yet, it doesn’t say that ANYWHERE on iCandy’s website or when you order it. And I was told when I bought our Apple Jogger in 2010 that it could be upgraded to a tandem. And told that it would work by two different baby stores in Los Angeles that I called (as that is the location of the closest iCandy dealer to Seattle). And given that it’s a British company with very limited US presence, it’s been a little difficult to get answers.
After writing a (somewhat hormonal and rude) email to iCandy, calling the dealer I brought it from, looking like an idiot trying to explain the situation to people who think iCandy is some sort of iPod accessory, and getting a runaround on East-Coast time for days, I am giving up. It’s getting returned before my 30-day return-period (and my fragile nerves) expire.
So…now I need to get a double stroller, and I am at a loss. Do I get a sit and stand (like this Joovy Caboose)? A City Mini Double? Do I want something where both babies face the same way? Is Rosemary even big enough for those sit-and-stand things? Because they seem more for like, people with the skills and size of Tony Hawk. Something the baby can sleep in? People keep recommending things and I just DON’T KNOW. There are like thousands of doubles and tandems and junk out there. You can literally stack babies like logs in some of these things. And some of them cost far more than my first car.
When it comes down to it, I definitely want something that will hold our infant car seat at first (a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix). And I want something that is easy for Rosemary to climb in and out of—we have enough issues with her staying in the stroller as it is. Rosemary never sleeps in her stroller, so I don’t know that reclining seats are necessary. But what if the baby is a really good napper (please god…let it be so)? I want something with a storage basket. And I don’t want something enormous…it needs to fit through a standard door so I can get into Arby’s without assistance.
Help. What should I get? Does anyone have children who are sort of the same ages as mine that has any suggestions?
Photo via Neuski
