Last December our son turned 3-months old and it was time for our first trip out of town. This meant it was time for our first airplane adventure.
We had so many rookie questions.
- Do we use an Uber with a carseat (we live in NYC and don’t have a car) to take us to the airport?
- Do we rent a carseat at our destination (if using Uber).
- Do we use our primary stroller for the trip?
- What do we pack?
You know, a lot of the normal stuff.
But it was the stroller part that kept tripping us up. Pretty early on we determined that we wanted to take a cab to the airport and use our own carseat.
This led us down a path of basically obsessing over travel strollers. We looked at a number of price ranges and our criteria was pretty simple: make our life easier while traveling.
Here’s a rundown of the top three options we considered, one of which we selected.
YoYo
The YoYo is a high-end stroller that has the ability to fold up and become rather compact. It was on our radar very early on due to its ease of use and how it folds up.
The core problem with it as a travel stroller is that there’s no way to connect a carseat.
This meant when we got to the airport we’d have to carry the luggage, and also have to deal with carrying the carseat (baby in it) as well as the stroller. Not a winning combo so we nixed it from our list of travel stroller options.
GB Qbit
Given that the YoYo was out, a friend suggested we take a look at the GB Qbit.
It’s another travel option that folds up quite nicely and even better, our carseat could connect to it.
Our test drive at the local store led to a pretty (not so) funny incident.
When we attached the carseat to the stroller we couldn’t get it off. As in, our son patiently waited for around 15 minutes while a number of store clerks attempted to detach the carseat.
We can call the incident a fluke, but there are other factors that led to us not selecting it:
- The seat was very short and hard.
- There was no way to see our son from behind the stroller
- It seemed rather heavy
This was starting to feel like rocket science.
Mountain Buggy
After our first two options didn’t make the cut we were thrilled to stumble on the Mountain Buggy travel stroller. It’s as close to perfect as we were going to get.
- It’s not very heavy
- The carseat can easily be taken on/off
- There’s netting on the back so you can see your child from behind
- It folds up just like the first three
- Folding and unfolding it is a synch
I snapped the photo above at the airport so don’t judge it for sexiness. In the shot you’ll see that the carseat is attached and that there’s room underneath to stash things such as bags or carseat covers.
The little strip you see hanging down is for carrying the stroller when it’s folded up — it’s normally tucked underneath and out of site.
This netting seems like such a little thing, but it’s not. Having the ability to see your child when you’re sitting down (or various other scenarios) is a bit plus.
Conclusion
We’ve now gone on several trips with the Mountain Buggy travel stroller and it’s been absolutely perfect for us. It’s weight, durability, compactness and ability to work with our carseat have made traveling with an infant a bit easier.
If you’re looking for a great travel stroller, I highly recommend you give it a look.
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