Suggestions for an good lightweight umbrella stroller? About This Page:

[Chrissi]

DH and I will be going to Mousefest this year with our 19 month old DS. He'll be just shy of 2 ½ then and we want to bring along a lightweight stroller to use all day as well as outside of the parks. Renting just isn't practical for us. DS travels very well and now that he's made the transition from his baby sling to a stroller, he loves his big stroller. I'm looking for something 14 lbs. or lighter, with a storage basket (even if it's a small one), a canopy, a snack tray with cup/juice box holder, and a cup holder for the pusher. These are the bare essentials. A 5-point harness would be nice, but not necessary. Preferrably something under $150. Any ideas, suggestions, favorites, alternatives? Thanks for your help!

[Colexis Mom]

Chrissi, we bought a Graco Citilite for our last trip in May. Both DS (15 mos) and DD (just turned 4) fit into it. It has a canopy, good storage space, is 14 lbs or less and folds easily, has cup holders on the top, but not much if any tray table for the kids (the one drawback). Maybe you can get an attachement? It does recline so both could take naps in it, and it wasn't too expensive ($70 or less). I wasn't willing to spend the $$$ for a Maclaren or Peg Perego. I love the Graco and still use it all the time. I did buy a separate rain cover for it, as it didn't come with one.

That said, for our upcoming trip in May, we'll be taking the Citi Lite, and just bought a Chicco Caddy. Again, it's very light, comes with it's own rain cover, canopy and travel bag, but doesn't have a snack tray or a drink tray. We plan on using this for DD, as it seemed much wider than a standard umbrella, and she fit into it comfortably. Although she'll be 5, I don't see her walking thru the parks and we found this to be an economical solution (got it at BJs for $40, I think).

Definitely find something light. I've had arguments with DH because he wants to bring the big Graco, and I told him there's no way we're going to get that folded up (2 hands), with 2 kids and another stroller. He finally bought into the Caddy

Good luck

[Belle*]

I pulled out my "bible" - the Baby Bargains book - and looked up lightweight strollers. They recommend the Combi Savvy Soho - 11 lbs! The Graco Metrolite is $129 for a five point harness or $99 for a three point harness and has a large basket, kid snack tray, etc. (However, they give Graco a "C" rating for overall quality and Combi an "A".) Hope this helps - I haven't gotten as far as the umbrella stroller yet. I'm too busy admiring the new Peg Perego Venezia Carriage that is currently living in my foyer!

[Chrissi]

Thank you both for your suggestions! I've been eyeing up the Citilite because it's the closest to what I was looking for. Fortunately, this afternoon, after posting this, I found a folding stroller tray that clamps onto any stroller bumper. It'll make the Citilite perfect for our needs.

It's so tempting to just go with the lightest lightweight, but all those travel system features are hard to let go of!

[SarahJ]

Chrissi, we have a Graco Metrolite that both DH and I love! Its very lightweight, easy to fold, nice basket, nice sized shade, fully reclines, has cup holders for the parents, a decent snack tray for the kiddo with a cup holder and it's easy to push. Ours is the three point harness version which seems fine for DD. We took it to WDW last year and on a cruise and it worked great for us.

My suggestion is to go try some different ones out if you have a Babies R Us or similar store near you, let DJ sit in them and push him around to see what fits him best. I didn't like the Combis when I tried them out with DD. They were nice and light, but felt kind of flimsy to me. I really wanted a Peg Perego at the time, but DH put his foot down on another stroller since we already had the Metrolite.

[Luv2plan]

I just found your post so maybe you're all set, but in case you haven't made a decision yet... we bought the MacLaren Daytripper umbrella stroller for our DD who was then 14 months. It has now been on two Disney trips & numerous other plane trips, etc. and is going strong. The seat reclines, there is a small basket, it's about 10 lbs, and it comes with a rain cover. The wheels are much tougher than other brands and it is very zippy & easy to turn. It is definitely a pricier model, I believe we paid $139, but was more than worth it to me for 2 reasons - first, the height of the handles, they are higher than other brands which is very nice for me as I'm 5'7" and found myself hunching a little over some of the other umbrella types. Second, it is sturdy sturdy sturdy and was super easy to push, even up & down hills. Before the MacLaren we had a Combi which I found to be much harder to push, and a Graco which just wasn't anywhere near as sturdy. I actually praised the stroller so much during our first trip with it that my DH said he was going to divorce me if I mentioned it again! I know I sound a little nuts about it, but we'd gone through 5 strollers, and were just so happy to have one that's finally worked out for us.

You mentioned finding a clip-on snack tray - we also found a clip on cupholder & clip on snack cup that had two compartments with swivel covers. My DD would use the cups to store her pacifier as well as her snacks. Both cupholder & snack cups unclip from their fasteners so they don't get squished in transport.

Good luck shopping and have a great trip!!

[Laura W.]

I have the Maclaren XT - I LOVE, LOVE it!!! It is very sturdy and folds down to nothing, under 13 lbs. There are some drawbacks though - Price, no cup holder or snack tray (there are two pockets on the back of the hood to store things in and I have an attachment that holds snacks) and if you load a lot of things on it it can tip over if DJ gets out. That said, it has a wonderful hood, 5 point harness (which I REALLY need sometimes with Miss Hannah!) I have a bigger Peg which I use for shopping at the mall. But for traveling I ALWAYS use the Maclaren. You can check them out at www.maclarenstrollers.com or www.barebabies.com
If you have any questions about Maclaren feel free to PM me. I've already brought two of my friends to the "Maclaren Side!" Also, there are different models and price ranges of Maclarens.
Laura