Strollers are very much a personal identity issue. I don't think anyone can really say that they buy a stroller without thinking about it very carefully, researching all the ones they like and then purchasing the chosen one from a reputable dealer. Especially if this is your first baby.

We didn't have much money when Eldest was born and my MiL bought our first stroller second hand from a friend who had only used it when her grand-daughter had come to stay. So it was very lightly used. It was a perfect stroller; rear and forward facing with a good sized shopping basket and a bassinet attachment. I got it out when Youngest was due and was disappointed to realise that it was just about knackered (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/knackered). So we bought a three-wheeler stroller by Maclaren. It had only just been released and it hadn't been reviewed. I wanted a three wheeler but I also wanted the option of the bassinet attachment. In 2003 there wasn't much choice, so the Mac 3 it was.

Luckily, we moved to the US in 2004 and there is very little opportunity to use a stroller to the extent I would have used it at home, so the Mac 3 (now the X3) was in a fairly OK state when we came to get it out for Son. BUT, as is my wont, I have been doing some research and discovered that some Speech and Language development specialists are concerned about the use of forward facing strollers between the ages of 6 months and a year. The Mac 3 is forward facing only once baby is out of the bassinet. Certainly, Eldest was a quicker talker than Youngest (to the point that we were looking at speech therapy for her) so I wondered if the lack of a rear-facing stroller for Youngest might have had an impact. If you're interested in this, please read the information from UK charity The National Literacy Trust at the bottom of this review.

Purchasing decisions

So I was looking for a rear-facing stroller that didn't cost a fortune. Making a short-list was relatively easy. I didn't want or need a travel system as I had a perfectly adequate baby car seat and the bassinet attachment to the Mac 3 worked fine for Son's first 5 months. So it came down to the following choices:

Bugaboo Chameleon (~$900)
Quinny Buzz (~$500)
Rock Star (Hauck) Infinity (~$500)
Bébéconfort Loola (not available in the US - is the newest version of what we had for Eldest ~$500)
Dreamer Design Fisher Price Infant to Toddler Stroller (~$150)
Britax Vigour (~$350)

I didn't like the look of the Rock Star/Hauck stroller. Just seemed too clunky. Also, some friends of mine have it and theirs fell apart within 6 months. Not good.

I really wanted the Loola but would have had to wait until I went home to get it as having it shipped over here was just too expensive (and the price in GBP was within the same range as the Quinny when converted to USD).

The Chameleon was silly, silly money (about $900) so that was completely out.

So it came down to the Fisher Price, the Quinny and the Britax.

Doing my on-line research, despite the fact that there are no reviews for the FP or Britax on Epinions (for shame!) there are plenty of opinions on other opinion sites. I decided pretty quickly that I didn't want the hassle of getting the FP. Most of the other reviews said that the reason it was cheaper than the other rear-facing strollers is because it was cheaply made. So that left the Quinny and the Britax.

The Test Drive

Even if you're going to buy on-line (and that was my intention), it is always a good idea to test drive your stroller first to make sure that it is what you want. Finding a 'local' store with both strollers on the shop floor was nigh on impossible. However Buy Buy Baby in Long Island did have both (as well as the most enormous collection of other strollers I have ever seen in my life). So off we went for a 2 hour drive!

Test driving the Quinny beside the Britax, it was plainly obvious which one had the biggest drool factor. Everything about the Quinny screams 'I WANT'. It is gadgety (self opening hydraulic system) enough for him indoors to go 'Ooo, that's nice' and it is practical enough for me to go 'Can we afford an extra $150?'. However, it is wider than the Britax and one of the major problems we had with the Mac 3 was that it was too wide to fit down some shop aisles and didn't even go through our back door without having to be slightly collapsed.

The Britax has more wipeable fabric; the Quinny is neoprene, comfy but not very wipe friendly.

The Quinny has three wheels though, which makes it more manoeuvrable than the Britax with four (the UK has a 3 wheeled version of the Vigour as well as the 4) but the Britax's front wheels do go 360 degrees, so not that much less manoeuvrable.

The Quinny's seat clips in and out far more easily than the Britax, so that it is easier to remove when collapsing the stroller, if you should so desire. However, the seat system on the Britax is not dependent on pieces sliding together and therefore less likely to go wrong. You also don't need to remove the seat on the Britax when you fold it down in the rear facing position, which you do on the Quinny.

The Quinny does come with a bug net/rain cover which the Britax doesn't. Not sure that costs $150 though!

The crunch though came when I put Son in them. The seat on the Quinny is very similar to the one on the Britax but it isn't as deep. My little man is a cloth bum, which means his bottom is bigger than disposabled heineys. He didn't look so comfy in the Quinny.

Cogitation time

It took me three weeks to decide that the Britax was the better option! The list of pros and cons for both strollers was long and, when it came down to the final yes or no, the real factor for me was price. I couldn't get past the fact that the Britax was $150 cheaper than the Quinny. I'm not a penny pincher usually and, if something is worth more money, I will pay it. But if there is a cheaper option that does the job just as well, but doesn't look as nice, I'm really not going to spend more money for the looks! And really, the only reason to buy the Quinny over the Britax was it was purdy!

How the Britax stacks up

From 6 months
Up to 40lbs
Stroller weight: 29lbs
Folded dimensions 19.5"D x 24.75"W x 37.75"H
Opened dimensions 36.2"D x 25.2"W x 43.7"H
Aluminum frame
12" pneumatic fixed but easily detachable rear wheels
7.1" solid detachable front wheels; can be set to fixed or 360 degree swivel with the flick of a switch
Forward or Rear facing seat
'Infinite' recline (to flat)
Folds with seat attached in both rear and forward facing positions
Compatible as a travel system with the Britax Companion Car seat
Multi-position handle; great for shorter/taller parents
One step brake system locks both rear wheels at the same time
5 pt harness with 2 adjustable shoulder positions
Good sized (compared to similar strollers) shopping basket
Detachable sun canopy with viewing window and arm bar
Large deep storage pocket at back of seat

There are three colourways available in the US; black, blue and purple. I have the purple one. Out of the box, it all clipped together so easily that it took me 15 minutes to put it together and strap him into it! I didn't even need to refer to the one page sheet, though I did, just to make sure I was doing it correctly. The wheels did take an initial shove to get them to seat in properly but I have since detached the rear ones a couple of times and they've been easily put back in.

This unit folds fairly flat so it will fit easily in front of the front seat in my Dodge Grand Caravan (someone stove in the back door, so I can't use the boot/trunk). But it's about 10lbs heavier than my Maclaren. That's quite a bit, so getting it in and out of the car was quite a challenge recently during my recovery period after surgery! Also where the Mac 3 has a convenient carrying handle, the Britax doesn't and, I have to say, I do miss it. Mind you, at 29lbs, I'm not going to be carrying it much anywhere!

Once I've got out of the car, it is pretty easy to unfold it. The fold requires both hands to pull up on two clasps and push the unit down, but I can unfold it one-handed. I just unclip it and pull up on the handle. The wheels are easy to remove too. Pull the clip across and pull the wheel out.

There are a few problems with this stroller. The sunshade doesn't cover enough of the seat. This means that the afternoon sunshine gets in Son's eyes if I'm not careful.

The aluminum frame has a matt finish to it and, in the month that I have owned this stroller, it has been scuffed a little, so I can see that it might not look as pristine as when first new. However, because it is matt, you can't see these imperfections unless you're up close to the frame.

The unit also doesn't come with a rain cover. I knew this before I bought it. This is not too much of a problem here in the US because there are few sidewalks to walk on in my town (oh, how I miss being able to walk everywhere) and many of the places to walk with a baby are covered over, like the mall. If I intend to hike, which I do with the kids quite a bit, then I probably won't venture out if it's likely to rain. However, we walk everywhere in the UK so when I'm home in August I will be needing a rain cover. Fortunately, Britax know that we Brits walk outdoors more and they supply them as an accessory over there.

As accessories go, there isn't much on this stroller. There is no cup holder or tray for little one or for the parent either. Now, I'm a Brit, and so long as I've got somewhere for my shopping to go, I'm a happy bunny. I actually find the 'extras' that you get on some of the travel systems to be tiresome and pointless. For example, do I need two parent cup holders? Do I really need a cup holder for my kid? (Both those answers are a 'No' from me)

You can purchase things like a parent cup holder that clips onto the handle for very little extra money, so please don't let something like that put you off buying this stroller.

Something that you might miss is the bassinet attachment that you can buy for the Bugaboo. This attachment is available for this stroller, Britax just don't ship it to the US. So, if you were really desperate for the bassinet, you could order it from a UK shop. I think most US parents wouldn't use that option so much and the Companion car seat would be adequate. Still, it would be nice for Britax to provide that option in the US...

It manoeuvres pretty sweetly. With the wheels on swivel, it runs round department stores with relative ease and I don't need to be thinking about which route I need to take as I did with the Mac 3 as the width means most aisles are passable. In a straight line, it's nice to be able to put the wheels on lock so you're not following the contour lines of the sidewalk! You do need to rock it back to get up kerbs but I would have had to do that with the Quinny or the Bugaboo, so I am not unhappy about this.

Look at me!

The best bit about owning the Britax is the looks! I mean, Son's pretty cute anyway, so we get lots of looks regardless, but the stroller is what stops people to talk to me! I like to talk to people and I like the fact that the stroller is a show stopper. Where I live, there are a lot of Bugaboo Chameleons around. The Britax is sufficiently different that people do notice it, though I think if I'd gone for the Quinny in the Sulpher colour that I was going to get, it would have been even more stand out!

Son seems pretty happy with the stroller. He gets pretty excited when he's in it, so much so that he hasn't managed to sleep in it yet!

And, finally, I'm pretty happy with the stroller too. It fits my needs pretty well and I am glad that I did my research as well as I did. I hope this review helps someone do theirs!

Information from UK Charity The National Literacy Trust

Prams that give baby talk an extra push

Pushing your child in a front-facing stroller may let him take in the view. But it won’t do much for his speech according to experts.

Toddlers’ communication skills can suffer when they cannot see the person pushing their pram they believe. Children learn to talk more quickly when they are face to face with their parents or carers. Most pushchairs and strollers, however have forward-facing seats. Those with rear-facing seats are usually more expensive.

The National Literacy Trust which wants parents to encourage their children’s speech development, has called on manufacturers and retailers to cut the price of rear-facing pushchairs and prams. Many parents struggle to find such designs when shopping for a buggy, according to a survey carried out for the charity.

Liz Attenborough, who is in charge of the trust’s Talk To Your Baby campaign said: ‘Forward –facing buggies have been identified by early years professionals as one of the factors believed to be contributing to the poor communication skills of children entering nursery and school. We want affordable, sociable pusher-facing buggies to be available to parents so that they can chat and respond to their toddlers.’

Language experts believe adults communicating with children at a young age helps them develop their language and social skills.

Kamini Gadhok, chief executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, said: ‘By facing a child when pushing them in a pram or buggy, parents and carers will increase eye contact and have more opportunities to stimulate talking at an important stage in the development of a child’s language abilities.’

James Law, professor of language and communication science at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh added: ‘There is nothing sadder than watching parents pushing buggies, perhaps wearing headphones, completely cut off from their child. The buggy which faces towards the parent provides the parent with all sorts of opportunities for interaction, making the trip all that more enjoyable for both parties.’

As part of the campaign, the trust has unveiled a ‘walkie talkie’ label which pinpoints those pushchairs that offer parents and children the best chance of communicating.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 330
Age Range of Child: Other