Review on this baby product...?

Q. My baby girl is due Apr. 11 2012. I want to get her the Graco Alano Travel System-Melanie.
Anyone use this and have pro's and con's for it ?

Answer
I have this and I absolutely hate it! My daughter is young so i like her facing me when using the stroller and it is a nightmare to steer! I highly recommend the cicco cortina travel system. the car seat is super easy to use and adjust and is second or third in safety ratings!! the stroller is also very user friendly!! they are great for the price!!

What was/is your fav. travel system?

LuLu

Why do you love it?
Would you buy it again? why or why not?
Trying to pick! Too many options with too many pros or cons!

Answer
Well... I hate the Graco one. So I'd never do a Graco one again. The wheels on the strollers are too small and the strollers are monstrously huge, can't fit them in a trunk, can't maneuver them. Yuck.

Now I haven't pushed the Chicco stroller around. But that travel system would be tempting if I was getting one again. The stroller lays completely down, fully down and the foot-rest goes up, so that it's like a pram. That's good for a newborn (you don't want them sitting in the car seat in the stroller, even if it's made like that. It's not good for their breathing. They should lay flat until 6 months if possible, or be reclined so far back that their chin does not rest on their chest.) The Chicco car seat is a high quality and highly tested. So even though I wouldn't use them together (baby shouldn't ride in a car seat except when riding in a car... again that breathing thing) they would be a good deal to get together. Also because the stroller can lay completely flat and the feet rest go up you can use it around the house like a bassinet. :) Multitaskers are wonderful things.

The other would be the Baby Trend jogging stroller + car seat combo. Again, the car seat is highly recommended (though I hate the fasteners. If you try them out you'll see what I mean. Every other car seat you can clip in one side and then the other, with that one you have to clip them at the same time and it's just a pain.) And I love our Baby Trend jogging stroller. They lay down far enough to be appropriate for a 2 month old (in the meantime, use a baby-chest carrier) so long as you don't run with them. They have an H harness, cup holders, and I really like the big wheels. You can go over cracks, in sand, up and down curbs, and it's not a problem. Some people talk about how bulky they can be, but you can take the back wheels off without much difficulty and then they fit in any trunk we've tried it in.

Add: Because the Metrolite is NOT the standard Graco travel system stroller. The "lite" part of the name is a big part of how it's not standard Graco. It folds down further, weighs less, and is considered maneuverable by comparison to other Graco strollers, however it's still an awkward large size. Also, the Metrolite has a history of wearing out sooner and still is only really good on smooth sidewalks/stores, not as good walking to the park. If you use it in stores and smooth sidewalks (not what I have around my house...) then it may last years.

But for me, the things that I like most in a stroller are 1) can be used from birth up (and I don't mean with the car seat since again they shouldn't ride in car seats except when riding in the car but a full recline) and 2) big wheels to work with cracks in the sidewalks. The Graco strollers I've tried hit some of the cracks in my area and stop... sometimes very hard, sending the little one into the buckle. It actually hurt my daughter more than once just walking on sidewalks where I live and most parents walk in the street to avoid the cracks rather than deal with it. To me, that's just not safe.

And note. Baby Trend and Chicco are very respected baby-brand-names in themselves, if brand names are what you look for.

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Pros and cons of your stroller?

~Kaylee El

What stroller do you have, and what do you love and hate about it? Would you recommend it to a first-time mom? I'm due in less than 7 weeks and getting slightly overwhelmed by stroller/carseat/travel system options. I liked Chicco until I heard that babies tend to sweat in it... mine will essentially be a summer baby. I liked Baby Trend until I heard that it was really narrow... I have gestational diabetes so I have to prepare for a big baby. I like Graco Metrolite so far, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop... lol
I do plan on wearing my baby, but I also want a stroller.

Answer
I had a travel system with my first and I didn't like it. The strollers with travel systems are so bulky. The one I had, cosco, was awful! It was hard to steer, so whatever you decide to get be sure to test drive it. Have a clerk get it off the shelf for you so you can try it out, put something with weight in it so you can feel what it will feel like with a baby. Added weight makes a huge difference with how well a stroller can steer. I ended up using an umbrella stroller after a few months and I never went back to the cosco stroller I had. I completely recommend an umbrella stroller, they are cheap, efficient, light weight, get the job done and easy to get in and out of the car.

I have a double baby trend stroller which I love. I don't use it much, but I do like it. And I have a baby trend infant seat, out of the three infant seats that I've had it's by far my favorite. The nice thing about baby trend infant seats is the way the straps adjust. Most car seats you have to remove the straps and adjust them every time your baby grows, however with baby trend there is a dial on the back that you just turn when your baby grows meaning you never have to hassle with removing and adjusting straps.

Recommended travel systems for baby?

Meems

I am pregnant with my first child and have recently begun looking into travel systems. I understand the pros and cons of travel systems and am wondering if anyone can recommend a specific model that they liked. I have heard good and bad reports on the durability of Gracos and the models I looked at in the store seem to relay on a single plastic clip to hold the infant seat on the stroller. Pushing on the back of those infant seats tipped them easily. The Eddie Bauer adventure travel system had the clip in addition to a metal bar near the feet and seemed to hold the infant seat much better. I also liked that E.B. had metal buckles instead of plastic. Any thoughts or suggestions? I plan on having more children so I need something that will last.
If you have any links to the safety ratings of these systems that would be appreciated as well.

Answer
Graco classic pooh travel system <3!!!

i love it!! this is my rating on target.com (they have the best user ratings from normal people like you and i who have used the products firsthand.)

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=bxgy_cc_img_b_1041924/602-2040454-2123853?asin=B000HQJLU2

"When I went out stroller searching, I wanted to find something somewhat lightweight (I'm the size of a middle-schooler :P), easy to transport, space-saving in a car, and easy for my baby to get from car to stroller.

With this stroller, I got all that and more!..."
(that was my rating ontarget.com)

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What is better to purchase - a travel system, or a separate car seat and stroller?

LP

This is our first baby, but we plan on having more in the next few years. I'm trying to decide whether I should by a travel system or just buy a separate car seat and a lighter-weight stroller. What are the pros and cons?

Answer
I have to disagree with most on the answeres..sorry guys. I registered for the travel system and loved it , but it didn't last long. The stroller is very bulky and didn't fit in my trunk (mid-size sedan) , the carseat is also very small. My daughter is 3 1/2 months and barely fits in the infant carrier anymore. I went to Babies r' us the other day to look for a new stroller that folds up more compact and spoke to 3 different mothers and they all agreed. Yesterday I went and bought the Peg Perego stroller which is good from infancy through toddler , and I switched to a convertible carseat , also good until around 4 years of age.

The pros of a travel system are that is it way more convenient to transport the baby in and out of the car while still in the carseat.

The con is that once your baby hits around 15 lbs. the carrier can get very heavy to carry around. Also the strollers tend to be a little bulkier.

The pros of buying separate is that the carseat will last for years , and you have a wider variety of stroller to pick from , lightweight and compact , or a more expensive trendy one.

The cons of buying separate are that you have to physically take the baby in and out of the carseat , which can get annoying if you have a light sleeper.

Good Luck!

buybuybaby.com has a great selection of strollers!

Car seat - infant only or convertible (pro/con)?

Sunshine M

Infant (backward facing only) or Convertable (backward, switching to front facing) carseat...

Given that a the price of a Convertable is slightly more and you get way longer use out of it, what benefits are there to make it better to do an infant only seat and then buy a second for front facing only?

If you did go with the one convertible carseat only, what were the challenges you found doing so?

Answer
Actually you CAN use a convertible seat while your baby is a newborn given they are over 5 lbs. However, it may just be too big and uncomfortable for your baby at that young age.

We had both. Used an infant carrier until our son was 8 months old and then switched to a convertible seat. Luckily, both were gifts so we didn't need to purchase either but our convertible seat was only around $100 and our travel system(infant carrier and stroller) was only around $130 so neither were too terribly expensive.

The only benefit to the infant carriers are they are easier to work when your baby is smaller(i.e. if baby has fallen asleep in the car). But this all depends on the family as some parents choose to use a sling or soft carrier for their baby instead of toting them around in the car seat.

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what double stroller do you use?

baby travel systems pros cons image

tRc11

My son will be almost 2 yrs by the time baby arrives. What kind is easier to use? the side by side or the one that is front and back? Do they even have side by side ones that can hold an infant? pros & cons? thanks!

Answer
I am in the same boat as you! Having had a double stroller previously (I have a 5 year old who was 3.5 when my baby girl arrived), I am going to purchase another front and back one. The one we currently have is in great shape, but it is a Sit and Stand and the back part won't work for my soon to be 2 year old. They have another version that comes with the seat intact and can be transitioned into the Sit and Stand at a later time! Wish I would have had the foresight to buy that the first time around! LOL!

The link for the one I like is below. It goes through doors easier than the side by side and isn't too much bigger than a regular stroller that comes as part of a travel system (the kind that hold the car seat). The only down side to this one is that the older child is closer to you rather than the infant. However, for the difference in prices...I can live with that! Also...the pic shows two older kids, but the front part does come with an adapter that allows it to hold the carrier type car seats!

Good luck!

breastfeeding or formula for a 5 week old baby girl?

Liz

I do a little bit of both. I breastfeed once in a while but I mostly give her formula. I don't like breastfeeding because it hurts and it takes so much time. And I feel a bit like my breasts is my husbands ''area''. But still I hear that breastfeeding is so much better

Answer
The answer is it is entirely your own choice and nobody should attempt to tell you otherwise.

What you are doing at the moment is combination feeding, which a lot of mothers choose to do. Many breastfeed their child during daylight hours and then at night time give bottles to encourage the baby to have a healthier sleep pattern. I know of one friend who was told by her doctor to do this because her exclusively breastfed baby was actually losing weight. The formula acted as a top-up to ensure her baby was still getting enough food as well as the benefits of breast feeding.

There are pros and cons to either way of feeding a baby.

Breastfeeding encourages your womb to shrink back to its pre-pregnancy size far quicker, and also burns an extra 500 calories a day for you, helping you to shift any baby weight. It is also linked to but NOT proven yet to reduce your risk of developing breast cancer later on in life. By this I mean that women who were exclusively breastfed as babies and who exclusively breastfed their own babies STILL can contract breastcancer in later life.

Supposedly, breastfed babies also have a stronger immune system. However, my son was breastfed and then developed meningitis at the age of 9 days old due to an infection in his umbiliacal cord that then traveled to his blood. When in hospital for treatment, we made a decision to switch him to formula in order to build him up more and give him the best chance of survival. He made a full recovery on the formula (obviously due to antibiotics and NOT the formula) and the initial 9 days of exclusive breastfeeding had done nothing to protect him from infection. Breastfed babies also tend to gain weight slower, which can often lead to them falling below the average weight of an infant their age on the health charts. The health charts are actually plotted as though a baby is formula fed.

Bottlefeeding requires the extra effort of sterilising equipment which it is vital must be done properly, making up the feeds, and also there is a cost involved. However, the benefits of bottlefeeding are that other people can feed the baby and thus strengthen their bond with him/ her, whilst your partner can share the load of the night feeds. It also is not uncomfortable physically, leaves baby feeling more satisfied, and is convenient in public if you are shy about breastfeeding.

All women are encouraged by their health professional to try to exclusively breastfeed until the baby is 6 months old. However, that does not make you a bad mother if you choose to bottlefeed your baby out of personal preference. Formula will do no harm to your child as long as you carefully follow the guidelines on the box for storage and preparation.

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