go to Main Reports Index mom chat! try it out, i'll get around to organizing it better eventually... update: 8/2/99 here we are, back from the dead. about that stroller: The Sit 'n Stroll. we've had a reasonably good experience with it. i used it exclusively for six months through winter, spring and part of summer so i have a pretty good idea of what this thing can do. plus: makes travel ridiculously easy, particularly where airplanes are involved. we've crossed the country twice and it was great. it's a stroller, it's a carseat, it's a high chair (in a pinch). our CA to DC trip went thusly: 6AM, strap baby into seat and then into car. drive to airport. upon arrival to airport, pop out stroller mechanism and wheel straight to gate. boarding: wheel baby to plane entrance, collapse stroller. heft baby through coach to assigned seating. strap in, take off. baby plays with two guys in the next row for five hours. land. pack grace back into seat, heft baby back to jetway, wheel her to welcoming grandparents. no fuss, no muss, and we were the object of countless envious stares from other families in the airport (wife elbows husband and hisses, look at THAT!) and now, the flipside: minuses: storage, as in there is none. okay, there's a plastic tray that they call a "basket", but they're just kidding themselves. construction: not as iron clad as, say, your average Peg Perego Pram or Carriage (we're talking Roma or up). the Sit 'n Stroller has plastic wheels, aluminum tubing handlebar, brakes are kinda cheesy. after six months of use, the wheels wobble and the handlebar is sometimes difficult to deploy, and the mechanism that deploys the stroller is a little sticky. this stroller is not up to long-term use as a primary vehicle. if you want to keep this for travel and some light use around town, it's definitely a good pick, particularly if you go on at least one long trip a year. but i wouldn't recommend it for an everyday-use unit. mine has been relegated to travel duty only, and i'm using an umbrella stroller until i need to make another big purchase (maybe a double unit). i also bought a new car seat, which brings me to: the Britax Roundabout. i looooove this carseat. as it turns out, these people are the world's largest manufacturer of baby seats. why it took them until two years ago to start marketing in the US is beyond me, but whatever. to give you an idea of quality and reliability, these are the people that BMW and Mercedes Benz go to for their custom car seats. anyway. okay, the britax was the most expensive seat in the store, but i originally bought a Century Bravura for my mom to use and a Roundabout for my car and let me just tell you, we've returned the Century and bought a Roundabout for mom's car, too. for something we'll use constantly for the next four or five years, this is definitely worth the money. both have the five-point harness, adjustment strap to pull the harness tight, reclines in two positions, rear and forward facing, blah blah blah. however: harness release: the britax uses a button. the century uses a strap, which has been impossible to use if you have the seat installed properly. ergonomics: the britax has velcro tabs on the harness so you can keep them out of the way when getting the child in and out. with the century, your child generally ends up sitting on the harness, which then requires a little fumbling under their behind. ease and solidity of installation: the britax has clips on both sides that eliminate the need for the incredibly annoying locking clip. the britax also uses a tether. i don't think tethers are required yet, but they're nice, and you can probably buy one to use with your current carseat. the tether is a strap that attaches to the top of the car seat and anchors to the frame of the car. it secures the seat pretty solidly - once i got mine in, i tried shaking it and let me tell you, that seat is going nowhere. it is not moving for love or money. also, you pull on the tether to make the carseat sit at 45 degrees, eliminating the also-annoying "ball must be in green area" indicator. the one on the Century fell off during a recent adjustment/reinstallation. so there you have it. liked the britax, not so happy with the century. i don't feel bad spending so much on the carseat because unlike a stroller, it's a safety item rather than a status symbol. Return to reports, part one. Return to the Main Gear Index

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