Winter Stroller

[moonlightblonde]

Any ideas where to begin? I have never been much of a stroller person but my baby prefers riding in a stroller to being in a carrier. I also don't trust my balance carrying an infant strapped to me on ice.

I live in almost Northern Canada & don't drive. I have to go out at least twice a day to the bus stop. Most of my walking is done out around town. I generally spend 2+ hours walking a day when it is nice out.

Dd2 is 6 months old and about 20lbs, dd1 is 4 and can walk everywhere

Things I am looking for:
-I would like to face baby if possible
-Needs to block sun well - she screams bloody murder with sun in her face
-should be able to go through snow ok, sand would be nice too as we live near beaches
-some storage
-Big is ok as we have little strollers for the car
-Not crazy expensive would be great as we are poor but as I don't drive and will use this thing daily for awhile I am willing to save up if I am going to LOVE it.

Right now I have a graco ipo something or other from dd1, a cheap umbrella stroller and a first years wisp travel system (that I currently use as my main stroller...it is squeaky and just not putting up with abuse/wont work in the winter).

TIA!

Locally someone is selling an '02 bertini and another is selling a zooper, not sure of year - would either of these be ok?

[hibiscus869]

I think if you want something sort of 'all terrain' for snow and sand you might do best with a jogging stroller because they have larger, inflatable wheels. I find they work way better on gravel, slush, etc. If I were you I would look into a Chariot jogging stroller. They make joggers that can also be used as bike trailers so they would be GREAT for cold weather. Like all bike trailers they have a net that comes down to keep out bugs, and then they also have a tinted clear flap to keep out cold wind. So that would keep the sun out of her face, and if she's wrapped up in a blanket inside I bet she'd be toasty warm. And then if you wanted to use it for biking you can do that too- it has multiple uses, you can even cross country ski with them if you get the conversion kit. We have had one for years we use for biking and I LOVE it. I think it's a great brand. I think it's Canadian made, incidentally.

I also have a 'regular' Kool Stop jogging stroller that I love, but the bike trailers/joggers keep the child all warm and out of the wind. They have single and double sized kinds, and they have a lot of storage in the back. Personally I think that would work the best for the situation you're describing.

[jac1976]

We have friends who live in Finland and they use a pram instead of a regular stroller. It is big, and has huge wheels- they say the wheels are really important for getting over the packed snow. It looks similar to this stroller.

We were there in the summer time with our small umbrella stroller and looked really out of place among all the prams with monster wheels. But we didn't have to deal with snow.

[nonipie]

We have a BoB double that I use primarily in the Winter because it can handle all types of snow and ice.