The 10 Best Strollers
Special Honors
Bugaboo Donkey 3 Mono Designed to grow with your family, this model places its main seat beside a separate compartment that can serve as personal storage when you only have one child, and can be used to convert the entire option to a double rider when number two comes along. It's a little on the wide side as a result, but it still handles unexpectedly well. bugaboo.com
Joolz Geo Squared This is a convertible model that can serve as a bassinet after birth and a normal stroller later on. It's made from sustainable fabrics and boasts an extra-large storage basket beneath the seat for all your personal items. If you like this particular option, but want to change a thing or two about it, the company also offers custom builds. joolz.com
The Daily by Lalo If you regularly need to navigate particularly tight quarters, this selection might be ideal for you. It's narrow and shallow, but the seat offers plenty of comfort for your little one, and can recline within the confines of the unit's durable frame. You can choose from five attractive colors, and each one comes with an all-weather cover. meetlalo.com
Editor's Notes
April 21, 2020:
A few notable models from our last ranking saw upgrades, like the Bumbleride Indie, the interior of which has gained a degree of thickness that makes it much more comfortable for a given child to ride. The Besrey Convertible saw a minor upgrade to its construction, and its frame has been simplified with lighter, more durable materials held together with fewer, more strategically applied rivets, allowing it to shed weight and gain some durability, but difficulties securing its brakes at 100 percent kept it from climbing the list.
We got rid of the Kolcraft Cloud Plus, which was a decent budget option, but one that ultimately — even after an upgrade — couldn't provide much shock absorption for riders, with some even being jostled to the point that they'd hit their head on an upper portion of the frame, and that simply isn't safe enough to warrant serious consideration. We replaced that model with its polar opposite in the Graco FastAction Gotham, which is one of the finest jogging models on the market, especially as it doesn't measure as long as much of the competition, making it easy to go from the trail to the coffee shop without banging into anyone.
It's More Than Just A Baby Wheelbarrow
You attach a carrying basket to a wheeled base and you've got the basics.
When I was a kid – probably just out of the stroller myself – I encountered my first wheelbarrow. I thought it was a big metal stroller. I don't have a clear memory of this, but if the family lore is to be believed, I climbed into the thing and waited to be pushed.
Of course, it was my big sister who found me there, and she was more than delighted to take me for a spin. I'm sure you can guess what happened next: the wheelbarrow tips and baby goes flying.
So, it turns out you can't just put a baby in a wheelbarrow and expect to cart him or her around safely. And that's where strollers come in.
They work largely on the same concept of the wheelbarrow. You attach a carrying basket to a wheeled base and you've got the basics.
If you don't want your tykes catapulting through the air like yours truly, you'd probably put some straps in there to hold the little one in place.
You don't want them crying incessantly about how uncomfortable the rusty metal is either, so you might throw some padding in there to keep them comfy and quiet, maybe throw a sunshade on top to save their skin.
Now we're closing in on the familiar design. Add some extra wheels and a locking brake to keep it from rolling away on you, maybe a more comfortable, adjustable handle for you to push it along.
The good news is you've just imagined yourself a stroller. The bad news is you've lost yourself a perfectly good wheelbarrow. No matter. When the kid grows out of the stroller, you can always use it for yard work.
Babies On The Run
Parenting has changed a lot since I was in diapers. I'm sure it will have changed even more by the time I'm back in them.
Parents today generally have more ways to be active than they did in the 1980s, and the expectations that their activities have placed on stroller design have led to some very exciting developments.
Even if it's just that you like to take more walks in the park than the average parent, those bigger wheels might come in handy.
A lot of strollers today are built specifically to handle the demands of a jogging mother or father without disturbing the baby. These strollers come with advanced shocks, more aerodynamic shapes, and thicker, more durable wheels.
Even the strollers that aren't necessarily meant to endure triathlons are being built lighter and more convertible than ever before. Customers want options, healthy or not, and some of these single strollers can be reconfigured to carry multiple kids, to lay your kids flat for the ultimate nap, or to serve as a gourmet dining station.
If you've already got the little one floating around, consider their height and weight so you can get a stroller that'll last you more than a year or two, and consider their temperament, as that will determine whether you even can take him or her out for a little run with you.
If he or she hasn't popped out yet, you really only have to consider your own activity level. Even if it's just that you like to take more walks in the park than the average parent, those bigger wheels might come in handy.
Pushing Kids Around For Nearly 400 Years
It was an esteemed English landscape artist and furniture designer who designed the first baby carriage in early 1730s.
He did so to fulfill the request of the Duke of Devonshire, and the early design was actually meant to be pulled along by a small pack animal like a goat or a donkey. Try getting away with that today!
The supremely inexpensive design of the so-called umbrella stroller came along in the 1960s, thanks to a clever aeronautical engineer and his travel-weary wife.
These early strollers, which wouldn't be called strollers until the 1950s, were predominantly made of wood or wicker, with heavy, expensive brass fittings and joints.
Despite some more crude design elements, many baby carriages had features like brakes and umbrella holders as early as the 1830s.
They only began to get lighter and more modern in the late 19th century, when reversible baskets and hinged wheels were added.
The supremely inexpensive design of the so-called umbrella stroller came along in the 1960s, thanks to a clever aeronautical engineer and his travel-weary wife. It's a popular design despite its lack of safety features, and it's still sneered at by wealthier, more privileged parents today.