Need Help in Chosing Car Seat and Stroller for First Time Mother

Hi C., being consider a pro with 5 kids, I have had my fair share of strollers. My last daughter, I used the chico combo with the stroller and car seat, found at babies r us, orange and sand color, the best, both light weight and easy to maintain on your own. You can handle it with one hand.

Good Luck!

We have the Peg Perego Pliko 3 Stroller, and while it's a great stroller it's on the heavy side. I would recommend getting a good infant car seat, the Peg Perego or the Graco Snugride (about half the price of the Peg Perego) and then getting the Graco stroller frame for an infant car seat. It's super light, and easy to fold with one hand. And then I would suggest getting another light weight stroller for when your child is older and can sit in the stroller without the infant car seat, e.g. a Maclaren umbrella type stroller.

The Peg Perego is suppose to be one of the safest car seat. I love it and know my kids where safe when in it. Its a heavy car seat but was also highly recommended to me by others mothers that had babies. I also bought the frame stroller from Graco because it was light and I was able to keep the baby in the car seat.

We love the Aria stroller, it is really light, folds pretty flat and has good storage space. I think you should be able to get an attachment that allows you to put your bucket-carseat on it so you can keep the baby in the seat when you get in-and-out of the car.

if not however, you can hold off on the aria and just get the bucket seat you want, and get a snap-and-go stroller frame -- they are just $40 new or there are probably several floating around craigslist or even on mamasource.

for a newborn, being able to keep him/her in the seat if they are asleep (but still be able to load/unload) is huge. and you will not need the full stroller until they outgrow the bucket seat anyway. so if the aria can serve this purpose in the interim, all the better.

hope that helps and good luck!

Hi C.,
I use to sell carseats and strollers for a living at The Right Start- it's a great store and there are still stores open =) As for the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio and the Graco Snug Ride infant car seat when my son was born those were the two safest on the market. I had the Graco stroller to match my car seat and it's heavy but it works great. I would check on the consumer affairs website for safety and crash test ratings for the car seat and for the stroller, go to stores and test them out. I now have a light weight graco stroller and love it- I can get it out of the trunk and open while holding my son =) Also, specialty stores such as the Right Start have trained their employees to know all the perks and features of all car seats and strollers and they will take as much time as you want to go over them with you. Good luck and congrats!

I have the twin Aria and I really like it. I still love my Rock Star single stroller though and use it more. It comes with the toddler seat, the carseat attachment and the bassinet. What I love most about it, besides being the easiest of all the strollers to steer, is that I can still have my baby facing towards me even after she is out of the carseat.

As far as infant seats go, get a safe one but I wouldnt spend a lot. Mine had outgrown hers by 4 months and was far more comfy in a convertible carseat. By that age she also wouldnt last very long in the infant bucket seat if we were out shopping/walking, so I had to take her out anyhow.

My suggestion is to start going to stores every other weekend and trying out differnt strollers until you find one you really love. Goores is great for this, they are super friendly and you can play all your want, then buy elsewhere if you need too.

I had both. The Viaggio car seat is great! The Aria Stroller is very light and easy to handle.

Hey C., Congradulations!
We have an evenflo carseat that has a stroler base, and we love it. It is super easy to use, and I trust is. Good luck!