Through Sunday, September 19th, Babies R Us and Toys R � Us stores are holding their Great Trade-In event providing their customers with the opportunity to trade-in any used car seats, strollers, cribs, bassinets, travel systems, play yards, toddler beds or high chairs in exchange for a 25% off savings on the purchase of a new baby item, in any of the product categories from select manufacturers. Participating brands are: Britax, Babi Italia, Baby Cache, Baby Trend, Bergamo, Bertini, Carter, Chicco, Contours by Kolcraft, Cosco, Delta, Eddie Bauer, Evenflo, Graco, Jeep, Little Tikes, Safety 1st, Sorelle and Step2.

The Great Trade-In� event places an emphasis on specific baby products, that due to safety concerns, may not be the best candidates to be handed down or resold. Beyond recalls, certain older and used baby items can be potentially unsafe for a variety of reasons, including damage or lack of compliance with recent advances in product safety standards.

You don’t need to have purchased the item you want to trade-in from TRU or BRU and no receipt is required. You can bring in multiple items and you will be given one 25% off discount for each item traded in. The discount must be used that day on another item from the participating categories and manufacturers. Trade-In items and purchased items can be from different categories.

Walking down the street with one child in a stroller and another child holding your hand or stroller isn’t always easy. Most of the time, the walking child either ends up tripping on the stroller or letting go of your hand (as you try to push your stroller with your other hand). The Tag A Long ($9.99) was invented by a mom and dad (from Philadelphia) as an easier way to stroll with their small son. It’s a brightly colored handle that hangs off your stroller for your child to hold  onto. It attaches to every brand and type of stroller and doesn’t require tools to install. It’s lead-free as well as BPA-free and meets the new CPSIA standards. It will appeal to young kids – for the independence factor.  Added bonus: You can use it on store shopping carts, tote bags, or upright carts.

With the Tag A Long, my 4 1/2 year old has a dedicated place on his sister’s stroller to hold onto, and doesn’t trip on the stroller anymore. Since he’s getting older, holding my hand just isn’t as cool anymore. He loves the bright orange color we tested and I didn’t have to keep reminding him to hold onto me or the stroller (he just automatically kept his hand on it).

Thank you to Naptime Industries for sending a product sample.

So many mamas swear by their Mountain Buggies and I’m so excited to report that the 2010 Mountain Buggy double stroller, the Mountain Buggy Duo ($679) is amazing! I had previously tested the 2008 version of the Mountain Buggy Double Stroller and loved it — but this is even better!

There’s an adjustable handle, a large storage basket with a zippered compartment on the outside, and fabric bottle holders. The Duo can be used with newborns – there’s a full recline. Or it will take either one or two infant carrycots or one car seat at a time — use either the Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat Adapter ($39.99) or a Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Infant Car Seat Adapter ($39.99). You can use the front wheels in swivel mode or lock them for more stability on uneven terrain.

Change  for the 2010 version include: Separate canopies for each child (that have UV mesh inserts that can be pulled down for even more sun protection), the stroller is now one inch narrower, and a bumper bar is standard. Since the stroller seats have a slight recline, even when the seat is all the way up, the bumper bar is great for kids to be able to hold onto.

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Anything that makes getting out and around easier is welcome in our house and the EasyWalker QTRO stroller fits the bill.  Though this Dutch designed stroller doesn’t seem to get as much press as some of the other stroller brands out there, this is undoubtedly a stroller you want to add to your list to check out if you’re looking for a sleek, all-terrain stroller that provides incredible maneuvering and great features for baby and parent. [See below on how to win a QTRO of your own!]

The Basics

The QTRO is a 4-wheel, all-terrain stroller. Weighing in at 26.5 lbs, the QTRO is slightly heavier compared to similar strollers though the easy maneuvering makes it unnoticeable when you’re pushing it. Available in five contemporary colors, the QTRO comes standard with an underseat basket, bumper bar, sunshade, and rain shield.  Optional accessories include car seat adapters, parasol, carrycot, foot muff, diaper bag, EasyBoard and others. The stroller can hold up to 60 lbs. but can’t be used from birth unless you buy the car seat adapters or the carrycot, either of which is a good investment to make the most of this stroller.

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I recently previewed Teutonia’s latest model, the t-linx in New York recently.  You can use it two ways, as the t-linx Travel System (with a car seat and the chassis) or the t-linx toddler stroller (the toddler seat and the chassis).  To use it as a Travel System, the chassis wil take Teutonia’s t-tario 35 infant car seat or Graco Snugride® 35 infant car seat (using an adapter). I absolutely loved this stroller – the fold, even though its 2 part, was very easy and I liked that you could either use their car seat or the Graco SnugRide. The coolest feature is the reversible handle — which you can flip in an instant, using one hand.

The chassis with the toddler seat retails for $499 and the chassis, toddler seat and the t-tario 35 infant car seat retails for $699.

• Multi-position one-hand recline
• Easy-to-access storage basket
• Front spring suspension
• Seat fits a child up to 50lbs
• Extra storage on seat back for cups, bottles and snacks
• Canopy for sun protection with extending visor and mesh window
• Canopy and exterior fabric offer UV 50+ protection and are water resistant
• The chassis and the toddler seat weigh 25 lbs.

The t-linx is available now.

My family and I just returned from Jamaica on Friday. We had an awesome and smooth trip, and a large reason why is due to the Joovy Caboose Ultralight that we brought along.

A little background first…

My boys are 5 and 2 1/2. We rarely use strollers anymore, however, I knew I would need to bring something on a trip involving airports, lots of walking, and general travel. When I learned that I had the chance to try out the Joovy, I figured, “why not!,” not truly realizing how fabulous this stroller is and how perfect it was for us and for our trip.

Now a bit on why this stroller is so amazing!

Our Joovy Caboose Ultralight allowed our two boys to comfortably sit throughout our travels. My younger son Jonah (2 1/2) sat in the two-position front seat and my older son Jacob (5) alternated between sitting in the padded, adjustable rear seat and standing. Jacob, who is a very tall child, had no problem using the back seat/standing. (The stroller accommodates kids 6 months through 45 lbs.) Jonah, who never really napped in a stroller previously, enjoyed the Joovy so much that every day around 2pm he asked to get in and take a walk to take a nap. Every single day of our trip Jonah napped in the Joovy for over 2 hours! (See why the Joovy was so important to the success of our trip?!) He also enjoyed keeping his cup and snack in the child tray and cup holder.

I also really loved using this stroller:

• First of all, it was a pleasure to steer. I am not going to slam any other stroller manufacturers, but I have been using another tandem stroller for 2 years and will not be using it again after my experience with the Joovy. My now-former not-to-be-named stroller was too hard to push with both kids in it, and much heavier and more cumbersome than the Joovy. The Joovy, however, has these amazing swivel “smooth-glide” wheels which make it a pleasure to push.
• It also has a large, awesome basket (which sometimes you lose on a double) and comes with a neoprene parent organizer! (How awesome is THAT?!) The parent organizer holds water bottles, cell phones, keys, iPods, credit cards and money, and more. We stuffed our sunscreen, room key, and some water bottles in it each day and were off!
• I also loved that it was extremely easy to fold up and was very light weight. We were able to easily store it in our hotel room (which was not huge) and even got compliments throughout our trip from other parents on how nice and compact the Joovy folded.
• A huge bonus for me and my family was the large sun visor/canopy. With a red-headed fair-skinned child in the Caribbean, we were definitely concerned about burning. But the Joovy’s huge canopy easily covered him and also covered part of my older son in the rear seat.
• Finally, the Joovy is a really nice looking stroller. Not that I am vain or anything but as far as the typical Sit and Stand goes, I think the Joovy is really attractive. And I love that it comes in a ton of great color choices. We had the bright and fun Sunset color, but also available are Sage, Black, Brownie, Blueberry, Orangetree, and Greenie.

One feature that I did not use but that is fabulous should you have a little one in an infant carrier is the universal car seat adapter. This easy-to-install adapter accepts most major brands and allows you to safely and easily tote around your newborn or infant along with your older child.

Really, I could go on and on about this stroller. It is my new favorite must-have for parents of two little ones. I’m not sure why it took me so long to experience the Joovy Caboose Ultralight, but I will certainly be using it all of the time now… and I highly recommend it to you if you have (or are expecting) 2 young children.

Thanks to Joovy for donating the Caboose Ultralight!

Britax has issued a voluntary safety recall on its Blink Stroller. The recall is in response to a potential risk of harm when a consumer opens or closes the stroller.  No injuries have been reported, but as an extra precaution Britax will provide free remedy kits (with hinge covers) to all registered Blink owners.

Please visit www.BlinkRecall.com or call the Britax information line at 888-427-4829 for further instructions.

There was never a reason, but since my oldest son was born I’ve been lusting after a Valco. Finally, this summer, Valco Baby sent me a sample of the Latitude for review. It was worth the wait. This stroller is a dream come true.

First its super-light-weight. The 19 pound stroller is delightful to push with a smooth roll and a dynamic turning radius along a very narrow base that pushing my 12 pound 6 month old (yes, she’s tiny) is seriously like pushing air.

Even though its a tiny stroller, the actual seat is large enough for a preschooler (tested by the Kindergartener) but comfortable enough for the baby with a full recline. I have her covered in an attached blanket and she sleeps soundly and comfortably.

The 2 handed fold is smooth and simple. And what is fantastic is how small it is when folded. I’m no longer giving up nearly my entire SUV trunk-space to my stroller, now there’s plenty of room for all of my shopping bags, a pack and play, luggage for a trip and whatever else we have packed in at the time. A huge bonus is that, when folded, it still stands vertically, which means a very little footprint when not in use. (Ideal for tight storage spaces, aka my garage).

Of course I need to mention the basket which fits my diaper bag with room to spare–more than I need for walking to the bus stop and enough for a quick trip through the mall.

I’ve also used the stroller for my Stroller Fit class. This is going to sound funny, but its almost too light. Its a great jogger, so easy to move and zoom around the park. While my classmates pushed their heavy joggers, the Latitude moved so quickly that it sped me ahead of the group.

Infant seat attachments are available, though I didn’t use the one that goes with the Britax. The stroller is outfitted and snug enough that, once my baby could hold her head well, I felt fine putting her in the stroller directly.

Honestly, I can’t imagine needing another stroller (I know, easy to say right now, right?) But the Latitude meets all of my needs: neighborhood walks, Stroller Fit class, shopping the mall and shopping centers, even amusement parks. Valco’s Latitude EX stroller is really all I can see myself needing.

So that dream of a stroller? It really can come true.

Find Valco Baby’s Latitude EX at Lets Go Strolling, where you can use MWSVALCO for 10% off all Valco Strollers through March 31st, 2010.

Thanks to Valco Baby for providing a sample stroller for this review.

Have a used car seat/stroller/bassinet, etc. lying around? I have a few old car seats that are from my daughter and I don’t think they are safe to use for my 2-year old son. So when I heard about the “Great Trade-In” event, I was thrilled!

Through Saturday, February 20th, Babies “R” Us and Toys “R” Us stores are holding the “Great Trade-In” event providing their customers with the opportunity to trade-in any used car seats, strollers, cribs, bassinets, travel systems, play yards, toddler beds or high chairs in exchange for a 25% off savings on the purchase of a new baby item, in any of the product categories from select manufacturers. Participating brands are: Britax, Babi Italia, Baby Cache, Baby Trend, Bergamo, Bertini, Carter’s, Chicco, Contours by Kolcraft, Cosco, Delta, Eddie Bauer, Evenflo, Graco, Jeep, Little Tikes, Safety 1st, Sorelle and Step2.

The “Great Trade-In” event places an emphasis on specific baby products, that due to safety concerns, may not be the best candidates to be handed down or resold. Beyond recalls, certain older and used baby items can be potentially unsafe for a variety of reasons, including damage or lack of compliance with recent advances in product safety standards.

You don’t need to have purchased the item you want to “trade-in” from TRU or BRU. You can bring in multiple items and you will be given one 25% off discount for each item traded in. The discount must be used that day on another item from the participating categories and manufacturers. Trade-In items and purchased items can be from different categories.

Of course, I want the best for my baby. And when we think of the best in car seats, we’re going to think of Britax. They’ve worked hard to earn the reputation, and its no surprise to me that when it came to creating a new baby carrier/carseat and stroller travel system, they set their standards high, to meet our expectations.

The Chaperone carseat & base:

• Longer than most, it fits a child 4-30 pounds rearfacing. Height is up to 32 inches. (this is a baby carrier seat, it does  not sit forward facing)
• Comes with a base like none I’d ever seen before. It has an “anti-rebound bar” to stabalize seat in case of impact.
• No rethread height adjustment: possibly my favorite part of the seat. The head restraint (below) holds the top two restraints in the 5-point harness. In this seat, as baby grows, move this area up to find the proper restraint height. This is much less of a hassle for parents (adjusting with threads is a PITA) and it ensures proper alignment of restraints with 7 heights (should be just below the shoulders when child is rear-facing.)
• Side protection: extreme. With wing support around the head that provide extra protection and cradle head from wobbling and ensures proper alignment.
• Includes both LATCH and seatbelt installation on the base.
• 5-point harness is easy for mom and dad to attach and detach.

I’m certain my baby is very safe in this Britax seat. Its easy to carry and strap her in correctly. And installation in the car was simple. It also fits snugly in a single row of my pilot with 2 other carseats (Graco Nautilus and Britax Marathon).In addition to the safety (which, of course, comes first) baby seems comfortable. The “wings” (as I call them) of the side impact protection cradled her tiny head so nicely I was never concerned about her little head hanging to the side (I had to purchase and install cushions for baby’s older siblings). The cushion is also stronger than many other carseats. Not necessarily plush, but it seems more firm–so that she likely feels less of the hard plastic.  The Chaperone’s seat is simple to remove and wash (when necessary) and, while just as heavy as other seats, the handle makes it easy to carry. The canopy on the seat is huge, and protects her nicely in the rain. It stays up nicely, but when pushed back (as in, not in use) it sags and often falls under the carrier. I’ve found it simple to remove the canopy and do not have it on the carrier on most days. This is a large seat, and we had to move it to behind the passenger side of our car, as there wasn’t enough room for the driver to move his seat back and actually drive the car. Safety, of course, comes first, and I figure I get a tiny bit more exercise because I’m running from one side of the car to the other.

The Britax Chaperone Stroller:

Its been a long time since Britax came out with a stroller. This one is head turning. At least once a day I get comments like “I didn’t know Britax makes strollers!” and “wow! That stroller looks rather space-age. Nice!” (seriously, I’ve heard some rendition of space age twice. Separately.) 

• without the carrier, the stroller should be used for kids 6 months to 55 pounds
• Chaperone carseat carrier locks into stroller with ease. Canopys meet in the middle to totally cover baby. And you can still access the basket, even with the carseat locked in
• basket is huge, really, huge. I can fit 2 fully packed diaper bags, and have room to spare. And (love this feature) the rim has an open setting, so that you can lower the back of the basket to load and  unload items and then fix it back to secure items inside
• one brake pedal controls both brakes (need to press it firmly), its a pressure adjustment that you use with your foot
• SIMPLE one handed fold: just pull the child tray out of position, then pull on the handle on the seat and it folds. Its almost too easy (so says the husband who, upon forgetting how to do it, commented that he keeps thinking it will be harder to fold, considering its so fancy)
• snack trays for both child and parent (parent gets 2 cup holders and a little bin with a cover to hold things.)
• Adjustable stroller handle height
• 5-point harness
• strong, large tires provide all-wheel suspension. Its hard to tell in the picture, but the back wheels sit wider apart than the front. (The front are also smaller). This allows for a greater turning radius and ease in pushing

In September, I joined a Stroller fit class at my gym. I have a jogger, but with baby in sleeping in the Chaperone carseat, I’ve been using the Chaperone stroller. We spend about half of our hour running and fast walking up and down an incline. I was a bit hesitant about using this stroller when jogging, but the stroller has turned out to be a faux-jogger. Its large wheels move smoothly over the hill as I pick up speed. And the thinner base at the front allows for faster, easier turning. Its turned out to be a great infant jogger. And on Fridays, when my 4 y.o. is at soccer, I have no problem pushing the Chaperone through the grass onto the field. Of course its wonderful in the mall as well. A very versatile stroller for all of my needs. The front wheels pop on upon installation. Make sure you lock them on (by listening for the “snap”) but beware that they do unlock if the button is hit. So that if your stoller moves around in your trunk and the release button hits something, they could unlock. For that reason, I have learned to put additional pressure on the front of the stroller each time I open it.

We’re very pleased with the Chaperone Travel System for our baby. Its the stroller and carseat we’ve been using since the day we brought baby home, without even a second thought that it wasn’t “right” for us. Which is a relief, because every mom knows just how hard it is to find a “right” stroller for your needs.

Thanks to Britax for providing a sample of the Chaperone Travel System for review. Buy yours by December 31, 2009 to take advantage of the $100 Mail-in Rebate Promotion.