After many weeks of debating all the qualities that make perfect up the stroller (pram) Amy and I finally reached our decision. See my previous blog post for why this decision was so hard and some of the questions we were juggling.
All hail the Uppababby Vista! After seeing off serious competition for the Baby Jogger CityMini GT and the Britax B Agile the Uppababy Vista emerged victorious. Why did we determine this carriage the perfect transport mechanism for our bundle of joy you ask, well here’s a run down of me thoughts:
We wanted a stroller/pram that we would be able to carry our little one around in from birth, which meant we needed something that would allow the baby to lie flat in. I loved the idea of getting a stroller with a bassinet (carrycot), possibly because I was seduced by its more European feel (I’m still technically European until Brexit goes through) but also because you can simply pop off the bassinet and take it indoors with you whilst baby is still sleeping and I think that’s going to prove a major advantage for the first few months. The bassinet on the Vista is also night sleep approved so the baby can sleep in there for as long as it needs so great for trips away.
Although we’re not yet sure whether we’ll have more children (at least until we’ve ascertained whether we make reasonable parents) we wanted to leave open that possibility. The Vista comes with possibility of adding another seat allowing it to carry two or attach a glide board so an older child can stand on the back. It also looks and feels pretty durable so we think it’ll stand up to the abuse of city life.
Since we don’t own a car and trips in motorized vehicles will be seldom, getting a stroller/pram with a car seat wasn’t a big deal for us. (More on car seats in future blog posts). We also live on the ground floor and so we were OK with it being a few extra pounds heavier and other features felt more important.
Being absolutely honest with you, after our umpteenth visit to Babies “R” Us to look at the strollers we left the store convinced we would be buying a City Mini GT and probably opting to get the extra bassinet attachment. However, on the walk home I spotted that the Vista was 20% off on Amazon, that brought the overall cost to a similar level as the City Mini GT once you’ve considered the Vista comes with its own rain cover and mosquito net as well as the bassinet include. We went home watched some more promo videos and made our decision to go for the Vista. I did wake up in the middle of the night fretting about the cost of the decision and Googling around for alternatives with all the same advantages but at a lower price but not finding what I wanted. By the time Amy and I woke up in the morning we had both decided the Vista was ultimately the right choice and we ordered one in a wonderful shade of red!
So here’s a quick summary:
- If you’re thought process is similar to ours then you might also find the Uppababy Vista checks all your boxes.
- If you need to worry about cost and/or stairs then I would recommend the CityMini, it really is a great stroller.
- If you want something that comes with the car seat for the full travel system package then perhaps consider the gb Lyfe.
I’m now extremely well versed in many strollers and their advantages and disadvantages so if you want to chat to someone or ask a question feel free to get in touch with me and I’ll do my best to advise. I know how hard this decision is!
It would only be fair to list for you the reservations I have:
- We plumped for the bassinet attachment as it felt really important to us to have this but it does restrict your choice and add to the cost. We’ll only know if that was worth it for the few months the baby will use it later on.
- Part of the reason we thought it was worth spending a bit more was that it would be a bit more durable and maybe even last more than one child! I’ll report back on that in a few years time.