Full-Featured Stroller Review

Introduction to Full-Featured Strollers

Full-featured strollers are just what you'd think. They have the most bells and whistles: cup holders, extra storage, lots of padding and, importantly, a fully reclining seat for newborns that cannot yet support their heads. Lightweight strollers, usually umbrella-style strollers, weigh less than 15 pounds and are covered in our companion report on umbrella strollers. Umbrella strollers don't have as many features, and only a few have fully reclining seats.

Consumer Reports reviews some full-featured, lightweight and double strollers for ease of use, safety, handling and durability. Ratings are based on independent testing, and there's a good selection of full-featured strollers, jogging strollers, double strollers and umbrella strollers.

Although Consumer Reports does a thorough job rating strollers, we preferred the reviews in the excellent baby-gear book, Baby Bargains, by Denise and Alan Fields. The write-ups in Baby Bargains are more comprehensive and review a wider selection of models than Consumer Reports, including trendy imports from Quinny, Mountain Buggy and Inglesina. Baby Bargains considers parent, manufacturer and retailer interviews, as well as hands-on tests, before assigning product ratings. In addition, their website offers parents and stroller users an opportunity to contribute comments.

Full-featured strollers are among the largest available on the market, and they generally have the most features. This has an upside and a downside. These strollers have the sturdiest frames and wheels, which afford a smoother (and sometimes more shock-resistant) ride. They're also wider and roomier, with comfortable padded seats that fully recline, so they're appropriate for newborns (who need to lie completely flat). There is normally a large canopy, lots of storage space and sometimes front play trays and adjustable-height handles. The drawbacks are that full-featured strollers tend to be heavy (up to 30 pounds), bulky (which can be an issue if you have a small car trunk or are in a grocery aisle) and awkward to fold.

Parents are generally rebelling against the huge strollers that were popular a few years ago. Now the trend is toward more streamlined designs, embracing the idea that full-featured strollers don't have to look bulky or weigh 30 pounds to be functional. Most of the progress has been made in the upper end of the price scale, where companies like Bugaboo, Zooper and Inglesina have introduced stylish strollers with convenient features like one-hand fold mechanisms, car seat adapters for snapping on an infant seat and lighter-weight aluminum frames.

There's a lot of buzz about fancy high-end strollers from Bugaboo, Quinny and Stokke. The Stokke Xplory, for example, costs $900, and that's just for the basic model that sells without a bassinet accessory. Yet in reviews, testing doesn't reveal that handling and durability are that much superior to other less expensive strollers. In fact, testing actually reveals some compromises. The Xplory, for example, has no storage basket at all. Rather, there's just a small zippered pouch. While that helps the stroller look streamlined, it also means that you've got no place to stash a diaper bag, blanket, toys or other essentials.