There’s so many things that there’s no way to know as a first time mom unless someone tells you. And I’m not talking about parenting tips.

This week we bought our double stroller. Because, you know, nothing like last minute with the second baby. Anyway, I learned something that I wish I had known when shopping for a stroller with my first son. Something that would have saved us HUNDREDS of dollars. If you’re a first time mom who plans on having more than one baby, then you need to know this too before you buy your first stroller.

When we registered originally, I knew we were going to be having at least one more baby, but of course you wouldn’t buy a double stroller right from the beginning because you would look crazy pushing it around. I mean, you could get a puppy and put him in there, but you probably won’t. So we did what we thought was our only option- we bought a single stroller and knew we would have to replace it with a double stroller when the time came.

Well, that time is now. And in shopping for our new stroller, here’s what I discovered. That we could have just bought this stroller FROM THE BEGINNING. And we wouldn’t have had to put our dog in it as a place holder. The new double stroller that we bought is actually a single stroller that CONVERTS into a double stroller when you need it, in a few minutes flat. All you need is a pair of $20 brackets to take it from a single to a double stroller and then back to a single stroller when you remove the brackets. So that means that if my husband and I each go out separately with the kids, my older son can go in the umbrella stroller, and the baby can stay in the carrier in the big stroller which we can easily make into a single again. Otherwise, if we had just a regular double stroller (which stays that way all the time), I’d have to put a wig on the dog to use it when I only have one kid with me.

So basically, moral of the story is, I could have saved the $400 our Graco single stroller cost two years ago, and just bought this stroller from the beginning. But we had no idea a stroller like this even existed. When we were shopping for a stroller no one asked us our future family plans. No one said, “Hey, if you’re looking to have more children, buy a stroller now that converts to your needs later.” So I’m here to tell you this stroller right here, the Baby Jogger City Select Stroller, is all you need right from the beginning. I know the price looks high, but it will be the ONLY stroller you will need to buy (besides maybe a cheap umbrella stroller). You won’t be buying a single stroller, then a double stroller, and possibly a jogging stroller as well. That’s a lot of money in strollers!! Plus, I love that this comes in the option of all black seats for two reasons. One, I noticed that now that my son walks a lot, the bottom of his shoes made his grey seat look dirty, and second, but most importantly, all black will never clash with any of my outfits.

Here’s a few more things you need to know:

~The wheels on this stroller are awesome, so it’s much easier to push and thus eliminates the need to buy a THIRD stroller if you were interested in a jogging stroller.

~You don’t need to buy the most expensive newest model. Not that much changes on it from year to year. It’s just a few tweaks to call it the “latest model,” but typically, the older version works out just as well.

~This stroller also has a glider board you can purchase so a third, older child can stand and ride along.

~If you already had a single stroller like us and don’t want to buy the baby carrier, you can buy an adapter like this one for the Graco carrier, to be able to use your own carrier from a different brand stroller.

~If you need the second seat it can be purchased here. Or you can just by the stroller with the second seat right up front. It will then also have the adapter brackets with it. We chose not to get the second seat right now. The stroller comes with one seat which Joey will sit in, and the baby will be in the carrier for a little while. When he is ready to go to a big boy seat, Joey may not want to be in the stroller anymore, or he may be fine with just the glider board attachment.

I hope this helped guide you as a first time mom to make the best decision when purchasing a stroller for your growing family. Share this blog with someone else who you know could use the tip!

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