More for you, less for me, but that's ok

For someone who plans everything to the T, I just realised that I don't actually have a shopping list yet for the baby. So last weekend, I decided to do one up. I got a list going with the budget attached to each item. It didn't take long for me to realise that the most expensive thing on that list is the stroller.

I started googling reviews for the best strollers around, and immediately regretted it. Firstly, there are so many types to choose from, three wheeler vs four wheeler, front facing vs rear facing vs reversible, and it goes on. Once you've decided on the type that you do like, then you have to choose from the different brands. Mind blowing ok this process. It's like picking a car. You want something light, portable yet durable and of course, looks pretty darn good (that's the girl in me wanting something nice and pretty).

In the end I decided to get a travel system, which is a stroller that can be used from a newborn up to 2 years old, depending on the weight and height of the baby. You can use a car seat or a carrycot for when the baby is a newborn up to about 6 months old, and then you can use the normal seat for after. Assuming our baby is the typical Malaysian baby (ie comel je), we intend to use the one stroller for as long as we can.

The great summer sale is now one (weeeee!) so we decided to go check out the prices for some of the stuff on my list. I know its still early but there's no harm in looking right? Especially if the deals are really good. If the stroller that we like isn't on sale, then we would wait until September/October to get one, as we don't have space to accommodate too much baby stuff at the moment. Cons of living in an apartment, sigh.

Our first stop was Mothercare. We walked in and I immediately got distracted by the cute baby clothes. I've never actually gone into Mothercare, except to buy the odd baby present, so this was the first time that I actually paid attention to what's in store and the prices. There was a 50% sale on a lot of the clothes so it ended up looking so cheap. For example, you can get an 8 piece set for just €13. They are good quality clothes as well, 100% cotton and so adorably cute!

The husband managed to drag me away from the clothes to the stroller section. We played around with a few, and I think we've narrowed it down to the following:

 

Quinny Buzz 4 - on sale for €1,019 for the whole set at Mothercare, €489 for stroller only

I like this one because it can be both rear and forward facing, and you can use the car seat as the carrier for when the baby is still quite small. I don't like the shopping basket because it's smaller than the others we saw but that's just a cosmetic issue. I've also read rave reviews online about this stroller so it's at the top of my list.

Maxi Cosi Elea - €479 at Bellababy.ie

The coolest thing about this stroller is how you can fold it twice so it ends being so flat. Definitely a plus point for people who live in an apartment like us. The shopping basket is also much bigger than the one on the Quinny Buzz. Also, testfreaks.co.uk gives this stroller a rating of 10/10. I can't seem to find it anywhere in stores though, and I don't want to buy anything without testing it first. Hmm..

Mothercare Spin - on sale for €449 at Mothercare

This is similar in functionality to the Quinny Buzz. The shopping basket is a bit bigger which I like. But then, I read reviews online about the brakes sometimes acting up and how it's quite hard to close and open the stroller. So I'm still apprehensive about this one...

 Mothercare My Choice - On sale for €399 at Mothercare

You can see there's a trend as to the type of strollers we like. This one is more affordable than the rest and it comes in all kinds of colours. I haven't really looked at the reviews for this one yet so might do that first before deciding which one to get.

Initially, we wanted to go for a relatively cheap stroller which was on sale at 50% off at €279 and came with a free car seat as well. But then I read the reviews on it and they weren't encouraging. They said the tyres kept getting punctured, whaaat?? So I told the husband that it might be more worth it to spend just a little bit more to get a better quality one for the baby. This meant we had to move around our funds to accommodate more for the baby's budget. I was ready to sacrifice a Chanel purse in order to get a better quality stroller for the baby. Shows you how much I've grown up eh?