How to choose a stroller? What are its characteristics, and when should I start using it?

Hello there! 🙂

So, you have gone into quite a complex territory, ideal for an article actually (I am planning to do that later on for sure!), but while waiting, I will make a draft by responding to you in as much detail as needed.

A 'stroller' (or 'pushchair') I consider anything that is not a pram/chassis with a carrycot, or what is not an umbrella stroller - meaning something that has two individual handlebars and folds in an "umbrella" manner. So a stroller (for me) can be reversible as well as forward-facing only, part of a stroller system/combination as well as a stroller-only - so pretty much a chassis with a seat on it so that a child can also sit (not only lay) on it, while not having two separate handles.

I know you didn't ask about it, but I find it important to stop for a but with those 'strollers' found in combinations/stroller system sets (of course, even this depends on what kind of stroller system we are talking about) - they tend to be quite large/robust while space-wise, not that great... those you usually start using around the time when your baby is six months old. If it's such a baby that is comfy in the carrycot for longer, it can be that the passage will happen around his/hers 1 year, but on average, it should be 6 to 8 months, really. In such a stroller, the baby usually will be ok until 1.5-2yo - or until the time the stroller system seat unit won't start bugging the mommy with its style/weight/(im)practicality/(non-)spaciousness/(non-)compactness... Of course, there are also those cases, where the parents were choosing the whole stroller system based on the seat unit part, combining it with a conventional carrycot (or an insert soft carrycot/baby nest, etc.) and/or car seat adapters - and such a system may be lasting from the beginning to the very end of stroller days. This usually comprises some compromises, like a non-reversible seat or a very basic carrycot part, but the overall performance ratio is super nice with such a choice.

The smallest strollers of such a (non-reversible) type, as well as (the simplest) umbrella-style strollers, are also often called 'buggies'. This varies a lot on the country and the community - some moms call even a Valco Snap a buggy, which I cannot say I agree with, and some say a buggy is only the simplest of the simple umbrella strollers. For me, a buggy is a very small, compact, simple type of stroller - including umbrella strollers (like the Peg-Pérego Pliko Mini) as well as those ultra-compacts (like the Babyzen Yoyo). You will buy a buggy when you have an older toddler that often walks instead of sits in a stroller and only for undemanding walks, shopping trips, holidays, or for keeping in the car in case of an emergency... With a buggy, you are compromising, because the advantages of a very small, compact fold, low weight and overall ease of use are 'paid' with small, often 'rattly' wheels, no terrain capabilities and overall smaller space inside the seat. For shops and undemanding use, this is actually completely enough, and it balances all the negatives that affect the comfort by how non-cumbersome they are. The right time for a buggy is usually around 2 years up (or 3) - or when you need something super small only for holidays, where you don't want to carry anything heavier than that... a buggy is a secondary, 'spare' stroller, in short.

And now, back to those strollers you had in mind. That is a kind of a middle ground, which you will start using somewhere between 8 months and 3 years+. It's very much up to your lifestyle, but the general circumstances usually are, that the mom needs something lighter, handier, while still needing comfort features. I would say a real time for this is somewhere around 1.5-2 years of the child - I mean, this is the age where most mommies pass to such a type. Until then, they usually use the original stroller from a pram/stroller system.

The second stroller/pushchair, as I already hinted, is lighter, with smaller - but not small wheels, wider seat, and a folding system that is often one-handed, or at least simple enough. Those are the strongest features - the space in the seat, the simplicity of use with relative comfort for the parent as well as for the child. Of course, the price and design choices will affect all that, but still...

To this category, I would put strollers/pushchairs like Valco Snap or the Oyster Zero, but a more robust Britax B-Motion Plus or a three-wheeler like the Baby Jogger City Elite as well. Parents also consider the reversible strollers a part of this category too - that would mean models that can be bought separately from a stroller system as well (e.g., like the Cybex Balios S). With the reversible models, count on narrower seat space again, at least compared to those non-reversible models.

To all the general rules, there are exceptions, of course - mothers that will be ok with one robust pram/stroller system from the beginning to the end, or those moms buying a very simple non-reversible stroller only (to use from birth) - mainly in the USA is such a way quite regular, using a stroller only, or a travel system with a car seat only, right from birth... So it's all about what you're used to, what you expect, what you need - and the baby as well. To all this, add a price range you can be spending, the terrain and travel possibilities you may be encountering, and some aesthetics you are expecting out of a stroller - these will limit your choices considerably... And count on the fact that all the thing you want, ideally almost for free, are quite impossible to achieve 😉