My Trusty Sidekick While Out & About

Babies are big business! There are so many fun, cute, helpful and totally unnecessary products out there for little ones. And have you ever noticed how hard companies try to convince you that you need every one of them when having a baby?!

Well, this isn't necessarily a must have product, it is something that I have found very handy and use often.

Before Grace was born, I searched high and low for a stroller that would work with her car seat. We went with the Chicco model--fits baby up to 30 lbs./30 in. and was one of the top rated from Consumer Reports. But, it's accompanying stroller was pretty expensive and the whole combo thing just seemed big and bulky to me. So, I kept looking until Grace began to get too heavy to run quick errands with.

My original intention was to just have one stroller that I could take anywhere, jog with, and that worked with her infant car seat. But, that didn't work out. I had found a BOB Jogging stroller on Craigslist for a steal of a deal, but the special "bar" that hooks onto it (which allows it to be used with a car seat) didn't fit our model. They wouldn't be coming out with one that worked until the Spring. I just didn't want to wait that long--I don't know that my arms would've made it! She's getting pretty heavy!

So, I went with the Graco SnugRider Infant Car Seat Stroller Frame. Quite a mouthful huh?! Seriously though, I would highly recommend this option to others for several reasons...

1. It works with the Chicco car seat. It also works with many other popular brands.

2. It is incredibly lightweight.

3. It folds up flat and easily fits into the trunk of my car with plenty of room for groceries and other items.

4. It has a decent sized basket underneath.

5. If she's asleep in the car, I can quickly pop her into the stroller and get going without waking her up.

6. It only cost around $50! This last one was the clincher!

Grace's car seat doesn't "snap in" to the stroller like its technically supposed to because the base doesn't work that way. This was something that concerned me initially, but as you can see, it fits so snugly that I haven't had anything to worry about. It's not like I'm racing down flights of stairs with her in this thing. I mainly use it while out shopping, running errands and shorter walks right around our neighborhood--for longer walks/runs, I use the jogging stroller.

It may even be helpful if you have more than one child. My sister-in-law has a Baby Trend Single Snap N' Go Stroller (This website was the cheapest place I could order one from, they shot me an email when they got more in stock--which didn't take long). It's a very similar model to my own. She had looked into a triple stroller to carry all three of my nieces in, but couldn't find anything that both worked for them and was affordable. So, she uses her double stroller for the older two and the single for Baby Belle when she's out and about with her husband.