Single-to-Double Stroller 3.0

We got a travel system with the infant seat and then upsized to a convertible when he grew out of the infant seat around 14-15 months. The Target in Evanston on Howard has a Mockingbird to try and some other budget brands, but they’re zip tied so you might have to talk to an associate. The Bucktown Target has a special baby area that has bougie-er brands, but there were fewer options than we expected. The Mag Mile and Old Orchard Nordstrom had the same bougie picks, and not many for comparison’s sake, just the most popular Uppababy and Nuna models. Galt Baby has locations on Michigan and in Northbrook, but they seem to carry just the highest price points. The Bucktown Kohl’s will say they have a Babies R Us in store but they had like 3 strollers, it wasn’t worth the drive. For what it’s worth, we mainly used the Graco Ready 2 Jet with our first, especially since our L stop doesn’t have an elevator. I could handle the baby in the car seat and the folded stroller up the stairs by myself, and I’m not that strong. We are looking at the Mockingbird 3.0 since we are expecting #2. It will be harder to navigate up the stairs but that’s what I get for having a second baby! This summer we are going to take a trip to the Northbrook Nordstrom and see if they have a better selection to look at. If you aren’t due before it comes back through town, the Prego Expo recently didn’t have a TON of brands but there was a lot to look and and see up close in one place.

Hi! We ended up finding the Graco Ready 2 Jet the easiest to navigate on the CTA—it’s super light so I could manage it and the car seat up the stairs to my no elevator having Red Line stop. If it had come out in time we probably would have gone with the Graco Go Max or the Joie Mint so we didn’t need to keep the base in one car and use the seatbelt in another. The only problem with the Ready 2 Jet is that it didn’t lay completely flat so we stuck with using the car seat until he was able to sit up on his own. I’m glad we went with a more affordable option since things get bumped around and if we needed to replace things it would have been NBD. Baby #2 is due in September and out of everything we tried we are probably going to go with the Mockingbird. It felt lighter than the other single to double options and since we train/bus so often a wide double felt like it would be harder to manage, and they make an adapter for the seat we already have and the seat lays flat. We will probably skip the bassinet. We will probably have to switch to a different L stop though, I’m going to miss the under 14 pounds stroller.

Good luck on your search! We were gifted a Graco jogging stroller which is what we take for long walks to the park or beach, the big inflatable wheels are better at handling grass and big sidewalk cracks but it is much heavier and takes a lot more room. If you are wanting to test things out in person, the Target in Evanston on Howard has a Mockingbird to try and some other budget brands like Graco, but some were zip tied so you might have to talk to an associate. The Bucktown Target has a special baby area that has bougie-er brands, but there were fewer options than we expected. They did have the Joie and some Uppababy and Bugaboo. The Mag Mile and Old Orchard Nordstrom had similar bougie picks, and not many for comparison’s sake, just the most popular Uppababy and Nuna models. Galt Baby has locations on Michigan and in Northbrook, and Twinkle Twinkle Little One is also in the city, but they seem to carry just the highest price points. The Bucktown Kohl’s will say they have a Babies R Us in store but they had like 3 strollers, it wasn’t worth the drive. We’re going to check out the Northbrook Nordstrom just to be safe but we are probably sticking with mid-range brands since I haven’t seen a ton of difference besides aesthetics