Baby Jogger - City Mini GT

It’s my time to shine. I have spent an enormous amount of time researching strollers. I walk a lot with my baby, and we are out and about everyday. I have bought and sold several, and my final conclusion is: there is no such thing as the perfect stroller. There isn’t one stroller that does everything. What has worked for us is having one workhorse of a stroller for around the neighbourhood, and a lighter one for keeping in the car. Here are my recommendations: *Baby Jogger City Mini GT or GT2* This stroller is almost perfect for every situation. We were given a used GT and I love it so much. I bought a bassinet for it second hand, and bought the car seat adapter for our car seat. I took all of the fabric off of it so it was the the frame and it was so easy to transport in the car. It has big rubber wheels, so it’s great on gravel. There is one caveat: it does not do parent facing. My guy has outgrown the bassinet/car seat but is not quite ready for world facing. So the City Mini GT is now waiting for him to get a bit bigger. I can’t wait to use it again. If it had a reversible seat it would be the perfect stroller for every situation. *Uppababy Cruz V2* I bought a second hand one from marketplace to bridge the gap until he is world facing in the city mini. It’s a solid stroller, and easy to get in and out of the car. I don’t think it’s worth the price new, especially after using the City Mini. It doesn’t handle as well and the tires aren’t as beefy. I don’t love it on gravel, but it’s great for shopping and strolling around town. I also bought a second hand three-wheel Peg Pérego Book Scout to use as our neighbourhood workhorse until he’s ready for the City Mini again. It is a BEAST of a stroller and I love love love it EXCEPT the fold is huge and it’s heavy. So it stays at home. It handles like a dream and the tires are huge, plus it has a reversible seat. It’s at least 10 years old and I’m the third owner, so I can vouch for the quality of Peg Pérego products. Conclusions: Three-wheel strollers handle extremely well. I prefer them to four-wheel strollers. If you can find a three-wheel stroller with a reversible seat, that is your best option. There aren’t many out there. Strollers with reversible seats and beefy tires are bulky and heavy, so they are better for keeping at home. The City Mini is absolutely incredible and would be my choice except for the months in between the bassinet and world facing readiness.

See if you can find a used Baby Jogger City Mini to use for your trip and resell afterwards (or keep!). I got one for free second hand from a coworker. Didn’t think much of it, but MAN can that thing handle all the bumps and crazy tree roots in our neighborhood. We can take it on trails even. It’s slimmer than our main stroller (Nuna Tavo), less storage space, but handles amazingly well. Our Nuna is actually terrible at getting over tree roots or uneven sidewalks.

Baby jogger City Mini GT seemed to be best happy medium of price and performance… and we lived in an urban environment with lots of walking, often uneven sidewalks of a gentrifying area.

I love my city mini gt, one handed fold and it was great for my off the charts tall toddler

According to the stroller workshop nobody should be using a buggy board because they put too much strain on the chassis of the pushchair. That will go 5x with ultra compacts because they're not built for strength but for lightness and small fold. Honestly my advice to you is get something that is a workhorse like a battered old second hand BJCM, Britax B Agile (pref the original) or anything along these lines that's parent facing, one piece flat fold and decent sized wheels. Take it up to the plane gate, let 3yo stand on the cross bar at the back or sit both kids in the stroller at once. You don't need a buggy to be compact to use it for travel and it has a load of downsides when it is.

Absolutely agree with the City Mini GT. Folds very flat, seat lays back and has mesh that allows for ventilation (great in Florida heat!), and you can fold and steer it with one hand. It’s an absolute dream to push around Disney. It’s a VERY popular stroller rental choice and for good reason.

The stroller use will last a lot longer than the infant carseat use. Prioritize a stroller that will work for your needs over a compatible travel system that meets your criteria. There is ALWAYS babywearing rather than stroller. I have a friend with a Graco Modes travel system and I absolutely hate the stroller. It rattles SO MUCH and steering is stiff and clunky. BabyJogger City Mini GT bare minimum. We live in a rural village with gravel streets and no sidewalks, so we are no stranger to rougher terrain. My family is also on the farm and we walk the dogs in the pastures sometimes. The City Mini GT can manage the gravel and pastures ok, but there are definitely better options. You can get adapters to click many carseat options into it. BabyJogger City Elite. The bigger, beefier sibling of the City Mini GT. Handles better on gravel for sure. Phil & Ted’s Sport. I had this for the double stroller option and loved it so much. Has the option of carseat adapters and a bassinet. Bumbleride is another great option to consider, and Mountain Buggy.

I would check whether your neighborhood has a parents Facebook group — I created a burner FB and it’s been a great way to get baby stuff. I like our City Mini because it folds up very small to take up less space in our little dc rowhouse entry way. It’s very maneuverable for getting onto the bus. However, I find it kind of annoying to get up and down our front steps. Definitely remember that a lot of “city” strollers assume you live in an elevator building. I love baby wearing for city life — I thought it would be totally beyond me to wear a fabric wrap, but with a little practice, that was my favorite way to get around until my baby was about 15 pounds. Then I switched to a low profile buckle carrier (a Happy Baby) and a ring sling around the house.

I’m just going to be honest, I think the bassinet attachments are a waste. Most strollers will take a bucket car seat with an adapter, and the stroller bassinets are so expensive to only use for a few months. We got the Chico key fit bucket car seat and a baby jogger city mini stroller. Love it. I also suggest checking out wirecutter reviews for baby gear. You’ll get 100 different opinions on here, and it’s nice to see a neutral review of things like durability and price point.

We got a secondhand Baby Jogger City Mini for a trip to Florida – definitely not rugged terrain, but the stroller was durable and comfortable (and I read that these are the ones Disney rents out at their parks for those reasons, but can’t confirm 100%). More importantly, I’d suggest going secondhand because it’ll likely get beat up in transit. You can also get a travel bag to pop it in at the gate to help keep it clean.