feedback for "Five-Minute Time Out 3: Max Barenbrug"

1. Unquestionably the Bugaboo is a status symbol in certain quarters, but I have no problem justifying ours (mind you, it was a gift from the in-laws, something we would have struggled to afford on our own). This stroller helped me survive the first four months of being a new mother. I'd pop baby in, and go for long walks through my neigbourhood, sailing over bumpy sidewalks and gliding over treacherous curbs. I credit the stroller for my weight loss, and I love that I could gaze down at my new, sleeping babe during our walks. The best advice that I got from a retailer when I was pregnant was, "as long as they meet basic safety standards, all cribs are basically the same -- the differences among them are aesthetic; however, every penny you put into a stroller will be rewarded." She was right. I see moms with cheap (and not so cheap) strollers, and they end up owning two or three to accommodate different types of use. We are happy with the Bugaboo and have no plans to buy other stollers. My only complaint is the basket underneath; it's a nuisance to open and it doesn't hold very much.

   posted by : VancouverMama on 3/31/2007 at 2:16 AM Flag For Abuse

2. "Stollers used to be status symbols"?? pssssshhhaw. 'Modest' definitely isn't the word that comes to mind when I see a smug-looking parent pushing around one of those darn strollers, complete with a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag dangling off the handlebars.
   
   I cannot, for the life of me, ever justify spending so much on a stroller. Yes, it is beautiful, but my mentality is buy a GOOD quality, middle-of-the-line of the stroller so that you have more money to waste on buying designer clothing for your kids.
   
   And I lost weight just fine pushing my son around in a "cheap-o" Maclaren.
   
   

   posted by : DesignMama on 4/2/2007 at 10:59 PM Flag For Abuse

3. I am always amazed by the intensity of polarized debate over the bugaboo. we have one, as well as a cheaper umbrella stroller, and we use the latter more often. It's easier to collapse one handed and throw in the back of a cab, and easier to take down the front steps of our brownstown. However, if we are going to go for a long city stroll (and sometimes we stroll all over town when the weather is nice) the bugaboo is much more comfortable to stroll. it's higher, which is a big help for me given my height, and it requires less pushing because the wheels are larger and more efficient. it also is far easier to take over curbs, and is more adaptable with car seat compatability and basinette. It delivers value for the dollars.
   
   People love to talk about the excessive ostentation of the bugaboo, as if it symbolizes the inherently evil character of all parents who can come up with $800. i think this position is absurd -- average american in burbs own 2 cars ... many bugaboo owners do not own a car. Last year American bought more than 1 million road bikes at an average cost of over $1,000 each. Which do you think get used more, the bugaboos or the road bikes? Ammortized over all the usage those strollers get, the cost is not unreasonable.
   
   There are plenty of examples of conspicuous consumption that are far more egregious ... why obsess on this one? Granite countertops! How horrible that people are installing granite countertops in the kitchen! I don't have a granite countertop, but if i could afford it, i would. it makes practical sense. the same is true of the bugaboo.
   
   Apparently people think that as soon as people have babies they should lose their appetite for beautiful design and good craftsmanship -- or some would say, their vanity and social competitiveness. Irrespective, the naysayers are picking a rather arbitrary and misplaced target in my opinion.
   
   

   posted by : Papaganoose on 4/3/2007 at 9:57 AM Flag For Abuse

4. The difference between an $800 stroller and granite countertops seems clear to me--a stroller, like anything else we buy for our children, lasts only for a few years at best.  Granite countertops, or many other items that we buy for ourselves because they appeal to our own aesthetic sensibilities, may last for decades, and we enjoy them for as long as they please us.  But do you really take any pleasure from looking at your child's stroller?  Or from looking at her in her designer jeans (and then giving  them away after a month or two)?  Or does it simply please you to know that you are keeping up with the urban upper-middle class Jonses?  It is what pleases your child that should matter, and I guarantee you your child would not know the difference between your Bugaboo and a $200 stroller/carseat travel system that you bought at Babies R Us (which, by the way, is also excellent for "gaz[ing] down at [your] new, sleeping babe").        

   posted by : jm21 on 4/3/2007 at 1:07 PM Flag For Abuse

5. I have a Bugaboo. It sucks. I liked it with the car seat but as a two piece stroller it is a nightmare. I don't care that I paid $800, what I do w/my money is my business. I had the $$ and bought it because "everyone" said it was "the best!!" and I didn't know any better.   It looks cool, yes and I like how you can face the seat in or out. Maybe if you only walk around the block and never collapse it then I would say it's excellent. However, most people don't fit this profile. Collapsing this thing and assembling two pieces is a nightmare, especially in the pouring rain. It is extremely cumbersome and heavy so you better hope you're not maneuvering stairs. If you jog or run, you have to have a jogger stroller so this whole "you'll only need one stroller" is not accurate. If you can jog with the Bugaboo, you're not going fast enough. Finally, the wheelbase is so wide that it is extremely difficult to navigate around stores without constantly hitting things and/or people.   I admit it, I fell for the hype. Now I've got a heavy 8 months old and I realize convenience is key. My Bob Ironman and a Maclaren Quest. The Quest is the greatest. Maybe it works for some, maybe some have never experienced a more convenient stroller so they don't know what they're missing. But Bugaboo lovers have got to admit that it's kind of a pain, but it looks really cool..

   posted by : bboston88 on 4/3/2007 at 6:03 PM Flag For Abuse

6. Anyone thinking of buying a Bugaboo, I urge you to first look on ebay (where mine will be soon!) and then investigate a Bob Revolution for strolling and Maclaren Quest for all else. Snap and go for tiny baby is much easier too.

   posted by : bboston88 on 4/3/2007 at 6:04 PM Flag For Abuse

7. I don't understand the anger at Bugaboo pushing parents either. So they spent $800 on a stroller. People spend ridiculous amounts on all sorts of things--handbags, shoes, etc. that only last a few years because they are no longer "in style." The last time I checked no one gave a fig that $1000 handbags continue to fly off the shelves. Besides, if you're going to argue that all that matters is what pleases your child, well then you may as well banish strollers and cribs all together. I grew up in a country where strollers and cribs didn't even exist--babies were content to be toted in a sling and slept in hammocks.

   posted by : Sputinka on 4/4/2007 at 4:45 AM Flag For Abuse

8. my view is that the ideal setup for city dwellers is two strollers: one umbrella stroller with small wheels (mclaren makes a darned good one but there are plenty of cheaper options ... i believe babble recommended the chico) and one with large wheels. The small wheel stroller is smaller and easier to open and close; the large wheel stroller is more comfortable for long distanace strolling.
   
   if you live in the city, strolling is a great pleasure. i attached a bike spedometer to our bugaboo (to keep my wife from exceeding 5 mph and clock the length of our strolls) and we regularly strolled 5 miles plus on nice days. Most surburban and rural americans probably don't stroll much, or when they do stroll its in shopping malls or airports with perfectly flat surfaces; if you stroll extensively in the city, you will enjoy a big wheeled stroller.
   
   since the bugaboo originally came out, many more big wheeled strollers have emerged in the marketplace; there are definitely plenty of other options for people who would rather spend less. For our family, however, the bugaboo has been great for those long distance strolls.
   
   I think there is a lot of disengeniousness in all this anti-bugaboo hysteria. JM21 above says, "do you really take pleasure in looking at your child's stroller?" As if its ridiculous to care about the design of items you interact with every day. In my experience, most people care about how things look. Sure, some of it is vanity, but a lot of it is simply a matter of appreciating beauty. I will pay more for a lamp that i think is beautiful than I will for a lamp that is generic or ok. The same goes for a coffee maker, or what have you. Isn't this true for most people? Don't most homo sapiens with the luxury of even a little disposable income consider the aesthetics with which they surround themselves? Isn't it better to spend money on beautifully designed and highly functional bicycles and strollers rather than large luxury cars that pollute the environment?
   
   there is some peculiar child-related sanctimoniousness that stirs up in bugaboo haters, and i think at the end of the day it's about something else entirely.
   
   
   

   posted by : Papaganoose on 4/4/2007 at 2:38 PM Flag For Abuse

9. "Appreciating beauty?"  It's a STROLLER.  And I've got news for you, it's not beautiful.  It may be distinct in its design, and better looking than some of the really cheap strollers out there, but I guarantee you no one is looking at your stroller and ruminating on its beauty.  I doubt that you really are either.  And I'm not sure this can really be attributed to vanity either.  Did you really by a Bugaboo because you think so highly of yourself or because you're too self-involved?  I would say it's more about insecurity--a fear of what your peers will think of you if you don't have the stroller-of-the-moment.   And I wouldn't pay $800 for a good-looking coffee maker.  Which, by the way, would be far more useful for a longer period of time than your Bugaboo.

   posted by : jm21 on 4/5/2007 at 1:07 PM Flag For Abuse