My Little Truck

As new parents, the selection of strollers out there was overwhelming. We decided to go with a travel system, so at least we would be starting out with all the "stuff" we would need for our new baby. Really, to us "newbies," they all looked the same. We finally selected the Aura Elite because it was relatively inexpensive and the cloth on the hood appeared more durable than some of the others we looked at. When taking the stroller for a "spin" around Toys R Us, it seemed to handle well. Fine. Done.

We've now been using the stroller system for a number of months. It is convenient to have the whole "system" that works together. When you are new parents, the learning curve is steep enough already. My daughter is 6 months old and still has plenty of room in the car seat, whereas one of my friends who bought a smaller one has already had to go out an buy a new one for her son of the same age. I have found there to be ample room in the storage compartment when I go shopping and have not had any problems with the wheels sticking and it still handles well indoors and outdoors.

That said, I now know that there are some other things I would look for if I were shopping for a travel system again. Although they all looked the same to us in the store, I have come to the conclusion that this is, indeed, a TRUCK of a stroller. Many times I have found myself stuck in an aisle that was just a little too small for the wheel base to fit. When folded, the stroller takes up a good bit of the space in the trunk of my Corolla. This is not going to be handy when taking my baby Christmas shopping this year. Looking around, I now realize that some of the strollers the other mothers are pushing really are a little smaller. As for the
"one handed" handle, I find that it is just as easy or easier to continue pushing it by the regular handle when I only have one hand. I do wish that the handle was not one piece so that I could hang shopping bags on it, but maybe they made it that way deliberately so that no one could hang something so heavy over the handles that it would tip the stroller backwards. A few of my friends have told me that the car seat is harder to use than others they have experienced, but since this is the only one I've ever used, I haven't found it all that difficult. Finally, one thing I did not even know about before I bought this system is that some car seats can be used without the base in a pinch. This one cannot. I learned this when my husband accidentally drove off with the base and left me stranded with no way to get the kid anywhere (legally).