Strollers Consumer report

Hi all

There was an article in yesterday's Sunday Star-Times about strollers, following on form 2 cases of babies drowning in rivers coz the stroller rolled away. There was info from a Consumer Affairs study of thme, that had some worrying results, and named some brands to stay away from. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the paper to work so that I could tell you all the specifics Maybe someone else has it? Or check the consumer Affairs website.

I think the point was that the brakes didn't work as well as they should.

My father was going on about Mountain buggys being bad the other day (as we have just bought one and obviously anything I do MUST be wrong ) But he was talking about buggies tipping when people are running with them, especially in fun runs etc. As if I would be doing that!!

Yeah, I'm not worried about ours either. Picked it up the other day and spent a few minutes wheeling it round the house (baby still in tummy) gotta practice these things

I didn't see the consumer report, but the safety standards on strollers/buggies are pretty stringent and I guess I trust that. I had a cheaper Babywise 3 wheeler when Maya was first born which was prone to tip on occasion (usually when she was standing up in it trying to climb onto the hood . I replaced it with a Babylove Pioneer2 when she was almost 2 and it was very stable with good brakes, and the Babylove Duolite I have for the gremlins is the same (altho the centre of gravity changes when I have Maya on the kiddie board on the back and I have to watch it doesn't tip).

My Childcare twin stroller has the best brakes I've seen tho - they make a clicking sound when they lock in so you know they're clicked in properly.

i see some people dont like the p&t e3 v2 because of the toddler seat sitting at the back.
some reacon its not safe but p&t have now got guards for their back wheels apparently that you cna put on to prevent fingers getting hurt, also theres alot of grump about the fact you cant use the shopping basket when the toddler seat is in place at the back either.
i still have read more good comments than bad comments on p&t.
i also saw bad comments on mountain buggy to so I guess its jsut depending on the individual using the stroller.

Here are the key points of the article (p A7 of last Sunday's paper):
The 3 strollers of the 7 that Consumer tested last year that failed were:
Mother's Choice
Valco Runabout Tri-Mode
Phil&tedse3 V2
In Aus tests, the first two also failed, plus they are concerned about the Quinny Zapp, although it did pass - it tends to tip backwards on slopes or if extra weight is on the handle.
There were also some "Do's and Don'ts" which are pretty obvious, but some key ones:
there should be one brake lever to securely operate both left and right brakes; should have a 5-point harness with at least the waist strap that goes around the frame, not just the back of the seat; front wheels that swivel should also be able to be locked in the forward direction for rough terrain, parking on slopes or other potentially dangerous places such as train platforms, busy roadsides - where you should turn the stroller sideways, not facing onto the tracks/roads.
Happy shopping.

yeah it is all jsut common sense

The Valco failed? I'm glad I didn't spend $1000 bucks on the twin version of it then

I heard good things about Milano travel system.
We're buying the Milano capsule for number 2 from babycity.
Maybe go into babycity and ask to have a wee push of the Milano to get a feel for it to see if it's right for you.