The reality of having a baby/toddler is you need a stroller, there’s really no way around it and the right stroller can mean freedom.  As city dwellers we try to use our one car as little as possible which means we walk A LOT.  For that reason I think we are great stroller testers.  For the first 9 months or so we used a multi-featured stroller i.e. bassinet, rear and forward facing fully reclining seat etc (like this).  I found all these features to be very helpful during those early nervous months but eventually I found the stroller to be large and a bit cumbersome.  

We re-sold our old stroller and bought a used Maclaren Triumph (similar here) off Craigslist and have found this thin, streamlined, few featured stroller to be perfect for our tiny apartment and city-living. The Maclaren stroller fits through any doorway even the tiny shops that a full-size stroller struggled through.  Also, I never feel like I am taking up the entire sidewalk or half the coffee shop, which as a former baby-free city dweller I appreciate. Most importantly this small stroller still reclines for comfy napping. My only complaint would be the lack of a good sunshade but it’s nothing an extra blanket or hat can’t solve. Lastly, it folds up easily and quite compact.  We initially purchased it for travel and found it suited our daily life better than expected.  

As I mentioned in a previous post (link here) after my experiences with my own strollers and watching closely what’s at the playground; If I was to start all over again I would start with the Bugaboo Bee (link here)