It’s 28 degrees and short shorts weather in Toronto my friends! Well, more like maxi dresses for all us pregnant ladies out there lol. This summer, baby will be in his very first ride: the UPPAbaby CRUZ 2015 stroller 😀 . I’ve been wheeling this around the house, and it’s so smoooooth. Would have loved it in the yellow but Bed Bath & Beyond didn’t have that, so we got the red instead. Love it!
The toddler seat can be arranged in two ways, either facing outwards towards the world, or reversed towards you. The wheels are shock-absorbing and promise never to go flat (whew)! They can turn around 360 degrees for easy navigation, but you can also lock the front wheels in place for rocky terrain. Here I’ve already installed the snack tray that I bought in addition to the stroller. Also, I’ve attached two rings on the handle bar to carry my bags (those are not included). OHHH, and it comes with an extra-large basket which was on my must-have list. Shopping will never be the same again 😀 .
Front view: extendible handle bar with two length settings, and foot rest with adjustable positioning. The CRUZ frame isn’t as wide as the VISTA (22.25″ vs 26.5″), and because of this I appreciate that it can navigate more easily around narrow aisles at the mall. Yes, it’s all about the mall 😛 .
I’m a huge proponent of proper skincare, so shielding my baby from the harsh summer rays is an absolute must. That’s why I love this extendable sunshade (the silver part) that is SPF 50. Unlike some other strollers, it can drop down very low and cover baby’s essentials.
A bumper bar comes with the stroller and it’s great for attaching toys, or just letting your kid hold on to. The 5-point harness is adjustable in height as well.
This is the snack tray that I also bought from Bed Bath & Beyond (Buy Buy Baby division) for those future hungry moments.
If you step on the red lever (the brake), the stroller will halt to a stop. Unlike other strollers, I like that this lever is wide enough and positioned well in the middle for use with any kind of footwear, in particular flip flops and pointy heels.
An adorable peekaboo mesh can be found underneath a flap on top of the canopy. This will come in handy when I want to see what my kid is doing, or for more air circulation.
The toddler seat can be easily adjusted into 5 different positions and angles, with this being the most horizontal for those sleeping moments.
This is the most upright position.
The stroller folds very easily and I like that it stands up on its own for easy storage in the house. You can fold it with the seat attached…
OR, you can remove the seat first.
Included with the stroller are a rain shield with many perforated holes, as well as a bug shield. Both wrap securily and easily around the toddler seat. Hurray!
It wasn’t a difficult decision to make in terms of which brand of stroller to buy, because to me UPPAbaby has the largest basket on the bottom to better shop with, and that was essential. However, it took me a while to decide on which model to buy because I was torn between the UPPAbaby VISTA 2015 and the CRUZ 2015. The advantage of the VISTA is its ability to add on a second seat for a future child. I mean, we’re always thinking about how many kids we’ll have down the road right? However, in order to support this second seat the frame of the VISTA is substantially heavier than the CRUZ (4.5 lbs to be exact, but it felt like more) and I could really feel the difference when I tested out both strollers. Unlike the CRUZ, the VISTA also comes with a bassinet that you can use in baby’s first few months, but seeing that I’m going to get the HALO Bassinest Swivel Sleeper anyway, that wasn’t a deciding factor. Plus, then you’d want to buy the UPPAbaby bassinet stand to go with the UPPAbaby bassinet which is another added cost that I don’t want to incur.
For me, it really came down to two things: weight and cost. The CRUZ is lighter, and until I develop more muscles I prefer that at the moment. The CRUZ also currently retails it’s lowest at $569.99 CAN, and the VISTA retails it’s lowest at $924.99 CAN. So yes, we went with the less expensive CRUZ! Now, I’m not entirely sure how it’ll work out in the future depending on if and when we have our second child, but we also intend to purchase the UPPAbaby CRUZ PiggyBack board to help resolve the issue of two kids. So yeah, hopefully it should work out for now! 😀
The main issue with the UPPAbaby strollers is that the UPPAbaby MESA car seat is not yet available in Canada. So for us Canadians, we can purchase a separate adapter to fit another brand of car seat (more of that to come). Also, there is no cup holder but we can also purchase this accessory separately 😛 .
Cheers,
Melissa
