Throwing the Baby Out

If you come across any babies on the street, just hanging out, they may be there because the wheels of their stroller have broken off, stranding them. The Post reports trouble with the MacLaren Techno XT, which retails for $290. While Gothamist does not have kids and is only familiar with babies because we make silly faces at them on the street, eliciting disturbed looks from their parents, we do know that the MacLaren is one of the more high-end baby strollers out there, sort of a BMW (we consider those fancy perambulators to be like Rolls-Royces; Graco strollers are midrange, like a Ford). And speaking of Fords, some parents are comparing the Techno XT to the Ford Pinto. Whatever - the Ford Pinto didn't have a 4-position fully-reclining seat for sitting, napping or snacks on the go or a concealed mobile phone pocket. In the grand manner of giving away our get-rich schemes for free, Gothamist thinks there's a business is being on call to fix baby strollers.

The Post notes that celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Uma Thurman, Jennifer Connelly and Catherine Zeta-Jones have MacLaren strollers. For more about celebrities and their babies, check out Celebrity Baby Blog and learn that celebrity husbands are just like regular ones - they want their wives to lose that baby fat - but they just have more money. And look at the hot strollers that the hip mommies and daddies get at daddytypes.com.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 12, 2004 9:05 AM

Comments [rss]

Benny

I've owned a Peg Perego and it was very good, if not a tad too heavy. I purchased the Mclaren Mac 3. It is a sort of smaller version of a jogging stroller. It has smaller pneumatic wheels and a shorter wheelbase. I have found the Mac 3 to be perfect for wheeling my son through all sorts of terrain. The stroller is a bit too wide for negotiating store aisles but is excellent for walks in the park. There is a very generous seat for thicker-than-average babies. This extra room came in handy for us. Shortly after purchasing the Mac 3 my then, 2 year old son, fractured his femur. He was placed in a spica cast which the Mac 3 handled well. Considering this stroller wasn't designed for children with special needs I found it to work great. the only thing I had to do was to place a pillow under the legs of my son, for extra support. I've owned this stroller for approximately 16 months and have had no problems with it except for the tires wearing out. Finding replacements has proven to be a bit difficult.

abbey

i don't care what is being said about mclaren strollers i wish i could ever afford one for my 9 month old i think they are sheik, stylish ,light and folds in for people like me who have to go to school, work and take the baby to the baby sitter on the bus and train along with his bagand my bag .my current stroller is so inconveniencing that i prefer to cary m baby by hand . if anyone does'nt want their stroller any more please e-mail me abbyliciousss@aol.com

i will be glad to have it. thank u very much

abbey

i don't care what is being said about mclaren strollers i wish i could ever afford one for my 9 month old i think they are sheik, stylish ,light and folds in for people like me who have to go to school, work and take the baby to the baby sitter on the bus and train along with his bagand my bag .my current stroller is so inconveniencing that i prefer to cary m baby by hand . if anyone does'nt want their stroller any more please e-mail me abbyliciousss@aol.com

i will be glad to have it. thank u very much

abbey

i don't care what is being said about mclaren strollers i wish i could ever afford one for my 9 month old i think they are sheik, stylish ,light and folds in for people like me who have to go to school, work and take the baby to the baby sitter on the bus and train along with his bagand my bag .my current stroller is so inconveniencing that i prefer to cary m baby by hand . if anyone does'nt want their stroller any more please e-mail me abbyliciousss@aol.com

i will be glad to have it. thank u very much

daddytypes.com

A shady connection for cutrate Mclaren strollers? Let me put my reporter hat on and buy you a drink. In a sippy cup, of course...

sac

We got a MacLaren at a cut rate price thanks to a shadowy connection. It sucks. Ass. So we dug out the 8 year old Graco we've been storing from when our first kid was a toddler. It rocks. Graco makes sturdy, light and durable strollers for a thrid of the price.

Summary: Buy Graco.

daddytypes.com

Huh. When we first started looking at strollers last year, people warned us about the Techno's brake problems. "But that was the earlier (2002) model; McLaren fixed it," they'd say.

Rather than the Rolls Royce of strollers, McLaren may be the Jaguar: expensive, luxurious, and constantly breaking down. [hmm, gotta use that on daddytypes...]

dab of brooklyn

I'm guessing it was MacLarens' attempt to cash in on the SUV mentality by adding various doo-dads that are best left out. When my son was an infant and toddler, we went through two strollers from other manufacturers. Our worst experience was with an "all-terrain" model from Fisher-Price, a great company for toys, but not so great for strollers. It had huge, yellow wheels that looked like you could push it through snowdrifts, but a 2-foot blizzard in January 1996 proved otherwise. We eventually bought a basic MacLaren that looked

like cheaper strollers and cost twice as much, but was lighter, sturdier, and easier to fold up with one hand and then carry onto a bus, up and down subway station steps, etc., and then unfold with very little effort.