Review: Uppababy Cruz Stroller

Posted by CoderMom in Baby Product Reviews, Shopping | 0 comments

Sep 13, 12

I never thought finding the perfect stroller would be so hard. There were just so many variables and choices that it could be overwhelming. After much research and testing, my husband and I finally decided on a stroller.

My advice is to write down the features you must have, and start narrowing down the list of strollers. BabyGizmo.com is an excellent place to start. Hollie uses her expertise and goes through all the features and pros and cons, of each of the strollers she reviews. And she has real kids to test them out in the real world. I love that her reviews are thorough, honest, kid-tested, and mother approved!

After looking at countless strollers, my must-have feature list is:

• Had to have a reversible seat.
  A parent-facing seat option was really important to be after I saw how my daughter reacted to our other stroller. She wasn’t too happy in the front-facing position and I ended up carrying her the whole time at the mall and our stroller turned into a shopping cart instead! A stroller that she would like is more important now since she’s getting quite heavy to carry long distances.
• Light-weight and compact.
  It had to be something I could put in the car trunk easily. Our current stroller is big and took up most of the room in the trunk. Not to mention, it was heavy and hard to lift into the car as well.
• Easy to fold.
  You know the moment you walk up to your car, someone wants your parking spot. So any stroller that’s easy to fold and gets me in and out would be great.

THE PROS – Features I love about this stroller:

• Large basket under the stroller seat to carry your things.
  My current diaper bag didn’t come with stroller clips. They’re available for purchase separately, but luckily I don’t need them because I can just put my large bag under the stroller. The compartment below is so roomy, I could put two large bags if I wanted to! And just to let you know, it’s perfect for going to the mall. I put all of my shopping bags down there. 😉
• Could turn into a travel system!
  We have a Graco car seat, so this Graco Car Seat Adapter ($39.99) came in really handy. It’s sold separately, but definitely worth it since the baby would fall asleep in the car and we didn’t want to disturb her. It just snaps on so easily. Instead of putting on the seat, just snap on the adapter instead and put the car seat on top of it. Viola, a travel system without all of the bulk!

  There are also car seat adapters available for Chicco, Peg Perego, and Maxi-Cosi.

• Large Canopy
  I absolutely LOVE the canopy! It’s a very large with extendable SPF 50+ sunshade. My daughter really doesn’t like the sun in her eyes (but who does?) so the canopy comes in really handy. It’s fully adjustable, so you can have it partially covered, or fully cover. The extendable sunshade is folded underneath the canopy, so if you need more coverage, simply pull it out. There’s also a nice ventilation window in the canopy that allows air to pass through so it doesn’t get too hot under there.
• Easy to Recline.
  The seat is so easy to recline. This is great, especially when my daughter is in a sleepy state. Just reach in the back and pull the handle up. Set the recline up or down and let go.

THE CONS – What I didn’t like about this stroller:

• Leg Rest.
  The leg rest can only be adjusted in three positions. For a young child, I want to put the leg rest in a flat position, but it’s not available. The highest position puts my daughter’s legs in a strange upward angle.
• Does not come with Bumper Bar or Food Tray.
  The stroller didn’t come with the bumper bar ($29.99), snack tray ($39.99), or parent cup holder ($24.99) accessories, but you can purchase them separately.
• Lack of color choices.
  I do love red, so the Denny was perfect for me. But if you prefer other colors, there is a lack of color choices for the Cruz. It’s available in Denny (red), Sydney (yellow), Tyler (light blue), and Jake (black). If you like this brand and stroller style, you may want to consider the UppaBaby Vista which is available in different colors. It’s slight bigger and has more features and accessories.

This stroller is great from birth – 55lbs. You just need the Infant SnugSeat to keep the baby’s head steady for the first few months. The seat must be in the recline position too. Or better yet, just get one of the car seat adapters to use your existing car seat.

We didn’t really know what we needed until the baby arrived and we were out and about. We did purchase a travel system but learned that it was too heavy and clunky to take around easily. So we ended up not using it much, even though it took up our entire car trunk.

So we were on a search for a new easy-to-use stroller. I hadn’t even heard of the Uppababy brand until we stopped by Right Start to test out strollers. We tried a few, but my daughter was most comfortable in the UppaBaby Cruz. And my husband and I liked the design and gave it a ‘test drive’ around the store.

Overall, I’m quite pleased with this stroller. It has all the features I need for my lifestyle and definitely makes long shopping trips more enjoyable. Not only am I able to see my daughter face-to-face when we’re out and about, I also have a nice place to stowaway any large shopping bags!

The UppaBaby Cruz is available for purchase for $459.99. I’m quite happy with this purchase as it’s a luxury stroller at an affordable price.

Disclosure: The UppaBaby Cruz was a personal purchase I made. The opinions expressed in this article are my own and are not influenced by the company.