Product Review Friday - Joovy Caboose

So, I went with the Caboose. Price wise, they were almost identical. I could get the very very basic Baby Trend Sit-n-Stand for $99, a "standard" Sit-n-Stand for about $130, or I could order the Joovy Caboose online for $129 with the parent organizer, free shipping, and no tax (from Joovy itself). I ordered it Tuesday morning, and it arrived yesterday. That means they do indeed ship the item the day you order it (as we are a two-day shipping on UPS and Fed-Ex from their shipping locations). I almost immediately put it together, and at AJU5's request, we took it for a test drive.

It was fairly easy to put together - attach wheels and canopy and put the parent organizer on. I have left the kid tray and car seat adapter off for now as AJU6 is big enough to sit upfront out of his car seat but isn't big enough to make any use out of the tray (and it would just be in the way of getting him in and out easily). The opening and closing are a tiny bit harder than the Sit-n-Stand, but it is still fairly simple. It just takes two hands instead of just one...

As for size, if I were to take the canopy off, the Caboose would be an inch or two taller than my single Graco stroller (part of the travel system). It is narrower than the Graco, so it takes up just about the same amount of space. Unfolded, it is a little longer than a single stroller of course, but it is still easy to steer. I had no problem making the 90 degree turn on our side walk nor spinning the thing in circles to entertain the kids. It did get a little hard to push over our very beat up side walks (i.e. read falling apart), but I was still able to get through the gravely mess.

One common con of the Caboose over the Sit-n-Stand seemed to be the size of the basket underneath. I think it is pretty big actually. It should fit our diaper bag and a blanket/coat with no issues. Plus, as someone said in a review online, you can use the kid handles in the back to hang bags off of if you are taking it shopping. Another common con I read was about the back seat sliding. Yes - it does slide, but it takes force to get it to move. It did not slide while AJU5 was on it unless I intentionally was moving her forward. I like that I can move it so she has more room when the front seat is reclined.

So, overall I love my new stroller. I can't wait to test it some more - probably at the zoo and mall in the next week or so! And yes - mine is yellow...