Guzzie+Guss Make Trendy & Versatile Strollers Affordable
Guest post by Gillian Behnke
When we were pregnant with our son almost four years ago I absolutely coveted the trendy strollers I would see being pushed around town, knowing we could never shell out the $1000+ needed to own one. They were so cool and seemed to offer everything a mom could want, but why did they have to be so darned expensive?! When our daughter was born late last year we started looking around again and discovered the stroller landscape had changed a bit.
Enter Vancouver company Guzzie+Guss and their newest addition, the G+G042. Retailing at $599.99, it makes the trendy and versatile stroller suddenly seem a bit more within reach. And it’s gorgeous! It is available in four colours and comes with the bassinet attachment and bassinet apron, as well as the main seat component. It also comes with a rain cover and foot muff (both very handy for Vancouver moms!), but even better is the enormous canopy. There’s nothing worse than a canopy that doesn’t fully cover your precious cargo and the one on the G+G042 is huge. It would be great if it had a peekaboo window, but I will gladly trade the occasional peek for good coverage.
I assembled the whole thing myself without needing to enlist the help of my husband like I usually do. I did need the instructions to sort out all the possible configurations, how to collapse it, etc, but I got it figured out. Give me a break, there are a LOT of configurations! Your child can face front, face you, recline, lie almost flat, sit up straight – this last one was a big deal for our daughter as she wants to be as upright as possible to be part of the action and our current stroller leans her back more than she’d like! There are configurations for any situation, some more useful and practical than others. Every mom is different and every baby is different, and this stroller offers options to keep just about anyone happy.
I really like the option to face the child front or back, and you can do this by either repositioning the seat itself or flipping the handle back and forth. Moving the handle is certainly the easier option if your child is already in the stroller, but then you’re pushing with the back wheels in front and maybe it was just me, but it was a bit harder to control. I prefer to actually move the seat, but I did discover that you can’t actually collapse the stroller when the seat is in this position!
When you’re pushing it the “normal” way with the front wheels actually in the front, it is very easy to manoeuvre. I quite often find I need to hang onto our son with one hand while pushing our daughter in the stroller with the other, and the G+G042 makes this multi-tasking, one handed control possible. It’s a nice smooth ride, mainly due to the big inflatable rear tires. I love beefy tires on strollers, they make curbs and bumps so much easier to manage. My husband is 6’5” and handle height was a big deal when we were shopping for our stroller. The handle on the G+G042 slides up and down to be comfortable for all heights, and he did indeed find the highest “notch” was a good setting for him.
It’s pretty easy to collapse and set up, and will stand vertically when collapsed which is fantastic if you’re low on storage space. It’s not exactly tiny when collapsed, but you can remove the seat piece very easily if you need to make it smaller. We drive a Toyota Rav4 and it fit well in the back, plus it wasn’t too heavy to lift up into the vehicle.
Speaking of cars, if you’re a driving mom your baby will be in a car seat. While you can take your baby from the car seat into the bassinet, I know it’s NEVER a good idea to move your babe if he or she is already fast asleep! Don’t mess with a good thing, right? So, you will likely need the car seat adapter. It’s not included, but they do have one available for around $70 that fits all major brands of car seat.
I do wish it had some sort of parent “console” on the handle, somewhere to stick keys, a cell phone, etc. The storage basket underneath is nice and big, but I like to have certain items where I can grab them easily. From their website it doesn’t look like they make one, but a “universal” version of this type of accessory is pretty widely available from third party companies.
It’s well built, it’s comfy for both the mom and baby, and it looks good. With all its options and configurations the G+G042 is a fantastic stroller for pretty much anyone, and for everything you get it’s a very reasonable price. The stroller and car seat adapter are available at several retailers in the Lower Mainland, including TJ’s The Kiddies Store, Lusso Baby and Baby’s World. Check out www.guzzieandguss.com for more details.
Need More Info?
Download VancouverMom.ca’s Stroller Guide for First Time Parents, which give you some great tips and info on what to consider when making your next stroller purchase.
Gillian Behnke is a blogger at Finding My Weigh, where she writes about the joys and challenges of motherhood and her quest to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Gillian is also the marketing manager for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, BC/Yukon Region. She lives in North Vancouver with her husband, her three year old son and eleven month old daughter.
We received the GuGu042 this summer as a baby gift for our now 7 wk old son and so far we’ve really been enjoying our stroller and so has our little guy. It’s extremely sturdy, easy to manouver and so compact which is great because we live in a small space condo and drive a sedan and we have no issues storing or packing away the stoller.