Mio’s New Stroller: The Quinny Zapp Xtra

Ch-ch-ch-changes! The car seat and Snap-n-Go stroller that we got from Baby Trend earlier this year has been serving us well for the past few months since Mio’s birth, but we had been setting our sights on getting a big girl stroller for Mio for a while now. Although the car seat claims that it can hold up to 30 lbs of weight (and Mio is still under 20 lbs), she is already just barely fitting in it mass-wise. We’re pretty certain that in a month of two, she’ll be too large for it. So, being the prepared Super Mom — or rather, control freak worrywart — that I am, I started doing my usual extensive research on virtually every stroller out there to figure out what would be the best fit for our little family.

The Quinny Zapp Xtra intrigued me and was a top contender in my mind from the beginning. It was actually the original Quinny Zapp that I initially considered, due to the fact that when folded up, it is the world’s most compact stroller. (Having a stroller with a small footprint is important to us, since we wanted to be able to store it in our small duplex unit when necessary, and keep it in the trunk of our cute little Honda Fit for outings.) It has a sleek design and is originally from the UK. There were some major disadvantages to it, though — it was unable to recline, the sun canopy was not that big, and it could only face forward. That’s when I stumbled upon the updated version, the Quinny Zapp Xtra, which just released in the US market in March. The Zapp Xtra solves all those issues of its predecessor with a new seat that reclines to three positions, has an impressive sun canopy, and the ability to be flipped to be either forward-facing or rear-facing. I had never really thought about the option of having a rear-facing stroller, but I figured it’s nice to have the option, especially when the baby is still young. (I also recently read this article that away-facing strollers stress babies out. While the study’s suggestion that life in such strollers is “emotionally impoverished”and lead to “stressed babies [that] become anxious adults” seems a little extreme, the observation that parents tend to talk more to their babies when they are facing towards them definitely makes sense.)

The drawback to the Zapp Xtra is that the new-and-improved removable seat now adds a bit more weight and takes up a little more space than the original Zapp pushchair, but the frame itself is still just as compact. It can actually be used from birth (with a minimum weight of 5 lbs) to around 4-5 years old, with a maximum weight capacity of 50 lbs. The Zapp Xtra also comes with adapters so that you can attach a Maxi-Cosi Mico infant car seat to the frame as well, so we may get rid of our Baby Trend system and just go that route for any future babies. It’s great for travel (apparently, it’s so lightweight you can even take it on the plane as a carryon), and all around just seems like the perfect urban stroller.

The Quinny Zapp Xtra is available in the US, but it’s sort of a unique product from the UK, so it’s not just available anywhere. So we stopped by Buy Buy Baby in San Jose on our way back from Santa Cruz a couple weekends ago to take a look at it in person, since the store boasts a huge selection of strollers, including some of the more high-end ones that you can’t find at places like Walmart and Target. After taking the stroller for a “test drive” and pushing Mio around in it in the store, we knew it was the one for us. It feels sturdier than an umbrella stroller, but is very compact and manageable in size. We both loved the lightweight, compact fold, the super-easy braking system, and of course, the sleek modern design (What can we say? We both work in creative fields and the visual aesthetic is important!). We decided to get the stroller in Rebel Red, but the store only had the black version in stock, so we had to get it ordered and delivered to our house. Retailing at $300, the Zapp Xtra definitely isn’t cheap, but Buy Buy Baby (which is the baby store branch of Bed Bath & Beyond) regularly sends out those 20% Off coupons, so we were able to save a significant amount on it, and got the hookup for free shipping to get it delivered to our home. We believe that it’s a good investment and that we’ll get years of good use out of it with Mio, as well as with any other children we may have in the future. (Yes, this is how I justify all of my big baby-related purchases. Except this one was truly necessary.)

Oh, a funny story that happened while we were stroller shopping at Buy Buy Baby: I got to the stroller section alone initially, because Dan and Mio stayed behind to take a 10-minute power nap in the car upon arriving at the store because they were so exhausted. I asked a store employee if they had the Quinny Zapp Xtra on the floor, and she pointed me in the direction of a couple. The husband was just mindlessly pushing the Zapp Xtra to and fro, while his pregnant wife was intensely checking out some of the crazy bulky travel systems by Graco. As the husband seemed to just be pushing the stroller out of sheer boredom, I decided to politely ask if I could test it out instead, and this is how things went down:

Me: Excuse me… may I take a look at that stroller? If you’re not trying it out, of course.

Husband: Oh! Sure! Sorry, I was just messing around. (hands over the stroller)

Me: Thank you. (takes stroller and starts examining it)

Husband: (curiously looking on) So, what is so great about this one? Why are you interested in it?

Me: Well, I heard that it was one of the most lightweight, compact strollers on the market. If I could just figure out how to fold it to see how small it can get…

(At this point, the employee sees me struggling with the stroller and comes over to show us both how it folds and all the cool features of how the seat goes forward-facing and rear-facing, and even brings over the infant car seat to show how it fits onto the frame with the adapters.)

Husband: Wow, neat. (turns to his wife, who has only marginally been paying attention because she is so heavily engrossed in the stroller-zilla section) So honey, that’s a thought… You could get a really compact stroller like this, especially since you don’t have too much space in the car.

Wife: (looks over at the Zapp Xtra that I’m already starry-eyed over, pauses for two seconds, and then –) No.

Husband: But you really don’t have much room in the trunk of the car, so it’s something to think about–

Wife: (no pause this time) No.

No smile, no explanation nor reason, just a flat, no-nonsense “No.” I just found it a little humorous because here I was, so enamored with the Zapp Xtra and had just sung all the praises of it and we had all witnessed how awesomesauce it was, and the woman just shot all of our excitement down without anything to cushion the blow. Talk about a buzzkill. Anyway, I didn’t take it personally — to each their own, and everyone has their own idea of what will work best for them. If she is that dead-set on getting her monster stroller system, then I’m sure she will rock that ginormous SUV of a stroller. It did make for a funny story to tell Dan afterwards, though — he had a good laugh, and now it is a frequent inside joke of ours to quote the woman’s resounding, steadfast “No.”

But I digress. The delivery took a while, but the much-anticipated stroller arrived on Tuesday! Here are some photos from the unboxing! (cue angelic choir music)

I love this new stroller, and am so excited to take it everywhere with us! Dan’s mom already took Mio out in it yesterday, and she liked it too. Today is my day off, so I’m looking forward to wheeling it around the neighborhood myself!

Although… this only solves the stroller portion of the problem of Mio outgrowing her infant car seat. We still have to worry about getting her a toddler car seat. I’ve been doing my research, so I have an idea of which one we might want to get. Oh, why do babies require so much stuff…?