Ankle weights save tippy strollers from forgetful parents (like me)
Here's a stroller hack from Parenthacks reader Noelle: "To keep your umbrella stroller from tipping over from the weight of the diaper bag on the back, we bought a pair of ankle weights and put them on just above the front wheels. This keeps the stroller from tipping over especially when the child gets out."
I tip over the stroller ten zillion times a day. This is smart.
Add ankle weights to umbrella strollers to keep them from tipping
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This is a great idea for strollers. I have often thought about using something like this for my very lightweight tripod. Do these weights only come in pairs? In certain circumstances (such as out in the back yard) a person could wear one on each ankle and another around one wrist and have them handy. I know that when I press the button to take a picture the whole setup is moving a little. This doesn't matter so much when it's broad daylight, but when the light isn't good, it ruins the picture.
We tip ours less now that we've had a couple years experience with it. We like to keep ours light anyway because we're constantly hauling it up and down subway staircases. Neat trick if you're not picking it up a lot.
At first glance i thought that this was a product designed to slow down wandering toddlers.
Babies like to tumble!
Why does the bag weigh so much? Isn't the point of the umbrella stroller to be light?
#1 has a point. You should keep your stroller as light as possible - you never know when you'll need to pick it up or fold it.
This doesn't make any sense. Why not buy a more stable stroller if you cannot keep it from tipping over? The whole point of those lightweight strollers is that they are lightweight.
LB and Wastrel,
Yeah, but some people need to do the shopping (or whatever) and have to bring the kids too. I've seen some amazing feats of over-loaded engineering; huge, fanned, peacock-tails of near-to-bursting plastic shopping-bags, strung from the pram handles; all pushed, Sisyphus-like, through the streets of Dublin.
You gotta do what you gotta do. Keeping light is a luxury, for some.
That looks like a magazine pouch. Ten fully-loaded Glock magazines would certainly serve the same purpose - filled as they are with lead - and also provide 170 additional rounds for your sidearm. Some soft armor panels in the stroller will protect your little one and provide cover as you dive for a reload.
#7:
Did they live nearby? If not, did they walk all the way home? Being able to load your bags into a car at the end of the shopping trip is a luxury, for some.
My mother took the bus, and you HAVE to fold the stroller when you get on, no ifs ands or buts.
Also, strollers are a luxury. Many people (especially outside the Western world) carry their kids in slings, packs, or even with their own arms.
Cory said:
First off, you're a bit big for an umbrella stroller - you should consider a pram instead, ir at least a larger, more substantial stroller.
Second of all, I fail to see how a few extra pounds on your legs, as they dangle in front of the umbrella stroller, will keep you from knocking it over "ten zillion times a day"? I mean you're what, 12-14 stone heavy?
;^)
I tip over the stroller ten zillion times a day. This is smart.
Zentillion times a day. Sounds less brainfraking. lol
At first glance i thought that this was a product designed to slow down wandering toddlers.
I thought these were "make your own weeble-wobble toddler" weights.
LB
"Did they live nearby?"
No, probably not. I'd say they pushed a mile or two. Which is kind of my point.
"Being able to load your bags into a car at the end of the shopping trip is a luxury, for some."
..yeah, I think you thought I was saying something different.
I'm saying the pram is very possibly the workhorse of many a poverty-line family, it is both the child-carrier and the food-carrier, because they don't have a car (or the bus), or the luxury of someone to help hold the stuff hanging off the back of it..
It's not an uncommon sight in Dublin.
Another good solution is to throw the stroller in the trash. Nobody needs one.
Timothy Hutton -- the ankle weights don't go on the PARENT'S legs, they go on the front of the stroller.
Because most folding strollers are convenient to fold, but are shit-engineering at work -- and the minute you hang anything heavier than a package of tissues from the back handles, the effing thing will tip over backward, taking the kid with it. Fortunately, they're usually buckled in, so aren't hurt, but startled.
And I'm guessing that since you don't know that strollers are prone to dumping, you also don't know that it's impossible to go out into public without a diaper bag of clean clothes, diapers, wipes, snacks, and drinks...which collectively weigh considerably more than enough to send your poor offspring tumbling at least 20 times a day.
#15, jwb:
And they apparently retard children's linguistic development.
I thought it was angle weights to keep the toddler from running away too fast (like into moving traffic) and to build his baby muscles and stop them from running abnormally fast
OPspin@ #18 - LOLOL
Beanolini - somebody is always looking for a reason why everything is bad.
All I know is that mine was talking in full sentences at 18 months...if his language had developed any faster, I'd have been the walking version of "Look Who's Talking Now" while I was still pregnant.
JWB -- childless, much?
Brilliant Cory, Effin Brilliant!
as "dad on the go" I totally understand this.
Brilliant.
Or you could just use a rucksack. No bag on handles = no tippy buggy.
The whole point of those lightweight strollers is that they are lightweight.
No, that's just one possible point. The other point is that they are compact. People who, like Cory, live in small spaces don't want to store a Rosemary's Baby pram, so the umbrella stroller has to fulfill all their strolling needs. Why have two strollers when you can simply modify one small one for different needs?
Another good solution is to throw the stroller in the trash. Nobody needs one.
I'm going to have to disagree.
Touché, moderator.
You say "diaper bag", but you mean bag full of booze after a trip to the liquor store right?
I tell you... that is embarrassing.
The other point is that they are compact.
That goes along with being lightweight.
You don't need a pram to have a stroller that won't tip over. There are many these days that have a low center of gravity, even with storage capabilities, and still fold up quite compactly.
If you need to carry additional stuff, there's the backpack. Additionally, if the stroller is tumbling with the child still in it, perhaps a little more sense is called for, rather than counterweights. I understand the needs of folks who have little room. But if your needs are not being met, a compromise will have to be made. Those really lightweight strollers are not meant to be serious pack animals. They're designed to hold a kid, anchor the kid's helium balloon, and that's about it.
Beats the hell out of shifting your priorities and remembering not to let the kid fall.
I really couldn't see the point of buying an extra bag so I just used a hiking pack and put the changing pad (a water-proofed, cut down, re-cornered camping pad) where the sleeping bag would go.
Madfist, the stroller falls over when you take the kid out. I think forgetting the stroller and letting it fall when you have your arms full of kid shows excellent priorities. It's just annoying.
#29:
Actually, I've seen strollers tip with the kids still in them. Usually the parents catch the stroller before it falls... and sometimes not.