Stroller theft?

[brewso.livejournal.com]

I will be a mama soon (!), and we recently purchased a relatively pricey new stroller. I am wondering about bringing it to places like Davis Square businesses and leaving it outside. I feel like I will be constantly worried about it. My thinking is that bikes get stolen all the time, even when they're locked - why not strollers? Some of them are worth more than the average bike. What do you all think? Should I lock it? Has anyone ever locked their stroller? Has anyone ever heard of a stroller being stolen around here? Am I just being paranoid? 

Comments

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

Congrats, but why would you be wandering around with an empty stroller and leaving it outside? Ive never seen a stroller locked up, but then again, I've never seen a stroller left on its own outside without an owner (at least, not in Davis - in some countries, they just leave the baby outside!). Why not just take it inside with you?

[firepail.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered about this as there is always a parade of unattended expensive strollers outside of StellaBella Toys on Mass Ave towards Porter, and yet no one seems to touch them. I would think that these things would come with some sort of lock or lojack since they are so pricey!

Seriously, I am surprised that you don't see locks on the things.

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Also: congratulations -- see you at the playground!

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

when you park the stroller outside the store, leave the baby too. incidents of kidnapping are much rarer in these parts than straight theft. so statistically you're better off.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Hey brewso, congrats on your impending upheaval, um I mean arrival. May I recommend the SomervilleMoms community on YahooGroups to your attention? It's a fantastic resource.

Personally I don't worry about leaving my stroller anywhere, but then again, I'm roaming around with the POS that you get for ten bucks at Target, so maybe I'm not the best person to say. ;) Anyway, for roaming around Davis you should be foregoing the stroller altogether and just using your sling, so it's moot. ;)

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

There's another point we haven't considered.

You walk down the street, see an unattended bicycle, you can ride away on it.

Not so easy with an unattended stroller.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

we have a junky stroller and a nice stroller (BOB)... sometimes we want to go eat in a restaurant and don't want to bring the big thing in. We have a cable lock and will lock it up outside. I think it's a little overkill, but my husband feels safer with it that way.

And I don't think it's strange to not bring the stroller into some of the places in Davis (Mr. Crepe comes to mind, as it can get pretty crowded).

[haptotrope.livejournal.com]

I would consider locking it-- just a silly derrent style lock.. not a full-on fryptonite with new york chains and stuff.

Though if you do, I would also seriously consider careful placement to allow wheelchair'd folks to get through without tripping/running into any uberstrollers (anyone remember when these things could fold up and you could store them like an umbrella in the corner of the store?.)

[publius513.livejournal.com]

As a person who worked in the baby retail business for longer than I care to think about, I'm not sure I'd recommend even bringing a stroller shopping to a place like Davis. Especially not one of the big expensive "SUVs" of the stroller market. Life is complicated enough for new parents. Lock it up if you MUST bring it, but there are a lot better options out there for this sort of trip.

My recommendation would be a combination Snugride type of stroller (kind of a frame and wheels for the carseat. Graco makes one specifically for their carseats, and there's a more generic version available from Baby Trend called a Snap and Go) and Baby Bjorn. Snap and Gos are a lot easier to get into tight spaces, and the Bjorn makes it easy to take the baby into places where even that little stroller would be awkward.

[eeyorecol.livejournal.com]

Congrats! As the mom of an almost 14 month old, I'm going to throw out some totally unsolicited advice:

I loved using a Snap N Go - a stroller frame that you lock the baby seat into, rather than using a huge stroller for a newborn. Once my daughter outgrew the baby seat, we moved on to an umbrella-type stroller, which can fit most places. If you are going out during the day, leaving the stroller outside isn't too much of an issue, as long as your stroller isn't giant. :-)

I got a jogging stroller off of Craig's List, and most of the time I think that it's just unweildy and a pain in the butt (though it's excellent for going over unshoveled sidewalks, another staple of DSLJ discussions!)

Other good thing to know: Starbucks and Mr. Crepe both have changing tables. Mr Crepe is sometimes baby central at lunch time on week days because they have high chairs (and you can leave your stroller by the place where they make the crepes)