Even though I have 7 kids, I’ve never owned a new stroller. Several new car seats, yes. But no new strollers. Which is fine. Because the secondhand versions I’ve owned have fulfilled their purposes well enough. But I’ve never loved a stroller system. Until now.
Meet the Evenflo Pivot Travel System.
{Disregard Della’s squint o’ death; she didn’t mind the fact that I sent them out in the cold to walk their baby brother around the block for me…JK! They dressed themselves in various and sundries–pretty sure Theo has socks on his hands rather than mittens–and headed out to brave the big, bad 45 degree chill without any prompting from me}
AKA: my new BFF.
It’s different from anything I’ve ever owned before in a myriad of ways but probably the most significant is that the stroller base is just that: a base. Which allows you to pop in either the car seat…
{Clearly the postpartum hair loss has not kicked in yet. Hello, lion’s mane}
…or the stroller bed.
The bed can be laid flat (ideal for infants) or tilted upward for optimal viewing, especially once baby gets older (it has straps to keep him snug and safe). It also has a handy cold-weather cover, which we have happily utilized on chilly mornings.
I love having the option to carry only the lightweight base and simply snapping in the car seat (the option I utilize the most). Most of my strollers have been unwieldy and heavy (especially the twins’ double stroller, which is a total beast), so I am loving how easy it is the toss the stroller base in the back of the van and then transfer the car seat right into it.
Speaking of the car seat, it’s my favorite!
{Can you spot my cute photographer?}
In fact, the very day it came in the mail, Honor ended up napping in it multiple times throughout the day because it’s so well-cushioned and plush that he went right to sleep every time we laid him in it. Even though he’s a big baby for his age, he still needed an insert in our last car seat to keep his head from lolling side-to-side. The Evenflo Pivot car seat has sufficient padding to keep his little noggin in place, though, so I don’t have keep up with an insert (major bonus in my book).
Also, while our last car seat was awkward to carry in the crook of your arm and hard to release from the base, the Evenflo Pivot car seat has a wide, smooth arced handle (Shaun’s first comment was how good it felt to carry), which is easy to slip onto my arm and doesn’t bite into my skin. AND! The best part? It comes out of the base without any complicated lifting/wiggling/coaxing (can’t tell you how many times I’ve accidentally woken a sleeping babe wrestling with our last model).
It also includes an anti-rebound bar built into the seat base, which limits the rebound impact in a frontal car crash and keeps my baby safer.
The stroller, itself, is the easiest to maneuver that I’ve ever used. I can steer it, no problem, with one hand, which is kind of a big deal, since that’s usually how many hands I have available (because there’s always somebody else that needs me to wipe a nose or hand out sippy cups with my other one).
{Pretty much everybody–from Ezra down to the twins–can navigate this stroller because it glides so easily}
Another plus? There’s a generous amount of space between the basket on the bottom and anything that might block it on top. It’s an easy-to-overlook perk until you find yourself trying to deposit or retrieve a bag or snacks from underneath a stroller only to have them snag hopelessly, requiring a full-stop (and an inevitable pile-up of small bodies behind you) and rummage situation.
When Evenflo (nice post sponsor!) contacted me and offered me an option of stroller systems, I took my time reading reviews and ultimately decided on the Pivot system, since I love to walk the trails near our gym with friends and wanted something that maneuvers easily and handles well on rough terrain.
I am happy to report that it does both.
Honestly, I couldn’t be more pleased with this travel system. It does what a stroller system should do–make my life easier. And while “hard is not the same thing as bad” may be my motto, I see no point in making things needlessly complicated.
{Honor stayed snug and happy in his car seat, even though it was time for him to eat}
The Evenflo Pivot Travel System simplifies traveling with a baby, and I am a big fan of that and it.
{Also a big fan of the car seat canopy with a peephole that my sis-in-law, Hannah, made for me}
Although Evenflo was kind enough to provide me with product, all gushing is entirely my own.