As a parent of 3 kids, I think strollers are overrated. Wagons make my life easier.
- I'm a mom of three kids, ages 5, 3, and 3.
- When we only had one child, he was always in his stroller and we took it with us everywhere.
When I was pregnant with my first child, I spent hours looking at strollers online. I narrowed it down to two models that would "grow" with our family if we decided to have more kids. I went into a store to test drive both of them and chose to buy the UPPAbaby Vista, the stroller I saw being used by almost every family in New York City.
The stroller was great for one child. My son practically lived in it during the day, going from one activity to the next and even taking naps in it. When I found out I was pregnant with twins, I bought an extra seat and the kickboard and fantasized about taking all three kids in one stroller like a pro.
Shortly after the birth of my twins, I realized strollers don't work well when you have a big family, but wagons do.
The stroller worked well for 3 kids at first
During those first few weeks after having the twins, when everything was a blur, the stroller was functional. I didn't have much energy to go on big adventures, and we lived in a first-floor apartment, so plopping all the kids into their respective places in the stroller was easy. We took plenty of walks around the block, taking in fresh air and letting my 2-year-old toddler count trucks.
However, he was curious, as every toddler is, and would jump off the kickboard to explore leaves, ants, and trash. We were never really going anywhere specific and didn't have a strict schedule, so it was fine for him to do that.
One day I gathered the courage to put everyone in the car and go for a stroll elsewhere, but that courage was quickly deflated when I realized taking the bassinets out, folding the stroller, and putting it into our trunk was much more work than I was ready for, especially with three screaming children as background noise.
The stroller slowly started gathering dust as my son chose to use a scooter as his method of transportation, and my husband and I started wearing the twins in carriers so we could have free hands to assist our son.
We needed a different solution
As the twins grew older, were too big to be worn, and wanted to explore by themselves just like their brother had done years before, we were left wondering how to get our kids around. I started doing research again on Facebook groups and found that parents of multiples were raving about wagons.
There are very few wagons that can seat more than two kids comfortably, so my options were limited, which I didn't mind since shopping for kids' gear can be so overwhelming to begin with. We opted for the Veer wagon XL with four seats, and it has been a game-changer in our outings.
Each seat in the wagon has buckles to prevent kids from climbing. The wagon also has a removable basket to carry things like beach towels and stuffies, as well as a removable snack tray so kids can have their water bottles and snacks easily available. It has a pull and push mode, and it's easily collapsible.
Wherever we go, people stop us to ask about our wagon
Wagons are not a new thing. I've seen plenty of parents pulling canvas wagons onto the beach loaded with kids and beach stuff. But for some reason, every time we bring our wagon out in the city, people stop us to ask what brand it is.
It has made solo parenting for my husband, who is a stay-at-home dad, easier because he can load all kids into it and then go grocery shopping by using the wagon's basket as his cart.
I think our kids like riding in a wagon more than a stroller because they get to look around at what's happening, can get in and out of it by themselves, and get to interact with us as we are walking around.
The only downside I've found to switching our stroller to a wagon is that they are not allowed in places like Disney World or in some public transportation like buses, so when we traveled there recently, we still relied on our old-school travel stroller.