Showing posts with label stokke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stokke. Show all posts

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

The Stokke Xplory - Why it's worth the money.

A couple of weeks ago, The Little Dude, The Daddy & I were in town enjoying the sunshine, when we bumped into friends who had recently found out they were expecting a baby.
It was the first time they'd seen The Little Dude in his Xplory, and they both got all excited as it was the stroller they had their hearts set on, despite never having seen one in 'real life'.
They asked the question everyone asks - is it really worth the money? And we answered yes. A million times yes. And here's why...


It looks fabulous. Sorry, but it does. Call me superficial if you like, but fact is, I have to push it around everyday, and I like that it's pretty!  And of course it's a very unusual design, which attracts attention - a lot, it's a great conversation starter! There's a gorgeous rainbow of colours to choose from too, which isn't always the case with cheaper models. (We have turquoise, and I love it :D)


But of course, looks are only skin deep, so what else does the Xplory have to offer?


The height factor. Baby is positioned much higher than in other pushchairs, away from the ground, away from dirt & pollution, and up where the action is, closer to mum or dad, with a much more interesting view of the world. My little man loves being able to see what's going on and doesn't stop chatting while we're strolling.
Also, we don't need to worry about finding a high chair when we're in cafes and restaurants, in the Xplory, we can scoot The little Dude right up to the table. Perfect.


Comfort. Stokke are all about a baby's comfort, and they know what they're talking about! The seat has three positions - upright for when baby's awake and taking everything in, slightly reclined for chilling, and fully reclined for snoozing, and the footrest is fully adjustable too.
In short, it's an incredibly comfortable, smooth ride for your little one.


User Friendly! That said, Stokke have the pushers interests at heart too!  The Xplory is a dream to push. It is so easy to manouvre, the handle is completely adjustable for maximum comfort, and despite it's quite large appearence, it handles tight corners and narrow aisles with ease.

Stairs aren't a problem either - a quick clunk & the Xplory flips on to two wheels so you can pull it behind you easily - also perfect for 'off roading' on the beach, which we do a lot of living on the coast.

Huge shopping bag. Might not sound important, but to me, a non driver, it is! Most other models I've tried, have tiny baskets, so I ended up trying to push The Little Dude home whilst also lugging bags of shopping - not fun. With the Xplory, at first glance, you think 'It's tiny, I'm not going to get anything in there' - you'd be wrong. When unzipped, the bag magically expands to a tough, durable way to cart all your shopping home. I love it.


It's built to last. As I said, I don't drive, so my Xplory basically goes everywhere and has clocked some serious mileage, yet still looks brand new. The chassis is solid, the wheels are super sturdy, and can't be punctured. The cushions and the hood are made of gorgeous fabrics - soft, yet hard wearing, and so far showing no signs of wear and tear.
(And I'm sure if we ever decide to have baby no. 2, our Xplory will easily be up to another few thousand miles!)

In short, it's a fantastic stroller, superbly designed.
Yes, it's more expensive than most, but it's the only one you're ever going to need.  I know lots of parents who bought a complete 'travel system' who have then gone on to buy at least one or two 'cheap' strollers as their babies got older.  I won't need to do that. The Xplory will be The Little Dude's ride of choice right up until he's walking.
I think that, together with all the advantages and perks both for you and your baby definitely make the Xplory worth investing in.

(And in case you're wondering, our friend's Xplory is being delivered next week ;)
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Monday, 24 August 2009

We'll be weaning in style now...

{30th March: Edited to add: Since seeing how much The LD loves his Tripp Trapp, four of my mummy friends have purchased them for their own children - that's how great they are!}

In case you missed me jumping round in excitement last week, The Little Dude & I got a little lucky... we won a shiney new Stokke Tripp Trapp in the competition over at Mummy Tips - hooray!


And today as the nice delivery man dropped it off, I got all over excited again!


I ripped open the packaging and laid all the gorgeous chunky pieces out on the carpet - like a beautiful Scandinavian jigsaw. With screws.
I had a brief 'boo hiss, going to have to wait for the Mr to get home to put it together - super pout' moment, before finding my determination & convincing myself it couldn't be that hard.


I was right.
Do not let ideas of flat pack doom put you off getting a Tripp Trapp. Yes, it does come as a box of bits, but this is not your ordinary flat pack where you end up with too many 'e' screws and not enough 'g', and the pre-drilled holes don't match up, and there's always a chipped piece, and the instructions make as much sense as your favourite drunk uncle at a family wedding... oh no.


This is as simple as it is chic. Ten screws, (complete with magical alun key so no need to stress about tracking down the right kind of screwdriver) and nine pieces, which clunk together beautifully and effortlessly.


About 25 minutes later, I was looking lovingly at my little man's super chic new dining experience.
(Having only sworn once, which was my own fault for tightening all the screws before sliding in the flat pieces - silly mummy. Don't do that.)


So it looked great, but would it pass The Little Dude quality control test?





Yes. With flying colours :)
He was a little bemused at first - sort of looked at me like 'hmm, I'm at the table, but you're not holding me... interesting.' then he spotted 'Where's that monkey?' (favourite book of the moment) and his happy safari cube and grabbed at both. He looked at me with a great big gummy grin of delight, then returned his attention to his book.

The real test of course, came at dinner time. We're babyled weaning, so generally, whatever's on mine or The Daddy's plate, is fair game. Sat up at the table with us Tripp Trapp style, the possibilities were endless. The Little Dude loved it. He really semed to enjoy having dinner with us, rather than being relagated to his playmat, on perched on my knee.  He was comfortable, supported, and involved.  Safe to say, he approves.


And I certainly do, because I have a well made, great looking new (almost matching) chair at the table rather than a big plastic affair that doesn't go with anything - everybody's happy!

And of course, the best part of the tripp trapp, is that it will grow with him, as they're equally comfortable for adults. (Yes, I checked!)  I am sorely tempted to save up and replace all my dining chairs with Tripp Trapps.


Muchos gracias again to Sian, and to Stokke.
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