Achi news desk-
When my child started walking, my husband and I were extremely excited. Like any parent we encouraged our daughter when she started taking those first steps at 14 months.
Fast forward to almost 18 months old, our child has a newfound independence where he can not only walk, but can also run.
Although it is a time to celebrate as it is a huge developmental milestone for a sense of freedom, with a little stress comes a little stress when we want her to stay in one place.
We’ve reached the point where she won’t stay in a pushchair—I mean, why would she, she can walk? Or so she thinks.
But at times we need it to remain rare, when we are out for a walk in our local town and there are cars around or a large crowd.
So, we decided to try out the STR3 SmarTrike 5-in-1 Folding Stroller to see how it would fare, and hear what we think.
The STR3 5-in-1 Folding Stroller Trike
Price: £139.99 from the official SmarTrike website (price correct at time of writing).
– Starts as a stroller designed for babies as young as 10 months grows with your child in 5 steps.
– The only stroller-certified stroller-trike
– Goes from stroller to trike in seconds
– Shock absorbers to provide the smoothest ride and protect your child from obstacles along the way
– Tool-free service – just a few clicks and you’re ready to roll!
The most exciting thing about this trike stroller is that it is straight out of the box, tool-less assembly. Although you have to put a few things together it’s thankfully not complicated!
This meant I was able to use it from the first day it arrived rather than procrastinating thinking about building it.
It comes in three colours, red, pink and blue – I have the red but I will say that all three colors are quite bright which is not that nice on the eyes – if they made it in more neutral tones it would definitely more eye. – still for me!
Coming to the actual features, as soon as we set it up, my 18 month old was excited to sit on it. We kept it in stroller mode but what’s really helpful is that she can get a hold of the steering wheel (even if she’s not actually steering).
This alone gave her a sense of independence, what surprised me the most was that she voluntarily sat in the seat she would NEVER make her push chair!
We took her out of the park in it, and when we got there we were very thankful we had taken her with us because the walkway had a huge fishing pond in the middle without a fence.
Walking for an hour and a half I’m proud to say my energetic toddler didn’t throw a tantrum for wanting to get out and walk himself! Usually after a minute of being in a pushchair she would scream and shout.
But with this, we were able to control where we go without worrying about her running into something unsafe.
She actually managed to rest her feet on the foot rest while we had it in stroller mode, this again alongside holding the handle bars was great to give her that sense of independence even if she wasn’t’ n pedal
The problem I find with pushchairs is that the legs are limited, but with this trike her legs could move around as if she were on a bike seat.
The trike stroller has 5 modes, but realistically it’s only four as the last mode folds and packs it (which is great though).
You can use it as a stroller, peddle trike with parental guidance, steering mode or full on independent trike mode. The age varies from 10 months to around three years!
For its price I felt it was a great alternative to a pushchair especially for parents of independent toddlers. I love that it lasts a long time which makes it worth the money – to be honest it’s about the price of a travel pushchair, but the bonus is that it turns into a trike!
His shock absorbers are also great because we walked on a pretty bumpy trail and our little one still seemed to enjoy himself and point out the ducks.
The only issue I would have with this is the color range, but other than that I would highly recommend it to parents looking to change up their stroller game.
