When to use a jogging stroller
A while ago Jon asked:
“At what age can we REALLY start using the jogging stroller for jogging? The folks who work at the running store are, well, kinda macho about it (‘We started when she was 2 months old!’) and the books/literature online sometimes say as late as 8 months.”
I put the question to frequent expert Dr. Daniel Levy, an Owings Mills pediatrician who is a national spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Levy wrote back in an e-mail that around 4 months, most children would be able to lift their heads when placed on their stomachs, and therefore would have enough head control to ride in a jogging stroller.
“At that point, the head will not bounce around, and there will be minimal danger of the kinds of acceleration/deceleration that might cause injury,” he wrote.
If you’re wondering whether your child has sufficient head control for the jogging stroller, it couldn’t hurt to check with your own pediatrician to get his or her opinion.
By the way, today is the debut of the Monday Consult in the newspaper -- in our new You & Your Health section. Except here, you can add your own comments on the expert's opinion.
Categories: Health, The Monday Consult
Comments
Hey Kate! I just want to add a word of encouragement here to prospective jogging parents ... I just got my first jogging stroller after much debate and indecision. And both the baby and I LOVE IT! He's happy hanging out in the stroller, and even though I'm a pretty mediocre runner, it's easy to push and a great workout!
Posted by: Lisa | August 25, 2008 2:59 PM
Great comments Lisa/Kate!! Extremely helpful....Question: we are expecting a little one fairly soon and would like to eventually have a jogging stroller. Any suggestions of good jogging strollers? Also, can we use a jogging stroller as our everyday one? Seems practical, fairly light, and negates the reason to purchase a separate one. Thoughts?
I must confess that I never owned a jogging stroller. One of the reasons was that it didn't seem practical for lugging to the mall, the library, or any place with narrow spaces to navigate, particularly without a minivan with room to haul it. But others may have found ways around those problems....KS
Posted by: Raj | August 25, 2008 3:35 PM
Hi Raj,
You can spend $300 and up on a jogging stroller, and maybe more experienced runners see advantages to those. But after some checking around, I got a $110 Baby Trend stroller and have been very happy. It's much easier to navigate with a jogging stroller these days, because many come with a lockable swivel wheel in front. You lock the wheel for stability when you're running, unlock it for when you want to get around narrow spaces, etc. I would see only two potential downsides to having it as your regular stroller: first, it doesn't fold as compactly; second, when baby is small, having that travel system stroller so that you can move baby from stroller to car/inside without waking up is GREAT. I know there are some travel system/jogging strollers on the market now, but I didn't have one.
Posted by: Lisa | August 26, 2008 10:40 AM
wow, you rock, thanks for addressing my question!
Posted by: jon | August 31, 2008 5:45 PM
It is helpful for the parents when they are jogging.
Posted by: Play Hards | March 5, 2009 12:08 PM