Maiden Voyage to Governor’s Island

My brood may be too big for strollers at this point but that doesn’t mean I am not still just a little obsessed with baby and kid gear. I love learning about and testing all of the new and innovative products that hit the market. Living in a walking city like New York, strollers are basically like cars for parents—we need to navigate tough terrain, uneven sidewalks and through all sorts of weather. We also stow all our stuff in the bottom basket—like groceries and backpacks.

I have been a huge UPPAbaby fan for years—I love the brand.  We had the G-LUXE, G-LITE, and the VISTA. All were so perfect for us because they worked for every stage and the VISTA grew with our family from two kids with one car seat and a rumble seat to three kiddos with the addition of a kick board. You can’t throw a stone in lower Manhattan without hitting an UPPAbaby stroller and that says something. UPPAbaby strollers are functional and durable, but still incredibly chic and stylish. This year UPPAbaby launched the newest addition to their family, the MINU.

If you live in NYC chances are you have a smaller living space than most suburban families or maybe you just like to minimize your clutter and want a more compact stroller. The new MINU from UPPAbaby is my latest obsession because it still has most of the features of a full-size stroller, but it is super compact and can easily fold up and stowed in a closet. The footprint when folded is so small that you can just plop it in an entryway and it will go virtually unnoticed.

We recently had a fun playdate with our little cousins Emilia and John and took the MINU on a maiden voyage to Governor’s Island. We didn’t need to bring a double-stroller because even though Emilia is only 3 ½ (and still napping) when she hangs with her big cousins she wants to be one of the BIG girls and refuses to sit in a stroller. Baby John, on the other hand, is only one-year-old so was riding in style and because the MINU has such a deep recline and extended canopy with pop-out UV sun visor, he was able to take a long nap while we ate fish tacos at Island Oyster.

The UPPAbaby MINU is lightweight and extremely easy to handle. I often find with super compact folding strollers the wheels are a little sticky or don’t handle as smooth as full-size strollers but the MINU wheels are pretty amazing. The wheels are polyurethane and have a super smooth all-wheel suspension, which helps maneuvering small spaces and uneven terrain. The stroller only weighs 14.5 pounds and it folds to 20.5” L x 23” W x 11.5”H, which can fit into the overhead of most airplanes. It also has a shoulder strap for easy carrying.

The other MINU features are pretty impressive and the attention to detail is totally what you would expect from UPPAbaby—leather handlebar with a one-handed fold. There is a two-pedal (red and green) locking mechanism, like the Vista. And like the Vista, the storage basket on the MINU is pretty impressive. We fit so much down there I was shocked. Water bottles, blanket, snacks—it holds up to 20 pounds!

For parents with two kids (like little Emilia and baby John) the MINU is also a perfect solution for pre-school drop off/pick-up.

The MINU is also a great option for first time parents who aren’t sure if they need a big stroller because it works from birth all the way up to 50 pounds. The birth kit (sold separately) folds WITH the stroller! Such a brilliant design detail! No bassinet, no problem—the MINU is also compatible with car seats (adaptors sold separately) like the UPPAbaby Mesa but also Nuna, Maxi-Cosi and Cybex.

UPPAbaby continues to impress me with their strollers and I am thrilled about this newest member of the UB family. The MINU fills that gap in the market for a compact, lightweight stroller that still has all of the amazing features of a full-size stroller. I am excited to see what UB has in store for us in the coming years.

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