When my toddler started walking, my husband and I were extremely excited. Like any parent we were encouraging our daughter when she started to take those first steps at 14 months.
Fast-forward to nearly 18-month-old, our child has a new found independence where she can not only walk, but can also run.
Though it’s a time for celebration as it’s a huge developmental milestone into a sense of freedom, with it comes a bit of stress when we want her to stay in one place.
We’re at 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 her to stay strapped, when we’re out for a walk in our local town and there’s cars about or a big crowd.
So, we decided to test out SmarTrike’s 5-in-1 STR3 Folding Stroller Trike to see how she would get on, and hear are our thoughts.
The 5-in-1 STR3 Folding Stroller Trike
Price: £139.99 from SmarTrike official website (price correct at time of writing).
Quick breakdown:
- Starts out as a stroller designed for babies as young as 10 months growing with your child in 5 stages.
- 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 assembly - just a few clicks and you’re ready to roll!
Review:
The most exciting thing about this stroller trike is that straight out of the box, it’s a tool free assembly. Though you have to put a few things together it’s thankfully not complicated!
This meant I was able to use it from day one of its arrival rather than procrastinating at the thought of building it.
It comes in three colours, red, pink and blue — I have the red but I will say all three colours are quite bright which isn’t that nice on the eyes — if they made it in more neutral tones it would definitively be more eye-catching for me!
Getting on to the actual features, as soon as we set it up my 18-month-old toddler was excited sit on it. We kept it in the stroller mode but what’s really helpful is that she can get the hang of holding onto the steering (even if she’s not actually steering).
This alone gave her a sense of independence, what shocked me most was that she voluntarily sat in the seat which she would NEVER do for her pushchair!
We took her out the the park in it, and when we got there we were extremely grateful that we took it with us because the walking trail had a huge fishing pond in the middle that had no fence.
Walking for an hour and a half I am proud to say my active toddler didn’t throw a tantrum about wanting to get out and walk herself! Usually after a minute of being in a pushchair she would be wriggling and shouting.
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 the stroller mode, this again alongside holding the handle bars were great to give her that sense of independence even if she wasn’t peddling.
The issue I find with pushchairs is that the legs are sort of restricted, whereas with this trike her legs could move around as if she was on a bicycle seat.
The stroller trike boasts 5 modes, however realistically it’s only four as the last mode is folding it up and packing it away (which is great nonetheless).
You can use it as a stroller, peddle trike with parental guidance, steer mode or full on independent trike mode. The age ranges 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’s long lasting which makes it worth the money — to be honest it’s similar to the price of a travel pushchair, but the bonus is that it turns into a trike!
Its shock absorbers are also great because we walked on quite uneven path and our toddler seemed to still be enjoying herself and pointing out the ducks.
The only issue I would have with this is the colour range, but apart from that I would highly recommend for parents looking to change up their stroller game.
Rating: 9/10