Review on 👶 Bitsy Elite Compact Stroller for Travel with Contours - Onyx Black - Lightweight, Foldable, and Compatible with Adapter-Free Infant Car Seats by Erika Brown

First of all, this is a great travel stroller for a number of reasons. Since I bought this stroller 5 months ago I have driven it many, many miles and it still shows no signs of damage. This stroller has traveled twice by plane from coast to coast, walked for hours on countless historical and natural sites (including all the hiking trails in Yellowstone National Park), stowed in the trunk of my husband's tiny sedan, and moved in and out of crowd seats . Buses and dirty cars in the rain and more. No signs of damage. When this trolley bus arrived it was very easy to assemble. Just slide the wheels back on and off you go! It's very light, so I can support my son's weight in this stroller with just my thumb and two fingers, even on gravel. The hood is oversized and the added zip for cool airflow is a great touch for those traveling in the summer heat. The brake on this stroller is convenient to use and very easy to activate (however, if you take a long step, you could accidentally activate the brake by getting too close). This stroller really folds with one hand, making crowded plane terminals a breeze, as well as getting in and out of an Uber at the side of a busy street. It is also very easy for airport staff to move about without getting injured. The advantage for me was that you can attach a baby seat to this stroller to make a travel system WITHOUT ADAPTER. If you happen to be traveling with a baby, you're in luck because most travel strollers don't have this feature. Although the basket of this stroller is small, it is large enough to fit in a medium-sized bucket bag or kid's backpack. The seat is quite small, which is to be expected of any travel stroller. Now I'm only giving 3 stars because this stroller doesn't have a footrest for the baby. I spent quite a bit of time reading reviews, watching videos, researching different brands and styles of travel strollers before settling on this one. I was hesitating between this 'high end' model and the regular version of this stroller and decided to spend the extra money on this 'upgrade' because it had a larger canopy, improved fabric and a larger basket. But what is not mentioned in any review, photo or video is that there is NO footrest in this 'upgraded' stroller. My impression is that both Bitsy models are identical in basic design, with the Elite having a few extras. When the Bitsy Elite arrived the day before the trip I was VERY disappointed to find that this model didn't have the footrest that the standard model does. While it may not be clear why this could be a problem, I can tell you right away that one of the most important design features of a stroller should be the footrest. Why? First, the footrest supports the child's torso, pelvis and back. Hanging legs pull the lower back, which is not very convenient for the child. It also encourages pelvic sag when seated, which is an unhealthy position for the developing spine. Second, if the child's legs are not long enough to reach the front step (usually an average sized toddler under 2 years old or an infant), the weight of the legs will rest almost entirely on the backs of the child's knees. After sitting like this for half an hour, my son's legs lost circulation and became darker because of blood pooling in the legs. It also took him a few minutes to get rid of the tingling in his legs before he left when I took him out of the stroller. Finally, the lack of a footrest, just having a strap to hold the car seat in place allows for a lot more movement in the car seat than is comfortable for me. Driving off a curb on a bumpy road is not as safe as one would like, especially on busy city streets. In my opinion, the lack of this footrest is a shortcoming of this stroller model. I intend to write to the company and explain this issue as I am so disappointed that I have spent almost $200 on a stroller that neither I nor my son enjoy using. I wish I had ordered my stroller earlier so I had time to return the Bitsy Elite for another stroller. At the moment I'm stuck on this stroller and struggling to get it working, although I often regret not returning it.