Maclaren Stroller Recall: A Million Strollers, Minus One. (MINE!)

I just gave away my Maclaren Techno XT stroller. But no, not because of the massive stroller recall of about a million Maclaren strollers. But because after more than 3 years of using my umbrella stroller every day of LJ's baby and toddler years, LJ finally got to the point where we were getting "those looks." You know the one: "Now you know that child is much too big to be pushed in that stroller! Get up and walk, you lazy lima bean!"

I live in NYC. I never wanted a Bugaboo. To me, they're the Hummers of the stroller world: Too bulky. Too braggy. Totally impractical for my everyday usage. I needed something sturdy, but also compact. Reliable. Practical. So I got the Maclaren.

While I didn't have to plunk down a grand, it still wasn't cheap: almost $400. Still, break it down in months of usage, that's about $10/month. Not too shabby.

And in those 40-odd months, my Maclaren had been peed on, puked on, pooped on, coffee'd on, and carried enough Cheerio crumbs to fill a whole Costco-sized box. That stroller has been uptown, downtown, boogied to the Boogie Down Bronx from all the way in Brooklyn. Oh, and I don't even have a car! So it's all public transportation, all the time! That means hauling up and down subway stairs. (With LJ usually napping inside! Dead weight alert!) Lugging up three-floor walk-up buildings. And did you know that on NYC busses, you can't bring a baby in a stroller? The stroller has to be folded up. Ever try running to a bus stop in the pouring rain or a snow storm? Yeah, so not fun.

Needless to say, I became a one-handed folding genius: Lock brake. Unstrap kid. Sling kid on hip. Step. Kick. Click. Fold. All done in rhythm and record time.

Not once in all that time were my daughter's fingers ever near a hinge, or experienced a whit of danger. (Crazy taxi drivers not included!) All of her 10 digits are perfectly in tact. In fact, I can't even recall her being near the folding hinge ever.

Now, I'm not saying these 12 families aren't suffering. As a parent, I feel so horribly for them and their poor children! God knows if LJ suffered a horrific accident I'd be seeing red, and want someone to pay the price. But a total recall of a MILLION Maclaren strollers?!? That's just excessive. Even so, Maclaren issued this recall voluntarily, and jointly with the CSPC to prove their commitment to child safety. The company is even providing hinge cover kits and instructional videos on how to properly fold their strollers. I think that's pretty great of them.

Also worth nothing: This is only a US recall. Yet Maclaren is a UK company that's been around for 40 years. Don't you think it's just a little bit odd? So where are all the British baby amputees crying foul? There are none. Not one complaint. I know English people are polite, but not THAT polite! No one's even saying in what time frame these accidents happened. But the recall includes 1999 models—way before I even thought about having a baby! Still, maybe this says something about America, and our overly litigious society. Got a problem? Go get some money!

I don't know: Maybe these parents were guilty of turning away just at the precise moment when their kids got hurt. I mean, ALL parents are guilty of that—including me 494 times over (and counting)! It's not like the stroller collapsed while the kids were riding in them! This isn't the lead tainted toy scandal of a few years ago (which is why I can't drop off LJ's old toys at secondhand stores anymore.) But for freaked-out parents to take a good stroller company down—and one that's really trying to make good with the public and on their promise of child safety? I can't really roll with that.