UPPAbaby Vista vs. Doona: Why I Chose the Vista

The convenience of the Doona is incredibly compelling.

When you're pregnant and imagining yourself with a newborn, the idea of getting out of the car and instantly having a stroller sounds fantastic. Doctor's appointment? Wheels down. Quick errand? Wheels down. Airport? Same thing.

There is something very appealing about eliminating an entire giant piece of baby equipment from the process.

And the current Doona really is designed around that exact convenience. It's both a rear-facing infant car seat and a stroller, weighs 17.2 pounds and is intended for babies from 4 to 30 pounds and up to 32 inches.

If most of your stroller use is going to involve getting in and out of a car for shorter trips, I completely understand why people love it.

I almost chose it for exactly that reason.

Then I stopped thinking only about newborn convenience and started thinking about how we actually live.

This sounds like the least exciting reason in the world to choose a stroller until you actually have a baby.

Then stroller storage becomes one of the great luxuries of modern civilization.

We walk. We travel. We spend long stretches away from the house. And I am not exactly known for leaving home with the bare necessities.

Ben calls it overpacking.

I call it being aggressively prepared.

Once Sawyer was here, the stroller basket became less of a basket and more of our mobile storage unit. Diaper bag, blankets, jackets, drinks, random purchases, snacks, things I apparently thought we might need in case we became stranded six miles from civilization while actually going to lunch.

It all goes underneath.

The current Vista V3's basket can hold up to 30 pounds, which tells you a lot about the type of stroller this is. It is built to carry your child and a completely unreasonable amount of their belongings.

I appreciate that in a product.

This was probably the bigger reason the Vista ultimately won.

The thing that makes the Doona so clever is also what made me hesitate. Its primary magic is tied to the infant car-seat stage.

I didn't want our larger stroller investment to solve only the first phase of having a baby. I wanted something we could use for walks, travel, long days out and whatever came after the newborn stage.

The Vista felt more like our actual stroller rather than a brilliant infant convenience product.

And that's exactly what it became.

The current Vista can also expand with compatible accessories as a family grows, which wasn't necessarily the deciding factor for me at the time, but it is another reason it functions more like a long-term stroller system than an infant-only solution.

I love our Vista.

It is not dainty.

You do not fold it and stare lovingly at the enormous amount of trunk space remaining.

The current Vista V3 weighs 27.6 pounds with the seat attached. The Doona is 17.2 pounds. Those numbers don't tell you which one is better, but they absolutely tell you that these are two very different products solving two very different problems.

If you have a tiny trunk, limited storage at home, stairs you regularly need to carry a stroller up, or your biggest priority is getting in and out of the car as quickly as humanly possible, I would take that seriously before buying the Vista.

I don't think there is a universal winner here.

There's a winner for your life.

If your biggest priorities are convenience, quick errands and reducing the amount of baby equipment you're hauling around during the infant stage, the Doona makes a lot of sense.

I also completely understand the appeal for travel. Having your infant car seat turn into your stroller means one less major item to manage.

This is coming from a woman who once removed the legs from a SNOO and took it to Yellowstone, so perhaps I am not the person who should be lecturing anyone about efficient packing.

Still.

If I lived somewhere where I was constantly hopping in and out of cars, had very limited storage or simply wanted the easiest possible infant setup, I would give the Doona a serious look.

If you walk a lot, spend full days out, want a big storage basket, plan to use your stroller well beyond infancy or just generally travel through life with enough belongings to survive an unexpected overnight stay, I think the Vista becomes much more compelling.

That was us.

I wanted one stroller that could become part of our everyday life, not just something that made the newborn car-seat phase easier.

The Vista is bigger. It's heavier. It takes up more room.

And I would still choose it.

Yes.

That's probably the simplest UPPAbaby Vista review I can give you.

I researched the Vista and Doona obsessively, bought the Vista, actually used it in real life and would make the same decision again.

That's not because the Doona is a bad choice. I actually think the Doona solves a very specific problem extremely well.

It just wasn't the problem I most needed solved.

I needed storage. I wanted something for walks. I wanted something we could keep using. And, apparently, I needed enough basket capacity to transport the belongings of a small traveling circus.

The Vista fit our life better.

If you're stuck between the two, stop asking which stroller is “better” and ask yourself what a normal Tuesday with your baby is actually going to look like.

Are you mostly hopping in and out of the car?

Doona deserves a very serious look.

Are you walking, spending full days out and hauling half your house around with you?

Welcome to the Vista side.

I'll save you a spot for your 47 things in the basket.

If you're making this decision while simultaneously trying to figure out which other 900 things the internet says your baby needs, read:

“What I Wish I Knew Before Building My Baby Registry”

And if you want my bigger list of what we actually used, what I'd skip and what can absolutely wait, read:

“What You Actually Need Before Baby Arrives (and What Can Wait)”

Because choosing a stroller is already enough research for one pregnancy.