You've already picked the perfect stroller for your baby – and now you're wondering what stroller accessories you'll actually need to go with it?
Find out now which stroller accessories are the absolute must-haves and which items will also make your life as a new mom or dad easier.
These 5 helpers are essential for everyday life with a baby in the stroller:
1. Rain cover: Should always be with you
Unless you happen to have not planned to spend the first three years of your child's life in California or Ibiza, a stroller rain cover is essential.
The rain cover is part of the absolute basic stroller accessories and should ideally stay on hand at all times.
2. Footmuff: A must from October to March
No winter without a footmuff! From roughly October to March, a good footmuff is essential, at least in our latitudes. After all, your little treasure shouldn't be cold in the stroller!
Whether you go for a model made of fleece or lambswool or with down filling is ultimately a matter of taste – the main thing is that the footmuff keeps your baby nice and warm and has the right harness slots for the sport seat.
3. Sun canopy or parasol: Shade for the little ones
A sun canopy or a parasol not only protects delicate baby skin from harmful UV rays: it also prevents your child from being blinded by the sun. Babies are extremely light-sensitive, especially in the first months of life, and hate it when even the faintest ray of sunlight dares to disturb their peaceful sleep.
If the stroller canopy isn't big enough to completely shield your spring or summer baby from the sun, an additional (universal) sun canopy is a stroller accessory you shouldn't do without. When buying, look out for the UV 50+ label.
4. Stroller organizer or bag: Small items always within reach
Anyone who has ever pushed a stroller can confirm it: a handbag is out of place here. But where do you put your keys, phone, and wallet if your hands and arms need to stay free? With a stroller organizer you always have small items within easy reach on the handlebar. Ideally, it's made of water-repellent material.
A stroller organizer is a bit larger, and you can also attach it to the handlebar. It has room for everything you need on the go with a baby or toddler besides your own personal items:
5. Adapter for the infant car seat: Easy on baby's sleep and your back
Your baby has fallen peacefully asleep in the car in their infant car seat, but the way from the parking lot to the pediatrician or the supermarket is still long? With the matching stroller adapters you can simply click the infant car seat onto the stroller frame.
This saves you the tiresome lugging around (baby plus infant car seat gets heavier and heavier over time), and you also don't need to transfer your baby into the stroller.
Practical & clever: More stroller accessories
Hand warmers or hand muffs: No more icy fingers
In the cold season, hand warmers or a cozily lined hand muff keep your hands nice and warm and dry on the handlebar. Your baby benefits too, whenever you need to take them out of the stroller or want to check their temperature at the back of the neck – after all, who wants to be touched with ice-cold fingers?
Just like with footmuffs, there are different materials available for stroller hand warmers too. Real lambswool is generally more expensive than fleece but also keeps you a bit warmer. In any case, a weatherproof outer fabric is ideal, so the hand warmers don't get soaked through in rain or snow.
Stroller toy chain: A play arch for your walks
A colorful stroller toy chain is essentially a play arch for on the go. As soon as your baby enjoys colorful, moving objects and tries to touch them, you can use a stroller toy chain. Just pay attention to whether your baby responds to the colors, figures, and possibly also little bells.
Once your baby can grasp things, you can hang the stroller toy chain a bit lower so your little treasure can fiddle with it to their heart's content.
Also great are individual, flexibly usable plastic loops, which you can connect into a chain. You can also fix them to the infant car seat, for example, or use them to attach the pacifier.
Universal clips: One for everything
With large universal stroller clips you can, for example, repurpose a light muslin cloth as a sun or wind shield (careful, as mentioned above, never stretch a blanket over the stroller!) or quickly clip all sorts of items like shopping bags, your bag of sand toys, gloves, and more onto the handlebar.
Magnetic stroller clips are also handy.
Insect protection: Stroller accessories for summer babies
At your local beer garden, on an evening walk by the lake, or on that long-awaited trip to Sweden: especially in summer, annoying pests lurk just about everywhere – and babies can't tolerate mosquito spray yet! An insect net, stretched over the stroller bassinet, protects your baby from painful bites. A stroller accessory that's especially worthwhile for summer babies.
Cup holder: For refreshment on the go
Whether it's your beloved (decaf) coffee to go or your baby's bottle that needs to come along: A cup holder on the stroller is the best invention for relaxed walks – in every season. If you're breastfeeding, always bring a water bottle for yourself!
Besides an upright cup holder, an insulating bottle holder is also handy, which you can attach to the frame with a velcro fastener.
When buying, be sure to check whether the cup holder really fits your stroller frame.
Buggy board: For proud siblings
Are you expecting your 2nd (or 3rd) child and wondering how to sync up an unenthusiastic-walker toddler with long stroller outings? A buggy board seems like the best choice here: A big fun factor, always along for the ride, and of course also significantly more affordable than a double stroller.
Buggy boards are generally suitable as stroller accessories for siblings between 2 and 5 years old; the maximum weight is around 20 kg (44 lbs). As handy as a buggy board is: pushing gets a bit more strenuous as your older child grows in age and weight, which you should just be aware of. Still, it's better than a fussy toddler who, in the worst case, keeps the baby awake ;-)
Stroller reflectors: More safety in winter
On evening walks along poorly lit paths, reflectors on the stroller frame increase your safety.
Products with a velcro fastener that you can easily attach and remove again are handy. Once your child has outgrown the stroller, they can, for example, continue to be used on a scooter or balance bike.
Stroller Accessories: Popular Brands
