7 Best Travel Strollers for Infants, Reviewed

About 20 by 18 by 8 inches, folded. The Nexis collapses into a slab thin enough to slide into an overhead bin, and the carbon frame is the reason one hand can lift it there. The frame is 11.5 pounds; the complete stroller is listed at 13.9, which is the number your shoulder will actually feel. It self-stands once folded, there’s a shoulder strap for the walk down the jet bridge, and it arrives with no assembly at all.

For a family that flies more than once or twice a year, this is the stroller we hand over first. The auto fold runs from the handlebar in a single motion, the recline spans near-upright to near-flat so a newborn can lie back and a toddler can sit up and watch the concourse, and the seat is rated to 50 pounds. The XL canopy is UPF 50+ with a mesh window, and the rain cover and cup holder come in the box rather than as an upsell the week before you leave.

What you trade for the weight is plantedness. The Nexis is the least settled stroller in this group: it skitters on brick, wants two hands on broken sidewalk, and will tip backward if you hang a loaded tote on the handlebar. Load the basket, keep the heavier bag on your shoulder, and the trade is worth making — you are buying an 11.5-pound frame, and the flex is where 11.5 pounds comes from.

Two things make this umbrella stroller worth a look at its price: a multi-position near-flat recline rated from birth, and a removable snack tray with a cup holder that most strollers this cheap leave off entirely. For a household with a newborn and a nine-month-old in the same year, that’s the least expensive route here to a seat a baby can actually lie back in — and the tray means you aren’t balancing a pouch and a sippy cup on your wrist.

The rest of the package is honest rather than exciting. 13.7 pounds, a one-hand compact fold, a UPF 50+ canopy with a mesh peek-a-boo window, an adjustable-height five-point harness, and a 50-pound seat limit. The wheels are 7-inch rear and 6-inch front, which handles sidewalk seams and playground gravel and not much more. Folded, it measures 19 by 12.2 by 34 inches.

This is the budget pick that doesn’t make you give up the infant months, and that’s the whole argument for it. The finish is where the savings show: the frame and fabrics feel lighter-duty than the Joie or the Beberoad, and the seat padding is thinner than either. For a second stroller that lives in the trunk and comes out for errands, that’s a fair trade — and the low price is the point, not a compromise you have to talk yourself into.

The rain cover is the tell. Plenty of strollers this size charge extra for one; the R2 ships with a rain cover, a cup holder, and a travel bag, which says somebody was thinking about the actual journey rather than the showroom floor. It’s also the pick here for naps on the move: the seat runs from 110 degrees to 152 degrees, and that last stretch is what lets a baby drop off on a long museum afternoon instead of fighting it.

The hardware backs that up. The aluminum frame carries 12.9 pounds, the canopy is UPF 50+ and waterproof with a good forward pull, and there’s a rear pocket for a phone and keys plus a basket underneath. You get suspension in the wheels and a proper brake rather than a single bar you stomp, and the seat back is firm enough that a sleeping toddler doesn’t slump into the hinge. Folded, it’s 18.5 by 9.8 by 21.8 inches — a shape that goes into more overhead bins than most.

What we don’t love is the handlebar. It’s fixed and it sits low, so if you’re tall you’ll be pushing with a slight stoop, and by the second mile of a theme-park day you’ll feel it in your shoulders. Shorter parents won’t notice. It also stops at a 45-pound seat limit, which is a year or so less stroller than the 50-pound seats here — for the infant year and the toddler years right behind it, though, that’s still plenty.

Four-wheel suspension on a stroller that folds to 12.5 inches deep is the entire pitch. The tires are puncture-proof EVA, 5.5 inches at the front and 6 at the rear, and the suspension is doing real work on the surfaces most travel strollers simply rattle across: brick, cracked sidewalk, the boardwalk loop at a theme park.

The rest of it is aimed at long days rather than tight connections. The one-hand auto fold drops the frame onto its own base, there’s a carry handle on the side, and the extendable canopy with a mesh peek-a-boo window pulls forward far enough to shade a sleeping face. The multi-position recline and adjustable footrest grow with the seat, the parent and child bars are leatherette, and it’s Greenguard Gold certified and JPMA listed — details that rarely show up at this end of the market.

Two things to know before you commit. It’s 16.6 pounds, the heaviest stroller here, and you feel every ounce lifting it into a trunk at the end of a long day. And it can tip if a child stands and leans back against the handlebar, so keep that bar clear and load the basket instead — the usual trade for a light, narrow footprint, but worth knowing before you hang a diaper bag there.

So: if your travel is a car, a trunk, and eight hours on your feet, this is the one we take. It’s the least convenient stroller here to carry up a jet bridge, and the only one that doesn’t leave your wrists sore by day three of a vacation.

The age range settles it for a newborn buyer: the Ultra Air starts at six months. There’s a reclining seat, but the maker doesn’t rate it from birth, so a two-month-old has no business in it. Everything else about the stroller is aimed squarely at the family who is already past that stage.

Which is a shame, because the package is strong. 11.6 pounds on a carbon-fiber frame, a one-hand fold, a folded size of 22 by 19.3 by 11 inches, a 50-pound seat limit, a bumper bar and travel bag in the box, and a UPF 50+ canopy. The basket is the surprise: rated to 22 pounds, it takes a full diaper bag rather than a folded jacket. The wheels are 6-inch rear and 5.5-inch front, small enough that gravel makes itself known.

For a six-month-old and up, this is the better of the two Mamazing strollers here and one of the better values in the group. It’s lighter than everything except the Mompush, folds nearly as small, and costs less than the other carbon-fiber options. The frame also feels more solid than 11.6 pounds usually does, which is the thing that convinced us it belongs on this list despite the age problem.

The recurring weak point is the carry strap and its attachment — the bag strap is the part that gives out. Worth knowing if you plan to sling it over a shoulder through an airport rather than roll it.

Gromast builds the A1 around an extra-wide seat, which is not the first thing most compact strollers brag about. Around it you get an adjustable backrest on a slide button, a UPF 50+ waterproof canopy with a peek-a-boo window, and a cup holder — a spec sheet that reads more like a full-size stroller’s than a folding one’s.

It isn’t full-size, and that’s the appeal. At 14 pounds with a one-hand fold and a 19.3 by 10.6 by 22.4-inch folded package, the A1 is a genuinely compact stroller that happens to have a wide seat, and that pairing is rarer than it should be. A chunky nine-month-old in a winter suit goes in without a fight, and the aluminum frame and 300D Oxford canopy wipe clean after a snack-heavy outing. The EVA tires are happiest on pavement.

The 22 kg seat limit is the highest in this group, which buys you roughly another year of use over the 45-pound seats, and it’s the reason to pick this over a cheaper compact stroller if your baby is tracking large. There’s a real basket underneath, and the harness is a five-point with adjustable straps.

The one thing to check on arrival is the lock. The frame can need a firm push before it clicks fully open, and a soft push leaves it half-set, which is not a state to put a baby in. Test it a few times in the driveway before your first trip and it stops being a surprise. There’s also no rain cover or travel bag in the box, unlike the Beberoad.