Chicco KeyFit Caddy One Year Review - My Favorite Stroller?

Over the past year we've used three strollers with our daughter: the Nuna Tavo Next, the Thule Chariot Lite, and the Chicco KeyFit Caddy. They've all been great strollers that fill various roles in our lives, but of the three the KeyFit Caddy has definitely seen the most use. Which is ironic because it was the one I was most hesitant to purchase initially! In this post I'll cover what we like about it, how we use it, and how it is held up over the past year.

Details

The Chicco KeyFit Caddy is a frame stroller that is designed to be used with Chicco KeyFit infant car seats (we use it with a KeyFit 35). If you don't have a KeyFit carseat then you might want to stop reading – it doesn't work with other types.

Specifications

You can find the full list of specifications on the manufacturer's site, but these are the ones that I measured myself (rounded up to the nearest half inch) and personally find most important:

• Folded dimensions: 14.5 (depth) x 20 (width) x 34.5 (length) inches
• Wheel diameter: 6.5 inches
• Basket size: approximately 10 (depth) x 13 (width) x 20 (length) inches

To put that into perspective, I could easily fit the stroller into the back of my Subaru Crosstrek when it was folded with room to place backpacks / grocery bags on top of it. For longer trips with suitcases I've been able to flip the stroller over and balance it on top.

It comes with two cup holders and the bottom basket is incredibly roomy. It is over 20 inches long (+ about 3 inches of slope toward the back) and we can typically toss a large diaper bag and two Nalgenes into it.

Review

We initially weren't going to by the KeyFit Caddy because we felt it wouldn't get much use considering we were gifted a much nicer and fancier stroller at our shower. I believed that since the Nuna Tavo had a nearly flat recline we could use it day one. However, once our daughter finally arrived it turned out she was quite small and it would be at least a month until she could safely be strapped in to it. So after a few days of newborn life I decided to order it and I'm really glad I did.

We default to bringing the KeyFit Caddy whenever we go out and about. It fits great in both of our vehicles and its super convenient to be able to just pop the carseat out of the car and directly onto the stroller. This means that when she's asleep we don't have to wake her up! It's compact size makes it super easy to maneuver and we love wheeling it in to restaurants since it can be pulled up alongside a table and act as a "high chair." This was incredibly useful since it allowed our daughter to sit alongside us at the table before she could actually use a real high chair.

Its plastic ~6-inch diameter wheels maneuver fine on most paved surfaces – including sidewalks with a light amount of ice and snow. For gravel or anything more rugged, though, I'd recommend a stroller with beefier wheels.

Accessories

Since the stroller comes with two cup holder and a huge basket, there really aren't that many accessories you absolutely need for it. That said, we found that we really appreciated having a battery-powered fan for hot days, some baby links for entertainment, and a UPF-50 sun protective cover.

Battery-powered Fan

We've had a number of heatwaves recently and have found having a rechargeable stroller fan to be invaluable. We own several, but our favorite is the Momcozy version. It has an 8000 mAh battery and it hasn't died on us yet (it claims 12-27 hour runtime depending on the fan speed). What I really like about it is that the fan is detachable from its tripod so you can pop it off and recharge it without having to disconnect its base from the stroller.

Baby Links (or other toys)

Baby links are inexpensive brightly colored plastic chain links that our daughter loves. We always have some clipped to her car seat and use them to keep small soft books or clippable toys from getting lost. Technically you should probably unclip them before driving, but while the car seat is attached to the Caddy stroller they're perfect.

UPF-50 Car Seat / Stroller Cover

We're big fans of Milk Snob car seat covers. They're lightweight and breathable, yet provide excellent protection from the sun and environment. Even though the KeyFit 35 car seat comes with a built in sunshade, we preferred having a separate one that we could easily remove and clean.

We got our most use out of it during the first six months. It made things dark and cozy and helper our daughter fall asleep. After around six months, she preferred to look around and see what was going on and was less enthused about being enclosed by it. The Milk Snob still has a role as a nursing coverup, though.

Final Verdict

👍👍

Overall I give this stroller two thumbs up and am so glad we bought it. If you own a KeyFit car seat and use a stroller, I would highly recommend the KeyFit Caddy to you. It is just that convenient.

I'm just sorry to say that our daughter will be outgrowing it soon (the KeyFit 35 car seat has a 32 inch length limit) and we'll have to say goodbye. 😭 The joys of having a long baby. 😅