Stroller Bumper Bars: Top 10 reasons why you need one

Bump up your stroller game with a bumper bar. Besides offering protection and allowing the child to hold on to something, a stroller arm-bar also has other uses. Here are the benefits of using a stroller belly bar, and reviews of the best ones.

Contents hide

1 Introduction

1.1 Bumper Bars / Belly Bars: Things to Consider

2 Bestselling Bumper Bars / Belly Bars

2.1 Baby Jogger Belly Bar

2.2 Thule Bumper Bar

2.3 UPPAbaby RIDGE Bumper Bar

2.4 Generic Bumper Bar for Babyzen YOYO YOYO+ Baby Stroller

2.5 Universal Baby Stroller Armrest Handlebar

2.6 Baby Stroller Bar Cover

3 Bumper / Belly Bars: Guide

3.1 Uses of Bumper / Belly Bars

Introduction

A stroller bumper bar (also known as a belly bar or grab bar or a stroller armrest) is a stroller accessory that gives your little one something to hold onto while seated in the stroller.

It is also an added safety feature as it prevents the child from leaning too far forward. The Belly Bar gives your child a safe and comfortable area to hold on to while strolling.

On some strollers, it also serves as a handle to carry the stroller when it is folded.

Another important use of the belly bar is that you can attach/hang fun toys (and even a pacifier) on it, which will keep your child entertained when you’re out. Toys can be secured to the bar for your child’s entertainment when out on long strolls or on those busy shopping days.

A bumper bar is perfect for growing babies who want to sit up in the stroller and explore the world around them. These are also great for your little ones to bite, squeeze or kick.

A stroller bumper bar is easy to attach to your buggy. You get clip-on bumper bars that can be easily fitted with a few clips to the stroller. Belly bars can be opened on either sides, making it convenient for the child to get in and out of the stroller.

Almost all of these bars have a soft padded grip/cover all around for safety. If your baby leans too far forward, waves their arms, or kicks their legs and hits the Bumper Bar, the soft grip will not hurt the child.

The material used for the cover may vary depending on the manufacturer or model of the stroller.

Bumper Bars / Belly Bars: Things to Consider

The best bumper bars are the ones where the child console is also attached (has little sections built-in that can hold snacks).
The best belly bars are adjustable so that its at the right height for your baby.
Most bars come with a zip off cover so that you can easily remove it and clean.
If you don’t find any use for the bumper bar, feel free to remove it as it gets in the way, especially when folding (some bars can also be folded down along with the stroller).
Preferably, buy a stroller belly bar that has a hinge on either side so you could leave one side in (instead of having to take the whole thing out) when getting your kids out of the stroller.

More Things to Keep in Mind

Here are a few things to keep in mind when buying a Bumper Bar for your baby stroller.

A bumper bar acts another layer of safety for the baby in a pushchair, it effectively keeps the child in the stroller if any unexpected accident occurs.
Most bumper bars fit various brands of strollers, but just make sure it fits the one that you have/
The bumper bar of the pushchair should not interfere with the fold-ability of the stroller. You don’t have to remove the bumper bar in order to fold a baby stroller / pushchair
You can add/remove the cover of the bumper bar to suits your tastes/aesthetics.
Buy a few stroller toys for your little one that you can hang on the bumper bar to keep your child entertained.

Bestselling Bumper Bars / Belly Bars

Not all new strollers may come with a bumper bar.

The good thing is that it’s easy to buy a bumper bar separately; all stroller brands make these accessories for their strollers. You can even order a spare or replacement bumper bar.

Here we take a look at the best stroller bumper bars (some of them are universal).

Baby Jogger Belly Bar

Baby Jogger adjustable belly bar

For use on single strollers, compatible with the City Mini, City Mini GT, and Summit X3 single strollers. Adjust it using a Push-button. Machine washable cover. Strollers fold with the Belly Bar attached.

Buy on Amazon

Thule Bumper Bar

This one is designed only for Thule products. This bumper bar is compatible with Thule Urban Glide 2.0 single and double jogging stroller, and Thule Glide 2.0 Performance Jogging Stroller. The bumper bar opens on both the sides and easily swivels out of the way when loading the child.

See PRICE on Amazon

UPPAbaby RIDGE Bumper Bar

The UPPAbaby RIDGE Bumper Bar provides a secure bar for your little one to hold onto while you explore the outdoors. It is easy to set up; just remove the covers on the sides of your stroller and the Bumper Bar will just easily click in place. Its also easy to unclick the bar from one side making it easy to load/unload the child. This Bumper Bar is designed to work only with the UPPAbaby RIDGE Jogging Stroller.

See PRICE on Amazon

Generic Bumper Bar for Babyzen YOYO YOYO+ Baby Stroller

Easy to install, each side of the Bumper Bar clamps onto the frame. Queen size make of Oxford Cloth.

Easy to install on your stroller’s frame. Each side of the Bumper Bar clamps onto the frame and maintains a secure hold. The Bumper Bar feature a soft grip all around to protect your little one from painful bumps and bruises in case of collision with walls, posts, people, etc.
- See PRICE on Amazon
Universal Baby Stroller Armrest Handlebar

This one is a universal stroller armrest/handlebar that works with rectangular tube, square tube, oval tube, diamond tube. Easy to install on to your stroller, and offers good value for money. It allows you to adjust the angle. The handlebar is made of Pu leather, foam, thickened iron pipe. The only downside to this armrest is that on some stroller models, the stroller may not fully close with the armrest attached on it.
- See PRICE on Amazon
Baby Stroller Bar Cover

Want to add another layer of padding to the bumper bar? Has it worn out or is stained and needs replacement? You get Bumper Bar Covers that can easily be attached to the bumper bar.

These pram handle covers helps in protecting your baby from chewing on the bar cover while also protecting the pram. You get good looking bar covers that give a unique style to the stroller and also keeps the pram in great condition. You can easily remove them at any time, if required. Read more on stroller bar covers here.

Bumper / Belly Bars: Guide

Uses of Bumper / Belly Bars

Bumper bars are great for attaching toys onto, but there are other uses to it as well. Bell bars are more of a utility bar and not meant to stop children from falling out (that’s the job of the straps), although its great to have the bar as a backup.

Here’s why you may need a bumper bar (belly bar) on your stroller, in case you are wondering whether you really need a bumper bar for your stroller..
1. You can consider it to be another safety net for your child, besides the safety harness. Its great from a safety point of view, if the buggy was to ever to tip and roll over (would still recommend strapping in children)
2. Useful for hanging toys. You can hang a few of his favorite toys so that he doesn’t create tantrums when outdoors
3. You can hang a towel, spare cosy toes & footmuffs from the bar.
4. It provides you with one more means to keeps your little one occupied when out for a stroller. The little one can play with the toys on the bar, or he can push it, pull it.
5. Can kick it (the toys) while lying down. Some babies love to rest their legs on the bar. Several kids love to lie back (in a chilled manner) with their feet casually resting on the bumper bar.
6. Kids love to hold on to the bar and see what’s going on around.
7. Provides your child with a soft padded area to hold/lean on to. Some kids just love holding onto the bumper bar, sitting in an upright position, especially when something interesting has caught their attention
8. Some love to do pull ups on the belly bar
9. Helps protect baby from collisions with walls, posts, people.
10. On some baby travel systems, where the seat comes out, the belly bar can be used as a carry handle to lift the seat off the tarvel system. (just check if the one on your stroller is sturdy enough…read the manual)
Bumper Bars are easy to attach to strollers and usually are also equipped with removable covers (so that you can clean it if needed). Most strollers easily fold with the bumper bar attached to the stroller, so its definitely not going to bother you.

Stroller accessory – Bumper Bar

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StrollerBoards is a family managed website with me (Ben) and my wife doing most of the work. We are proud parents of two wonderful kids and love reviewing baby travel gear. We have a firm but friendly “democratic parenting” style and offer several practical solutions backed by extensive research. Our own experience with raising two children prompted us to share our knowledge. Read more.

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View Comments

Calvin says:

June 26, 2021 at 11:12 am

I would like to purchase a bumper bar for my Stokke stroller. I contacted Stokke And they said the bumper bar is discontinued and they don’t have any do you know anyone selling one so I may purchase thank you.