Jogging strollers have been around for probably longer than we think. A great idea, they afford greater freedom and hands-free flexibility for active mums and dads. Kids think they're great; in fact it can be quite some job to prize them away from their life-style of effortless transport. Dads love them too; some are demanding super-sized jogging strollers so their wives can push them to the week-end ball game or even just to the fridge.

Most jogging strollers on the market today are of good quality, but it still pays to do a little research to know what your looking at and recognize the most crucial points when considering your purchase. Here are some handy tips:

Jogging strollers should ideally not exceed about 10 kilos (22 pounds) in weight. Bear in mind that you will be collapsing and storing it regularly, at home, to put in the trunk and so on. Often you'll only have one arm available, so weight and ease of collapsibility really are quite important. So try out your intended purchase to evaluate how easy to collapse it and reassemble it actually is in practise.

A jogging stroller must be robust and hard wearing. Most are constructed from an aluminium frame but make sure it's strong enough to take the inevitable heavy use it will get. And do remember to check out its stability. Babies move about a great deal and often try to grab things just out of their reach, thus overbalancing. So assure yourself that the stroller is designed to avoid tipping.

Jogging strollers should have seat recliners and guard bars that are adjustable. They should be designed to be adapted to the changing size of your child.

Essential for safety are a sturdy multi-point harness, a robust fender, a bicycle style handbrake and rear wheel brakes. A safety bell is more a bit of fun than a prerequisite.

Test carefully how much the handlebar is adjustable depending on who you know will be doing the pushing. A painful back due to stooping leads to fatigue, if not worse, thus rendering the whole idea of a jogging stroller pointless.

Make sure your child won't become cramped in the stroller as he or she grows. To be comfortable a child needs a little bit of room to wriggle when necessary.

Look for the amount of storage available on the stroller; the whole point is to have your hands free of encumbrances, so you won't want a couple of bags slung round your wrists as you stroll.

Finally, take a good look at the multifarious optional extras on offer. Try them out; some a great, others quite useless. Suppliers may also be willing to include certain extras within the base price. As always, shop around!