MINI Cooper/ Small Infant Car Seats

[andronache30]

Does anyone here own a Mini Cooper and bought an infant car seat...If so do you have any advice about what infant car seat fits and doesn't fit in a Mini. I heard that the Chicco Keyfit does well, but am not sure. Thanks so much.

[Joolsplus2]

The best info I can find is that a Britax Marathon fits in it... if you don't get an answer, then the best plan is to go to Babies R Us or a good baby store and see if they'll let you try out a seat or two (and note that it's possible you'll get a fantastic rock solid installation, but that the front seat might be too tight for even a shortish passenger to sit in, so the Driver might be a Chauffer when baby's in the car ;) )

[cheri]

The KeyFit fits well, easy install. You'll probably have to put it behind the passenger seat (unless the driver has REALLY short legs) and move the passenger seat pretty far forward. When DD was in her KeyFit, I usually sat in the backseat with her.

I don't know this for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that you could get any infant seat into the back passenger seat--you'd just have to move the passenger seat up. (I have to put in a vote for the KeyFit--we loved that carseat.)

For future reference (because I couldn't find this information when I was looking), I've gotten a Marathon in the back passenger seat both RF and FF (the RF really suprised me). I've also installed a Scenera RF.

Baby number 2 is due in about a month, and I'm not anticipating any difficulty with a KeyFit in the passenger seat and the Marathon behind the driver's seat. DD is FF now (she just hit 33 lbs.) and it's actually pretty easy to get her into the carseat now--having two kids RF would have been a lot tougher.

(And if you're looking at strollers in the MINI, let me know. I've had a little bit of experience with those too.) Have fun motoring :)

[Joolsplus2]

THANKS for the excellent information!

:)

[andronache30]

I am looking for an infant car seat that will fit into a MINI. I ordered the Chicco Keyfit 30 because some people said that this car will fit into the back seat of the MINI. It does, but it is a pretty tight fit, not anything comfortable. Is anyone aware if there are even smaller car seats than the Chicco Keyfit 30? I only want a rear facing infant only car seat. I understand that when the child will switch to a forward facing seat, the issue will not be as big, but right now, I want to find info about infant only car seats. Thanks so much.

[Piglet]

You are not out of the woods once baby outgrows the infant seat. The current recommendation is that kids RF until they are at least 2 years old (as long as they still fit in rear-facing seats). You won't hit 2 years old with a Keyfit, so you will still need a convertible seat that RFs longer.

[andronache30]

Thanks for info. Regardless of the FF-RF issues, does anyone know what infant car seat is the smallest?

[Piglet]

I found a few posts that might help:

http://www.carseatdata.org/main/search?entry%5Bcar_make_id%5D=33&entry%5Bcar_model_id%5D=496&entry%5Bcar_year_id%5D=&entry%5Bseat_brand_id%5D=&entry%5Bseat_name_id%5D=&entry%5Bseat_type%5D=&entry%5Binstallation_method%5D=&x=34&y=14

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080411083745AApYPXq

http://www.mini2.com/forum/archive/index.php/f-630.html

You will definitely want to stick with a carseat that does not require the handle to be put in the down position since that will eat up valuable room. The Keyfit might be as good as it gets.

[andronache30]

I wanted to post a reply so that the record is complete on this thread. I called MINI and they were less than helpful. They said all infant car seats can fit in the MINI, which is one big lie. I know--from experience. So here is what I tried:

Chicco Keyfit 30= This is the best fit. Base fits on the car completely. However, this is not an ideal fit. I am 5'2" and once the seat is in the backseat, the passenger (me) only has about an inch to 2 inches of space. So if you are taller than me, which is not too tall, it might not work.

Graco SnugRide = the plus to this car seat is that it is a pound lighter than the Chicco Keyfit, but it leaves even less room for the legs of the passenger. Also, hasn't been tested for side impact, so that's a bit of minus. Overall, a pretty tough call between these two seats.

Maxi Cosi= the base overhangs over the backseat so it is not stable.

Britax Companion= At first look this seemed impossible to fit in the backseat of the MINI because of that additional bar on the front of the car seat, but the bar doesn't actually interfere much with the overall fit. The problem with this seat is that the base hangs over the car seat by two inches or so. Passenger has minimal room for his or her legs.

Peg Pereggo= Don't bother with this one, overhangs the car seat, totally unstable, not to mention that it weighs a million and a half pounds. Okay, maybe not that much but close.

We are going to go with either the Keyfit or the Graco Snugride, but most likely the Chicco Keyfit. Again, okay fit, but definitely not ideal.