nah, I have R50

 

Ah, ok, your sig looked like the R56 and I saw your joing date of 2008, so I assumed... As they always say, "When you assume, you make an *** out of u and me"

 

yeah that yellow in my sig is probably R56 but couldn't find R50 that was yellow and had bonnet stripes

 

I have been driving my daughter in the MINI since she was 7 months. At the time, we used a Graco Metrolight system (baby bucket and stroller). We were lucky she was able to transition to a forward facing seat when she was 12 months. It did take some convincing of the CFO to procure the Recaro Young Sport because of the cost.

There are several threads on baby seats.

 

I think you have received a tremendous amount of opinions, here is another.

First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a baby in the MINI. If you fall into that trap of thinking, next you will not use any of the plastic baby bottles to feed your kid, you will start knitting your own hemp outfits because polyester is the devil and will use the seat belts to anchor your infant seat (just kidding you should do the last one)

I took our new born from the hospital in the MINI. That was five months ago. We used the Combi infant seat at that time. Very affordable, very light and well built. It has a water level up front to ensure proper fittment. Our hospital offered professional seat fitment into the Cooper. The licensed person saw no need to worry about having the baby in the cooper. Actually he commented that he is in the market for one himself. You must get that infant seat fitted by the hospital, you learn a great deal on how it is suppoed to work. Just beacuse you got a seat does not mean the kid is safe. If your hospital does not offer that service your local fire department does.

Then we bought the Maxi Cosi, fell into the hip parent trap. Maxi Cosi and the stroller are OK. It is easy to travel, especially air travel, with that kit. however the car seat does not have the water level, just a line on the side which needs to be parallel to the ground. The stroller folds nicely but attaching and detaching the infant seat is a bear. The stroller fits in the back of the MINI nicely.

I recommend buying the $200 combi set from babies r us. When the infant grows and gains head and neck control you can use the money you saved to buy a cool joggin stroller which give tremendous amount of shock absorption. Trust me using the maxi stroller on Denver city sidewalks was not easy.

 

Same here Chilimac. We also used the Combi travel system which proved to be very useful during the first 4-5 months. The base was installed by a professional ER nurse working at Miami Children's Hospital, and he too, did not have any reservations about putting the baby in the back of the MINI. He commented that the cars are solid and have very good safety features. His was more concerned with an improperly installed car seat than the actual type of car being used. I just think a lot of people get easily intimidated by the size of the MINI and automatically assume that it is an unsafe car (Typical American mentality...bigger is always better). To be honest, I would not feel comfortable putting a baby in the back of a SUV or even a Honda Accord. Have you seen the rear crash ratings of these so called "Safe family sedans"? I accept that everyone has the right to express their concerns but I do take issue of individuals putting labels and making blanket statements about the safety of a particular car without any sort of evidence to fully support their claims.

 

It's funny you should mention and Accord, ClubmanS. My wife and I were on our way to Kentuck (which had just been hit by 12+ inches of snow), when we passed a Honda Accord which had been hit in the rear. You know those cartoons where a character will put something in the end of a shotgut, and when they shoot it, it explodes and peals back? This Accord looked exactly like this. I thought a bomb went of in the trunk... If there was anyone in the rear of the car, I'm not sure how they faired...

 

You can also call your local firestation-- most have certified child seat installers as well who will make an appointment with you to verify that you have your seat properly installed.

 

Californians can also make an appointment with the California Highway Patrol to visit their office and have a trained officer install for you.

It's the only time that I've had an official interaction with the CHP that I didn't regret.

 

also, in the MINI, the MAxi Cosi car seat goes behind the passenger seat and my wife is quite comfortable. In the S4 wagon we put it in the middle it is the safest place for the kid but even if we needed to put it beinhd the passenger it would not work as nicely as the MINI. I know because we looked into it for the times when we have other people to haul.

So MINI is a great kid friendly car. When I read posts titled "Selling MCS due to baby on the way" I just remember that we have grown quite lazy and justify the price of gas.

 

Amen to that! Since when having a baby = buying the biggest gas guzzler vehicle in the block? Most of us grew up aboard smaller vehicles and/or full size sedans and stations wagons. And we all made it just fine. It just goes to show how gullible the American masses are...

 

I remember that we had a 60's beetle when I was a kid. It had a little shelf behind the backseat looking out the rear window. Anyway I used to play with my matchbox cars on this shelf and watch them fly off to the side when dad turned too fast. thanks lawyers.

 

Hey everyone,

Thank you for everyone's input! My wife and I spent some time on Saturday at Babies R Us, and found a solution. Both the Chicco and the Graco infant seats fit rear-facing behind the passenger seat with enough room to allow someone to sit up front comfortably. Both those seats also snap into their bases really easily.

Also, the SnugRider car seat frame (stroller) fits both the Graco and the Chicco, and folds small enough to fit into the trunk (boot).

So we're getting the Graco seat and stroller, and probably the Quinny Zapp once our kid is old enough (around 6 months). Hopefully others found this info useful!

Now the next question... anyone have a jogger stroller they really like and would recommend? The ones at Babies R Us looked and felt really cheap (though they cost quite a bit!). It doesn't need to fit the MINI...

Cheers,
Adam

 

If you don't mind paying quite a bit, Phil & Teds have the coolest jogging strollers. They're expensive though (approx $400) .



**I don't know how these would fit in a MINI**

 

My wife absolutely loves our ValcoBaby Tri-mode. It is made of aluminium, and has big airfilled tires. We had an Evenflo for our first, and it didn't even last one kid . Wish we had bought the Valco right off the bat, even though it wasn't cheap.

http://www.valcobaby.com/2006/single.htm

 

wow,
you guys are sure spending a lot time and money trying to keep your MINI with the newborns in the family just so you can cramp into a small car with half of the stuff left at home
(picturing the grandma getting out of the back seat behind the dirver)

but I admire your dedication/desperation

 

Or.... we could be trying to drive a fun car with the family rather that conceeding to driving the mini-van for the rest of our lives.

 

I got my mini after having my son.. on purpose! With the idea that it was a) safer than our SUV b) we'd take a lot less of the crap other people seem to "need" c) laugh at the people filling up the giant vehicles on the family vacation.. oh, and d) a whole lot more fun.

You'll fill the size vehicle you use.
They don't have giant cars in Europe, and they do just fine.

 

you don't have to mention Europe, I was born there and lived for 18years of my life. I do know how the motoring looks there, cramped in a Fiat 126p going 400miles to reach the coast for the family vacation: 2 people a kid 4 bags no stroller and hell lot more things that they would love to take but no room in the car
Trust me it's not that great. Plus hardly anyone could afford huge car anyway. You were perfectly happy if you could upgrade to a sedan (not full size).
I don't know about you, but when i'm going somewhere for a weekend I'd love to take the portable crip (playplace) so the kid can sleep without falling off the bed and possibly a highchair so I don't have to carry him around entire 2 days
Not to mention any food stuff you'd like to take with so you don't have to dine on greasy McD
Sometimes you need to grow up and get "fun" in different forms. you don't have to get a minivan or SUV to travel comfortably and carry basic things. You don't have to go above and beyond to find a damn stroller that folds 10ways in order to fit into your tiny trunk.

 

While I appreciate the debate, I had asked before to keep the post on topic. Personally, I have found a lot of value out of the input from other people who responded to my initial question. I think others have (or will), as well.

I understand not everyone agrees with my decision (or others) to keep the MINI as a family car. Fine. But, please, can the post stay on topic?

Bringing it back... the Valco and the Phil & Teds look good - I'll check them out. Anyone have others to add to the mix?

 

Once you reach the highchair phase, if you're traveling, here's a great compact one that straps to a regular chair:

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-H...8813667&sr=8-3

The back flips down so it takes up next to no space.

 

/\ again, going way out of my way in order to fit into small car ....
But hey, it was nice to talk. I guess the OP doesn't appreciate the hijack
Don't worry, I'm done :D

 

Wow, pretty much took the words outta my mouth.

Three+ years ago I got mine, too, knowing a baby was on the way. It's mildly inconvenient at times but we've got two cars and if we really wanna haul a relative boatload of crap, we take my wife's car (egads, an Accord!). If anyone recalls the George Carlin bit, "A Place for My Crap", probably realizes you don't really need all that "stuff, all the time". Ultimately, it's a matter of preference.

As for safety, one thing that gets overlooked is a MINI's accident avoidance capabilties. I've had three near misses I explicitly recall where if I was driving a car that either couldn't maneuver the way the MINI does and/or was bigger than the MINI, I'd have been taking the car to the repair shop. Just sayin'...

 

This is what I was thinking of for a high chair (it's what I had as a child).

 

WRONG, WRONG WRONG!! We were rearended by a city bus when parked at a traffic lite in my 2005 MCS. Bus was going about 30 mph when he hit and locked the brakes AFTER impact. My daughter was 2 y/o in the back in her car seat and we both were fine after the impact. Car was totalled, but didn't look that bad. The MINI is a very safe CAR, IMHO. And I should know!