Never underestimate the collective oracle that is NAM.

I've spent a bunch of time searching here today and I still have some questions I'm concerned about. If you currently motor with an infant, I'd love to have your input.

We're due in March and while we're fortunate enough to have several cars to drive, I really want to stubbornly stick to driving my favorite car, our 06 craptastic MCS. I've seen SFJames have a blast motoring in his Mini with an infant and son in the back seat, so I know it's absolutely possible.

Every store we've been to in the south bay has panicked terror stricken soon-to-be parents fretting over the latest consumer reports on infant seats. It really amazed me how badly everyone's knickers were in a complete twist over this article. One store even had a couple screaming at the store owner about how could they be selling Evenflo Discovery seats with how poorly they did in the CR testing and demanded a refund without any of the original packing stuff and accessories. Looking at the only two infant seats CR recommended, I was very unimpressed. I reread the CR article again and I can't help but question their testing methods as my BS sniffer was on full alert. I've personally felt in the past their testing methods for some products left much to be desired and even by their own admission in the article, their top pick last year failed all their tests this year. Seems like if I was able to wait until next year the results would be different again. Bought and paid for? I'm all for safety and the protection of my daughter, but I can't stand FUD propaganda.

Dr Obnxs & Octane Guy both praised the Peg Perego infant seat when I searched here. Was that the "Primo Viaggio" model that you used? I'll need to investigate this seat more if so.

We tried a Chicco Key Fit model in the Mini today because I really like how well constructed it is, ridiculously easy and simple to use, and also how the base is made to not destroy your upholstery. Had Mini car icons on it too to demonstrate how to install it. Only concern I had is even after I really cinched the base down, it could still slide side to side some with force (used LATCH system). Normal? Do I need to put some padding on the sides?

Read with great interest Octane Guy's post on the Peg Perego Aria GM stroller. This is for after our baby is done with the infant seat, right? I attempted to put the Chicco key fit compatible stroller in the Mini with the drivers side of the back seat down, but fit as poorly as you can imagine. I did find a simple stroller to mount infant seats to that would lay flat nicely over the back seat. If I put the seat belt through this to keep it in place, is it still safe? Seems like these "package" deals with infant seat, car base, and stroller may be a compromise on the stroller since it's integration with the infant seat will be gone after about 6 months (based on Octane Guy's posts). Your experience?

Sorry for such a long post and scattered questions, but I'm sure any of you who are parents know perfectly well what I'm going through.

 

I use the britney spears method of baby in a car safety

 

The base is meant to move a little as we were told. It's so that during impact the car seat will move a little to absorb the initial shock. Ours moves side to side maybe an inch.

We ended up getting a car seat/stroller combo during my wifes baby shower so I only know what we have. It's the SUV of baby systems. The rear facing seat works fine but the stroller system would only fit in the MINI if I had a luggage rack. It's Evenflo but I'm not sure if it is the dreaded Evenflo CR is talking about. The only reason I wouldn't suggest this system is because it is rediculously huge. We take the wifes Jetta when all three of us go somewhere. If it's just me and my daughter. We take the MINI.

 

This is what I would recommend. Keep in mind, however, that I am not a consumer reports reader or believer.

The large stroller/carseat/carrier things are great if you have room to transport the stroller. Get an extra base and put in the mini, then you just click it in and go. Both of my girls were big and strong enough to use a regular 'umbrella' type stroller by the time they hit 6 months. (just find one that lets the baby 'lay down' a little - and find one that will fit with both rear seats up, which means it will probably have to telescope.)

so really it is just getting through that first 6 months or so that will be toughest. What we found was that the 'carrier' can be put into most of the strollers you can rent at different places, or even the shopping cart at the store, so you don't need the huge stroller all that often. It isn't ideal that way, but it will work.

 

My daughter is 6 mos. now and we jsut got the mini a couple of weeks ago. We started putting her in the car with us for fun trips the very next day. We have one of those Graco SUV setups. My wife has a Passat wagon and the stroller lives in there. The base stays in there as well. We have been putting the seat in and just using the seatbelt clips on it at this time. We are about to buy an extra base, though to just save the hassle.

Lately, we have both been getting tired of always having to use the giat stroller and with the MINI that wasn't possible anyway. We went out and bought a Chicco Capri model and jsut fold the drivers side in the back down. Seems to work fine. You canot do this with a newborn but when they start to get a little bigger it is actually an easier way to go. Funny thing is we have started to look at what alot of people have and have noticed that quite a few parents move to a good lightweight stroller after a couple of months.

I made the mistake of taking the SUV one to Disney World back in late October and I ave to say I will never do that again. They seem nice when you are looking but are really a pain in the neck and way too heavy. I have seen several light stroller on the market that are designed to hold a child carrier and then just be a stroller when they are big enough. I would go this route if we have another child.

 

YellowMiniS, that's what we did. Purchased a seperate base for the MINI. The snap in bases are a time saver as it take me no more than 30 seconds to fold the seat forward until she is latched in.

Another thing I forgot to mention. I looked at the padding that goes under the child seat base to protect the car seat. I thought they were to soft to protect anything plus they ran about $25. I went to Target in the sporting goods department and purchased a roll of that blue foam that is used for when you are excercising on the floor. It doesn't compress as much and it ran just under $10 and can be cut to use in two cars and have some left over. The base has been in my MINI for two months now and when I had to remove the base for needed storage one day. There were no impressions in the leather from the child seat base.

 

We have a 10 week old baby boy and he is been riding in the back of my wife's MINI since we brought him home from the hospital. He loves riding in it!

After many months of search here in NAM and MINI2.com we settled in the following:

Combi EX Centre travel system. The stroller (Fully folded) just fits inside the boot with both rear back seats up. My wife rides behind me as she always likes to be right next to my baby to attend to him while motoring. The stroller is very light weight and easily folds/unfolds on practically a single hand operation. The Peg perego Aria stroller fits much better the MINI's boot. We will be using that one as soon as our bundle of love outgrows the "basket" car seat. He is 10 weeks old and nearly 15 pounds!!!! So he is growing at an incredible fast rate.

The Combi EX Centre car seat base can be attached either with the seat belts or with the provided latch hooks at the bottom of the rear seat cushion. It attaches fine but I recommend always having your car seat installation always checked by a professional to ensure proper fit. The baby basket car seat is good up to 20-22 pounds I believe.

The basket itself works fine and latches easily when it is placed on top of the base. Taking it out is not a big deal but you do feel the baby's weight because you have to basically set one foot inside the rear footwell and then pull up and out the basket to take him out of the back seat. Yes, you need to be physically fit to do it both once you get the hang of it, it is a quick in and out operation.


The real challenge is coming up as he will be moving from the Combi EX Centre baby car seat to a FIXED rear seating position. We picked the Britax Roundabout car seat as it is the only one that fits the MINI really well and does not take up an inmense amount of front passenger seat space when used rear facing. The Britax roundabout works rear facing from Birth to about 2 years old and then front facing when the baby reaches 40 pounds.

I say it will be a challenge because you have to carry the baby and place them in the back seat. With the basket is much easier, just snap him in and out. One solution I have read is to have either parent seat first in the rear seat and then have him/her grab the baby and place him in the rear facing seat. Other suggestions is to put the baby from the rear hatch. Will try both and see which one works best.

The first year or so is a little rough because the baby is riding rear facing, so to strap him and unstrap him becomes trickier in a 2 door car. Things improve significantly when the child graduates to full front facing seating. Much easier to put him in and out.

This is the reason why we are going to order a new '08 Clubman wagon. The rear door and additional inches or rear leg room and cargo room will make the car better suited to familiy hauling, but for now, we are doing fine. Remember, we have 2 MINIs so we have no choice of another 4 door vehicle, that is, until the Clubman gets here.

I have read about the Quinnie Zap stroller. It is pricey at $229 but seems to be ultra-compact and ultra weight for the MINI. I will consider it as well but since we already have the Peg Perego Aria stroller, we'll probably be fine with it as well.

 

Here's what I do:

My bundle of joy rides around in his Graco Snugride - I chose it before CS came out with that seat, BTW...

But the snugride has been great. Still no problems getting him in and out, and he is eight months and well over 20 pounds. I also use a full size stroller. I fold down the other seat to make room. VIOLA. No SUV needed.

 

the large change in ratings in the CR tests were due to the fact that the European standards were used, not the US. Seems most seats in the US are engineered to just meet the local standards.

Cheryl chose a Mountain Buggy stroller (not small) so we folded the other seat down for it....

And yes, it's the Primo Viaggio....

Matt

 

Have any pics of your baby riding on that Graco "Snugride"?

 

I use the Recarro in my Mini.

 

She is very cute!!!

 

can you make that pict any larger please?

i can't read the original post.

 

has anyone dealt with this site?

http://www.recarochildseats.com/customerService.html

that YoungSport looks pretty cool. might be a Midnight Sky
or Charcoal for my car.

 

Adorable! She is definatly a future motorer, look at that grin

 

FYI - I deleted the duplicate image in silver99's post... there were two of them side-by-side, EXACTLY the same image, that made the thread very hard to view.

Oh... and that's a very cute baby girl you have there silver!

 

^^ yes, indeed!

 

I got mine on Ebay. 250$ shipped. Best price I could find.

 

thanks. everywhere i looked it's $249 shipped, so i think you got a deal.

 

Thanks for the reminder! I will take some! I should have taken some when he was a few days old and only 5 1/2 pounds!

I will add however that it is nearly impossible with the snugride for someone to sit in the passenger seat. The seat is ALL the way forward.

 

So I will weigh in on this one as a parent, a doc, and a MINI owner.

From an ease standpoint having a infant seat with the clip in base is ideal for the MINI. You can just put a base in each of your vehicles, leave them in there, and take the actual seat in and out easily.

Once you move up to the "toddler" sized seat at 20lbs and/or too tall for the infant seat things get harder as most are very tall backed and lifting a 20lbs kiddo over it gets hard. If you have a cabrio it's easier as you can just set the little one in with the top down.

At a year it gets much easier as you can turn the seat forward facing and pretty much just put one foot in the back footwell and sling the kid in there. This is what we did with my son who is now 2 and 1/2.

As far as seats go, the Britax and Recaro are great, but just too much darn money. I highly recommend the Graco Snugride as it has served us and about a dozen of our friends who are car enthusiasts well. It is also much more affordable too boot! I know many will just have to get the best, and that's fine, it's their money too spend, but in the long run you and your kid will never remember how baller it was to be riding in a Recaro or Britax seat. I am sure this will generate some response. Please bear in mind I felt like I was in the same trap. Sure I could afford the Britax, and didn't I want the "best" for my child? Absolutely, but that is the slipepry slope all these companies put us parents on. They portray it as if we are being "cheap" in regards to our children if we don't spend the top dollar on their particular product. Just step back, take a deep breathe, and think it through before you plunk down the Visa for a $275 car seat. You may be getting the "best" thing now, but do you think that $150 was worth it as compared to saving that same amount of money to take your child to Sea World or the Zoo or the museum when they get a few years older?

Same goes for toddler seats. The Britax is really nice and so is the Recaro, but for 1/2 the price the Evenflo Triumph 5 works great and is about 9/10ths the performance and ease of use.

As far as strollers go the Peg Aria is the shiznit. It will fit in the boot without folding the seats down and without bending/stretching or in another way harming your car or the stroller. As a bonus, there is an open area just big enough to put a diaper bag. This keeps it out of the rear footwell or the other half of the rear seat letting you carry 2 kiddos much more easily. The Graco Metrolite will also fit in the back, but it is a bit tighter. We used to have a MTN Buggy and though it was bling, it didn't fit in either my car or my wife's car after the B5 Passat estate went away. Combi and Graco also make stroller "frames" that fit a myriad of infant seats and both fold up small enough to fit in the back of the MINI. The problem here is when you have to go to the toddler seat you are faced with the same problem of finding a stroller that will still fit in the back of the car.

So in summary our seat rundown is like this:
Graco Snugride for infant seat
Evenflo Triumph 5 for toddler seat until about 2.5-3 yrs old
Graco Booster with back rest now
Stroller is the infamous Peg Perego Aria

Now from my "doc" standpoint. CR is great at being a media manipulator. They go for the flashy statements and scream about every little thing that happens. I am constantly reminded of the whole infant seat fiasco of a couple years ago they generated. I think it was Evenflo who had infant seats that the carrying arm could

"SUDDENLY AND CATASTROPHICALLY FAIL, DROPPING YOU CHILD TO THE GROUD. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO OVER A DOZEN CHILDREN."

What CR fails to provide everytime with these type of hyperbola is the denominator. What I mean is how many times did that happen for how many seats were sold? Was it 10,000 seats? 50,000?? 100,000??? My point is that the likelihood of this happening is so exceedingly low that if they reported it as a 0.12% (taking only 10k seats as an example) chance, most people would say that is pretty unlikely. Instead they only give you the absolute risk, not the relative risk of an event occuring.

There is an old saying in medicine: "There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics". Seems very appropriate for all CR warnings IMHO.


BTW, we will be using this setup for our little girl who is due in May. Who ever said the MIN isn't a family car!

On a side note, there is a great little book out there that I am sure most parents here have at least heard of: Best Baby Bargins" I think it is. It is a long narrow, thick book that is basically a compilation of surveys. This couple puts it together and it covers the gamut from car seats to clothing to cribs, to all things baby. They also make a toddler version. This turned into our bible when we were shopping for our first child. I can't count the hundreds of dollars it saved us in the long run.

 

Hey Doc, great insight and +1 for the Peg Perego Aria!

 

Graco Metrolite here. Been using it since July to get my then 6 month old to day care and back. I have the base installed and use the carrier. If I need to have the stroller, I just drop the free back seat for easy storage.

 

By far the BEST book I bought pre-baby!!!

 

True the absolute risk is practically zero, but the others didn'thave this type of failure at all. So it is worthy of note, but I agree, as long as our public understands statistics they way they do (on average ) this may be the only way to make a point that sinks in...

As far as the mountain buggy, we all love it, and due to it's size, it doesn't travel in the cars. But we live next to a county park, and the large wheels are key for walking some of the trails with Alison!

Matt

Matt