[font=Times New Roman][size=3]My wife just told me that she is pregnant for a second time. Good news for sure! However, I have a 05 MCS on order and someone told me that a rear facing child seat would not fit in the rear seat of a MINI. Can anyone confirm if this is true or not?[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=3]Yes, we do have another car that the seat will fit in so I may still get the MINI even if the seat will not fit. However, it is convenient when you can go in either car. [/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=3]Can anyone confirm or deny this?[/size][/font]
[font=Times New Roman][size=3]thanks[/size][/font]

 

I have a Graco ComfortSport that fits pretty well in the MINI. The ride will not be pleasant (or possible) if the person in your passenger seat is taller than Gary Coleman. Tough it out for 15 months or so and you can turn it to a front facing seat, giving your passenger decent legroom.
The Peg Perego Aria stroller is the only stroller I know that fits the MINI boot. It was a life-saver for us.
Congrats, by the way.

 

Thanks,

I should add, by the way, that neither myself nor my wife are what you would consider "tall". I am only 5.4 and she is 5.2, so the seats will not be very far back.:smile:

 

We just had a daughter in July and investigated the infant seats/strollers for something that would fit the MINI. The Peg Perego are frequently mentioned, but I found them overpriced. After further investigation we found a nice set from Combi. The Combi Tyro car seat and the Combi Savona TS with a reasonable price and great quality and size. My sister-in-law is moving to the next stage seat because her child outgrew her seat, but she still fits ours with plenty of growing room. The Stroller is a travel system and fits quite nicely in the boot laying sideways without removing or adjusting anything in the MINI. The seat (as with all) take a lot of room, but I was still able to sit in front of it at 6'1", albeit not very comfortably.

 

Congratulations on the new baby!!

My son is 6-1/2 months old now, and is now in a rear facing toddler seat. I believe he will be going forward facing in a matter of months.

I began with the Peg Perego Viaggio/Aria GM, and would have to say without a doubt, it was one of the best investments! Sure it's pricey, but I could load and unload the infact seat in less than 5 seconds. When shopping, that infant seat fits perfectly in the shopping cart basket, so no need to take him out of his seat. Needless to say, we always tried to shop in places with shopping carts.

The infant seat is only rated to around 20 pounds, and some babies take a year to reach that---mine took about 5 months.

I now have a Cosco Convertible Seat which is pretty good seat--good from 20 to 40 pounds. Using the LATCH belts are a pain though. I mean it's easy to install, but a bear to remove. On the other hand the LATCH attachments on the Peg Perego are simple click in/click out. Another reason why I loved it so much. I could move the travel base very easily.

On a related note, we are VERY lucky that MINI provided convenient LATCH anchors. I've put this car seat in a number of different cars from a Lexus IS300, LS 430, Kia Optima, Jeep Cherokee, Ford minivan (don't remember model), and well the latch points are next to impossible to find or just access in these cars. In the Lexus' the anchors are behind the seats--so you need to reach behind the seat cushions and hope you can get the LATCH anchor between the seat cushions to fit.

The Cosco Convertible in rear facing mode requires the front passenger seat to be scooted all the way forward, and nearly vertical. When I first installed the seat, I didn't make any seat adjustments from when I was using the Peg Pergo travel base, and though "gee, this isn't so bad". That is until I saw my son fall asleep, and his head was torqued forward in an awkward position. That's when I realized that in rear facing mode, it's got to be REALLLY reclined. In order to accomodate that, the passenger seat had to be moved all the way forward.

This seat has an overhead bar like on a rollercoaster. It simply drops down--pulling a 3 point seat harness, and clips at the bottom. To remove, just press a button and lift the overhead bar.

It was really cute, because in order to remove my son more easily, I had to move his head forward through the harness each time I remove it, otherwise his ears catch on the straps. After doing this a couple times, he now moves his head by himself everytime we are about to remove him. It's very cute.

So now to get him in the car, it's a matter of holding him in my arms, climbing in the back seat, and placing him in the seat, and locking him in place. Takes more time than when I could use the Peg Perego, but not much--maybe 15 to 20 seconds now.

 

Let me add my congratulations as well.

The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio infant car seat fits the MINI...although we have just now outgrown ours at 4 months without ever using it in "my" car

The Peg Perego Aria is the only stroller I know of (sold in the USA) that fits. The Primo Viaggio seat is terrific (and a little expensive) and the Aria is OK (our "back-up stroller...still in the box). The good thing is they work together as a "travel system" when need be.

The iso-fix quick release buttons (similar to seat-belt releases) you get with Peg Perego are a must if you are going to be moving the base from car to car. The simple "clip'" style are just about impossible to deal with unless the seat is staying fixed until outgrown.

For second stage we went with the highly rated (but ridiculously over-priced) Britax because as OctaneGuy stated w/o the quick release the LATCH seats are VERY difficult to remove.

The car seats will live in the "Mommy car" but it was worth the $ to know we could get it in (and especially out) of the MINI when desired.

Good luck.