Ok, my husband and I recently got married, and we want to try to have children this spring. My husband says, "But you realize of course you will have to sell the MINI?"

He has an older beat up Sentra that is paid for and we will keep, but he wants to get a car that would be more practical. I would be doing most of the driving with the baby, and no, I do not want to give him the MINI and take his Sentra and drive the MINI once in awhile. Dobby's my baby!

So, in all honesty, is it feasible to keep the MINI - that is, how difficult would it to get baby in and out of the back? I can imagine it's not easy. I know some of you put toddlers in the back, but anyone put an infant back there? and be able to get them in and out with the carrier? Through the boot maybe? I can see the look on the Expedition driving soccer mom's face now as I pull my child out of the car through the boot! She'd probably seek child services on me!

I'd love a new vanity plate on a MINI - SOCR MOM How ironic...

 

Swap for the MCS Convertible

Then you can just lift them (would be twins wouldn't it ) up and over.

Earl

 

Oh dear - this doesn't look good, sell the MINI.

How about you get a cabrio.

 

I am curious what all the parents are doing, too. I really don't want my wife to drive my Audi, but am worried about the safety of having the kid in the back of the Mini.

Side note: what is the best infant seat for the Mini? I heard that Recaro is finally coming out with an infant seat to go along with thier toddler seats, but not sure what fits best.

 

Was wondering that as well, if anyone has experience with children in the back, post it up, as my wife was going to get her Mini a year after mine, and by that time we may be closer to having children, but her concern was the backseat as well. We still have the F150 Supercrew, but who wants to drive that all the time when you have a Mini?

 

I really crack up about these comments, because this is a very "American" mentality. As soon as we American's have a kid, the tendency is to automatically have to sell their current car, and move into a massive size SUV. This is of course all in the name of safety and space. Because of course having a big car is the only way to be safe. And again, only big cars can accomodate a car seat. In Europe SUVs are extremely rare and the ones that do exist, are quite small. The same goes for minivans or MPV's as we call them over here. Many of my friends in Europe have very tiny cars and easily fit a family of four in them. I routinely drive with four people in my Mini including a car seat.

Again, you may not like the cramped conditions of something like a Mini, but I find it refreshingly against the norm and unusual. And as anyone who owns a Mini knows, unusual is fun. I love going to the mall and pulling out the stroller and getting the kids out of the car and getting them into the stroller and watching all of these SUV families just stare as if we are a bunch of clowns at a circus and have somehow distorted the fabric of Space/Time in the cockpit of the Mini.

I am not saying you are silly for getting an SUV or larger car per se. Just think it is funny how automatically comments are made as to the safety of the Mini and that a massive size car is needed in order to cart a child around in. Whatever happened when we were all kids and there was no such thing as a Minivan? Don't worry my family said the same thing and they still think I am crazy having a Mini with kids. As far as crash safety check out Gabe Bridgers site (http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150) Shows some good pictures of a crash between a Mini Cooper and an F-150 which is basically what the Ford Explorer is based on. Based on these pictures I would sure feel a heck of a lot better putting them into the Mini.

 

Do people have a lower value of their own self-worth?

I mean, if you think the MINI is safe enough for you to putt around in, why isn't it safe enough for a smaller version of 1/2 of you?

 

Well the MINI comes with the required LATCH system so it should be prepared for most if not all baby seats. My wife pointed out that with the MINI being so small we could put the kid in the seat behind the drive and she could slide her chair back to attend to the child whenever needed.

 

First let me point you to this thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ghlight=infant
Many of us do and have infants and a MINI. The situation works quite well. My son was 8 months old when he made his first trip to The Dragon.

It's possible to put a rear facing seat in the MINI, and it's possible to put an infant carrier in the MINI. However, the person sitting in the passenger seat will probably have to pull their seat forward almost all of the way.

It's possible to even get a stroller in the boot, although you need to look at the Peg Perego Aria or I think the Metrolight as they are the only ones small enough to fit in the MINI.

Heck we even know that a MINI One Convertible can withstand the abuse dished out by an unrestrainded 13 month old for two hours and come out of it fine! However you cannot fit a Peg Perego Aria in the boot of a Convertible.

If you have any questions about infants in the MINI, feel free to PM myself, my wife (aka Babswife), or Octaneguy. The three of us were probably one of if not the first ones here on NAM to tackled newborns and infants in the MINI.

 

We placed our order for the MINI a month before we learned we were pregnant. At which point everybody we knew asked us if we were disappointed that we'd have to cancel the MINI and get a Minivan instead.

We didn't cancel the MINI, although the tags on it are MINIVN (couldn't get 7 letters on the tags we wanted!).

 

Have two kids which we put in the back of the Mini. Toddler at age three (who loves the large windows) and 6 month old. I really don't find it a problem getting the kids in or out and I am not exactly on the small side being 6' and 200 lbs. Our other car is a PT Cruiser which is really not a whole lot bigger but allows us to take longer raod trips with the kids. The Mini has been used for road trips to Chicago and Boston (6 hours and 10 hours respectively) but trips to Flordia we use the PT.

Colin
2002 Mini Cooper
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

I routinely put a double stroller in the front seat. And you don't need an expensive Peg Perego to fit. The $12 cheapy stroller from Walmart fits fine in the boot of the Mini (although this is more for a 9 month old or older). I can fit a double stroller, two car seats (one infant, one toddler), a single stroller, and a third child over 40 pounds w/o a car seat. Unfortunately I can't drive with the third child because there isn't a third seatbelt. But if there were, it would be no problem. (he is quite skinny).

 

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Unfortunately I am one of those people that is selling his MINI due to kids.

But in all fairness they are twins and getting two infants into the MINI is just too hard... actually getting them in isn't the problem, getting them out is the hard part when you can't easily contort and reach the release handle.

If I got the car when they were a bit older and could climb in and out on their own, or if we had a singleton, I would be keeping the car. I never worried about the small car/safe car issue. Like OmToast said, if it's safe for us, why not the kids. Especially when you figure they are strapped into a better seat with a better harness then we are.

On a side note, we have the Baby Trend infant seats which fit nicely into the back. They just fit through the door, and only minor change to the seat position are needed once in. (I'm 5'10" so YMMV) The car seat bases are ridged LATCH and are insanely easy to install and remove. (I highly recommend this for any LATCH equipped cars).

So, if anyone wants a nice low mileage 03 S...
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Oh, I think the MINI would be super safe to puts kids in. Absolutely. I would feel better having my kids in that as opposed to a monster SUV or truck. And I refuse to get a minivan. BLEH! (Not that there's anything wrong with that). If we were to get a different car, it would be a midsize four door sedan like an Accord or something like that. Even though that makes me want to

I suppose I could have two carriers. One to stay in the car, and the other to lug the baby around? I really do not want to give up my car.

Oh, and I LOVE the "get the Cabrio advice." Too bad it's like 20 degrees and raining ice bee bees here.

 

Just curious, how many of them are 3 door hatches? I read the other day that 3 door hatches aren't popular at all in Italy, however 5 door hatches are. From personal experience, before your kids are able to climb in and out of a car without help, it's a PITA IMHO, to hoist them into the back seat of a 2 or 3 door. I would think it would be an even bigger PITA with a rear facing infant seat. Anyway, I'd experiment and see what works for you.

Ciao,

 

My wife and I have been commuting to work in the MINI for quite some time now. My son fits in the back just fine. He loves it. If safety is a concern than go buy a Volvo. I agree with most here its ridiculous how we Americans instantly think bigger is safer. It just simply isn't true when it comes to SUV's and trucks. Bigger is better when you compare one car to another. A Grand Marquis is safer than the MINI, but it's at the expense of active safety. The Grand Marquis couldn't avoid an accident whereas the MINI has a much better chance of avoiding the accident in the first place.

Now size and children do have their advantages. Long trips in the MINI can get tiring and the lack of luggage space has become a problem from time to time. Usually this is no problem for weekend trips to Atlanta etc. I can't help but admit that we have been eyeing the Honda Odyssey Touring model. The thing is sweet. Leather everywhere a huge widescreen DVD for the little one and an awesome navigation system for dad. The ability for mom to easily slip into the back and tend to the little one. And with the cylinder management system the van gets almost 30MPG on the highway. I need help. You know you went and got old when you’re drooling over a Minivan.

But rest assured we will always have the MINI.

 

Spring is 3 months away, a month or two to concieve (practice), and 9 months to deliver. You have more than a year to enjoy the Mini. Figure it out when junior arrives.

 

When we bought our MCS in August 02 Isabella was 2 and a half and Calvin was six months. They both fit fine. Calvin had a smaller infant seat/carrier and he sat behind Norma (my wife) who at 5'8" professed to be comfortable even through a ten hour day from San Fran back home to San Diego. She did have her seat mostly, but not all the way forward. Isabella was fine behind me (6'1"). Now the kids are almost 3 and 5 (and big kids for their age) and they fit very well and love the car. Our other car is a 94 Accord Wagon.
The kids (particularly Calvin) have scuffed up the seat backs but I'm OK with that. When he was in the car carrier (up until his first B-day) I had a simple method of putting his seat in while he was facing me and then spinning him around 180 degrees to latch his seat in the carrier base one the seat had been negotiated into the back. Don't know if that makes sense but it worked for me.
That all said I use the car for commuting and the kids are generally only in it on weekends. I can certainly imagine the routine being tiresome, but if you keep the car kids really do love them.

My 2 cents

 

True, but I approached this from the angle of easiest solution that will fit two adults and a child comfortably.

Before we got to Aria, I could get our significantly larger Evenflow stroller in the car if I dropped the other rear seat. I just found it to be a pain, and a major space waster.

The good thing about the Aria as opposed to the $9 umbrella strollers is that it's part of an infant travel system, so they can use it right out of the hospital. You can't do that with an umbrella stroller. You can pick up the Aria (stroller only) for much less $100, that is as long as you don't need "this year's" colors and fabric patterns...

You can get an infant carrier in and out of a MINI, easily. Actually we thought it was easier getting our son in and out of the car in the infant carrier than it is now that he has grown out of it, especially when he was still in the rear facing seat.

As a matter of fact, installing the infant carrier base was easier in the MINI than in our Subaru. The MINI has nice firm seats that don't give a whole lot when you put pressure on them, making it really simple to tighten the base down. The Subaru has soft squishy seats that were a nightmare, the seats were so soft that it was impossible to tighten the infant carrier down properly and still use the LATCH tie-downs.

 

I should of been more clear about my concerns. What I am actually worried about, is the child seat fitting without problems, not whether the car was safe to have the kids in. I already have a problem with the Audi since it has rear side airbags, so the child seat has to fit in the middle.

And yes, I do have a lower value of my own self-worth

 

I am glad to see that so many people do tote around their kids.. 2 start with we will have 2 Scottish Terriers in crates to deal with on long trips, but sooner than later we will incorporate children, and we were just worried about space. But, it doesnt seem to be too bad an issue!

BTW Don, good to see you!

 

Is that you, Lee?

 

You got it.....

 

No rear firing airbags to be concerned about here...

The Evenflo Comfort Dimensions series of travel systems fit in the MINI, the base and infant seat work great. But as mentioned above you'll need to drop one of the rear seats to get the stroller in.

The Peg Perego travel system should work as well. We have the stroller and not the entire system.

When your infant grows out of the Evenflo travel system, the Triumph 5 convertible car seat also fits in the MINI. Once you can switch to forward facing you also get to slide the front seat back a bit as well!

I know that the Britax seats also fit in as well, I've seen it done....

I believe Octaneguy is using one of the Cosco seats, although I'm not a big fan of Cosco products, but that's just a personal bias...

 

There is no need to give up the mini for a new baby. Our daughter was born two months ago and the mini has been working out just fine for transporting her around. We purchased the peg perego infant car seat and the Piko P3 stroller (they work as a system) The infant seat latches into a base and is very easy to get in and out of the car. We also purchased an additional base for our other car and just move the seat (not the base) if we want to use our other car.

As far as leg room the infant seat is on the passenger side. The passenger looses a little leg room but not enough to be unconfortable, unless your passanger is over 6 ft.