When I bought my MINI on November 1st, it was under the assumption my wife and I would be DINKS (double income/no kids) for a long while. SURPRISE! Now there's a little one on the way at the end of the summer.
Who has managed to do the baby thing with a MINI? Do baby seats fit, etc. ANY advice would be greatly appreciated, because my wife has mentioned the words
"need more practical car" a few times.

 

i hope you don't like your interior

 

As a matter of fact, I LOVE my interior. I got the profile leather, which I'm hoping is easy to clean...

 

.... actuall saw a new Seat 'clipped' into place the other day ... easy to do and the way the front seats slide forward, there is as much access as any other two-door ...Best of Luck with the new co-pilot!

 

Leather seats are a must with kids. I think you can put off a larger car for several years. The kid will ride in their car carrier facing backwards for several months. They can stare out the back sunroof. You can easily reach them from the drivers seat. Next they move to kids seat which the MINI is all designed to handle. Check your manual. Just get a fold up stroller that will fit in the back and you will be all set.

 

Have no fear, I fit both of my younger kids in their carseats with no problems, the 3 year old is in a forward facing and the 1 year old is in a rearward facing carrier combo.

x2

 

Lockjaw,
I have a 6 month old in a rear facing car seat. I would suggest getting a LATCH equipped car seat. However, it has its faults. If you don't have small hands it can get tricky trying to remove the LATCH clip closer to the window if you need to.

Even if your car seat is not LATCH equipped (as it should be for all seats made after 9/02) the car seat works great with seat belts also.

Congratulations on the upcoming little one. Your lives will change FOREVER.

Lolo

 

Lockjaw,have no fear.The Mini is a great car for kids.We have a 20 month old and he loves the car.We are however moving out of a Chevy Tahoe,and getting him in and out does seem to take a bit more of an effort.I will tell you this,like most kids,our son likes to rest his feet(with shoes on) on the back of the passinger seat.Of course with the HK system on,the tapping of little feet back there can make you nuts.When it's just us,I keep the seat all the way foward so he can't touch it.But when it's all three of us he can't seem to keep his feet/dirty shoes off of it.I ordered a plastic cover that will go over the seat back so he does not mess up the seat.Hope everything works out for you and your wife.It will be a great time.Enjoy.Jaydawg.

 

I test drove the MCS with 2 car seats in the back, just to prove it could be done. What I found was that 2 seats could fit, but it's pretty tight back there. I have a 1 year old and another one on the way. :smile: By the time my car comes, I will need a rear facing seat and a front facing seat.

The front facing seat is no problem. A rear facing "bucket seat" is also no problem. That's the type where the base stays locked in and the kid comes out in a little portable carrier.

Now my first kid was huge and outgrew the bucket in about 3 months. We had to move to the Britax Roundabout which is a convertable between front and rear facing that stays locked in the car. In the rear facing position, this is a very hard fit. If your kid is normal height weight, it may stay in the bucket carrier for up to 6 months, but there will be some point when it's too big for the bucket and not big enough to face forward (1 year AND 20 lbs). 1 rear facer would be tolerable because you can get in the back with the kid to lock them in, but 2 car seats in the back would make having one rear facer very difficult.

For our family, we have a van and the 2 kids will only be in the MINI for emergencies, so I could live with the situation. I would not want to have the Britax in rear facing mode as my daily driver kid car. Being able to fit 2 seats was a big thing for the WAF (wife acceptance factor), but I figure that if we really needed a short term replacement for the kid car I'd rely on a rental car for a few days.

Good luck!

Wactuary

 

I'm expecting my Mini to arrive soon and have a soon to be 2 year old (who loves cars) and will have a daughter in April. I was concerned about this issue also...but FEAR NOT, I have spoken to someone who lives somewhere nearby (Twin Cities area) whom I saw had not one but two car seats in their Mini and said it works just fine, it's not the easiest access ala a mini-van but is very workable.

Good Luck!

 

Thanks for the great advice. We do have a Mazda Protege 5 that would work as the primary kid carrier, but it's good to know the MINI could work if called upon.

_________________
2003 Cooper/IndiBlue/AllPackages/Sunroof

 

Ahhh, a subject near and dear to my heart :smile:

First, congratuations! As someone who was DINK for 14 years before taking the plunge, I'll underscore that fact that your lives will change forever. This is more true than you'll ever know before it happens.

I'll also agree with the posters here that feel along the lines of "it'll work, but it's not the greatest." I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old. Both absolutely love my MCS, and I love motoring with my kids...but if the trip is longer than a few miles, we take the minivan. The "problems" relate to the 5 year old kicking the seat back (you can tell 'em not to, but...) and just getting them in and out of the car. The motion for placing the child in their seat when it's in the MINI is along the lines of sort of tossing/dropping them in. Much less smooth than when you have more room to actually get over and in front of the seat. And, both of my kids are in booster seats. When I used a larger seat (e.g., a Britax), it was VERY difficult. BTW, I'd warn you not to buy a Britax. Over-priced crap. It's too friggin' big for most any car and is suprisingly fragile for something that's supposed to protect your kid.

I should also note that I'm only about 6' tall...but when I have the driver's seat adjusted properly back, there is virtually NO room for little feet in the footwell. You won't have to worry about this for a while, and hopefully your wife is shorter than 6' and the kiddie seat can go on the passenger's side. And hopefully your wife won't want/need to ride in the back next to the child (as is common among some parents)...otherwise I fear the MINI won't be long for your life.

 

>>When I bought my MINI on November 1st, it was under the assumption my wife and I would be DINKS (double income/no kids) for a long while. SURPRISE! Now there's a little one on the way at the end of the summer.

So you'll have a MINI and a "Mini Me"? They'll compliment each other...Congrats!

 

>>When I bought my MINI on November 1st, it was under the assumption my wife and I would be DINKS (double income/no kids) for a long while. SURPRISE! Now there's a little one on the way at the end of the summer.
>>Who has managed to do the baby thing with a MINI? Do baby seats fit, etc. ANY advice would be greatly appreciated, because my wife has mentioned the words
>>"need more practical car" a few times.


Ok, my husband and I ordered the Mini nearly a month before we found out that Baby was coming soon! So, we had this same discussion for about a half a minute and decided that we loved the car and we'd find a way to make a car seat work in it. It also is not the primary transport for the kid, so all should be well, right?

Even better. When picking up our new Mini yesterday, I asked if there was is recommendations on brands of seats that fit the best...and was informed to my delight that Mini is producing their OWN seat. I was told they are expecting pretty soon as the sales sheet has been out for months and months. My dealer is going to find out more for us and as long as it is here before August, the kid will be all set.

So, tell the wife that you need to keep the car...there are options for you. And Enjoy.

 

Well, I don't know about little ones, but if you're still in love with MINIs when your kids are 12 or 13, you will be VASTLY more popular with them if you have a MINI. My 12 year old can't wait til the MINI arrives so she can be SEEN pulling up in front of the school.

I can count on one hand the times in the past year that she's WANTED to be seen with me.

Good luck! And NEVER give up your MINI. Use coupons, collect bottles out of people's recycling, stand on a street corner with a sign "I will beg for MINI money", do WHATEVER you have to do to keep your MINI. Your wife is just WAY too practical. :smile: :smile:

 

I traded a 4 door Accord in on the MINI. I have a 2 1/2 and 20 month old which I pick up everyday from daycare. The only problem is the little one kicking the back of the seat- taking his shoes off helps with the scuff marks on the plastic. I do have to get in the backseat to strap them down, but it is well worth it. They both laugh out loud when I take a corner at a brisk (but safe) speed.

 

I traded a 4 door Accord in on the MINI. I have a 2 1/2 year old and 20 month old which I pick up everyday from daycare. The only problem is the little one kicking the back of the seat- taking his shoes off helps with the scuff marks on the plastic. I do have to get in the backseat to strap them down, but it is well worth it. They both laugh out loud when I take a corner at a brisk (but safe) speed.