Best Car Seat for a 5 Door Mini Cooper

[ShortyKoalaKay]

Does anyone have any advice re which car seat to get for a 5 door Mini Cooper (2018)?

I'm 30 weeks pregnant so need to get a wriggle on but this whole car seat thing is a minefield as there are just so many options! It's also difficult as I can't just turn up at John Lewis/Halfords, etc. and speak to a human for advice during lockdown...

We have bought a Bugaboo Bee5 pram so a compatible car seat would be preferred but is not essential.

I would also like a car seat that can be carried easily from house to/from car as we don't have a driveway and often have to park a short walk away from home.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Shorty

Most infant seats are compatible with most cars, though you might get an unsuitable angle if your seats are sloped. Unfortunately, this isn't really something you can check in the absence of a trained fitting. It might be worth contacting the retailer you order from directly and seeing if they are happy to accept returns if you're unhappy with the fit in your car. If you do this I'd also contact the manufacturer via email or social media and ask them if you can send them photos of the seat fitted in your car for feedback. You can also ask about the angle for a newborn, which you can check using a spirit level app on your smartphone.

Are you on Facebook? If so I would recommend joining Car Seat Advice UK - you can both search for your car model to see if anyone has posted before to see if there are any to look at/avoid, and/or make your own post asking for people's experiences. They might also be able to advise on home fitting, or recommend a local specialist you may be able to get phone support from now and in-person support if you need it in the future.

If you want one that is lightweight to carry, the most lightweight are:

Maxi Cosi Cabriofix
Maxi Cosi Coral
Maxi Cosi Citi
Maxi Cosi Tinca (yet to be released)
Joie Juva
Joie i-Snug
Nuna Pipa Lite LX
Venicci Ultralite
Britax Babysafe
Graco Snug Essentials
Nania BeOne SP (And rebrands, e.g. various own brand seats)

The list of seats which is compatible with Bugaboo pushchairs is as follows:

Bugaboo Turtle (made by Nuna)

With Maxi-Cosi adapters, all (carryable, infant) seats from the following brands:

Besafe
Cybex
Nuna
Maxi-Cosi
Recaro

And in addition with the same adapters:
Joie seats, except Joie Juva.
Axkid Modukid Infant with additional Axkid adaptors
Cosatto Dock
Venicci Ultralite

You can also get Britax (Click & Go) adapters for the Bee 5 which means you can also put on any Britax infant seat.

However I believe you take the seat unit off to fit the car seat on, so might be no use to you for taking door to door, unless you plan to leave the seat unit in the car. You can also sort of wedge/balance a car seat into the seat unit of the buggy of course, although it won't be very secure - but we've done this when we didn't have enough hands to carry everything.

Wow, thank you so much for your detailed response @BertieBotts! You have been very thorough with your advice and I certainly feel like I have something to go on now.

I haven't been on facebook for a couple of years and can't seem to access my account anymore so I think I'll just have to set up a new one as the Car Seat Advice group sounds like it could provide some really useful information.

Thanks again for your help.

Shorty

No worries :) I've just realised I forgot to check some of my list for weight! The infant carrier portions of Recaro Zero One Elite and Recaro Salia Elite are both lightweight options as well.

So the crossover ones (light AND compatible) would be

Maxi Cosi: Cabriofix / Citi / Coral / Tinca
Joie i-Snug
Nuna Pipa Lite
Venicci Ultralite
Britax Babysafe
Recaro: Salia Elite / Zero One Elite

But obviously you might want to look at seats that are outside of this list for one reason or another - lightness sometimes means very basic features, for example. Otherwise they can be almost over-engineered, which while very clever, is also very expensive (Maxi Cosi Coral and the Recaro seats come under this list to me).

One last option to look at would be Doona - this car seat has wheels actually integrated into it so it unfolds into a sort of mini-stroller.

I will stop now Sometimes I find making these lists almost relaxing...

You really are an expert!

Would the lightness of the seat compromise the safety? Obviously, during the lockdown and probably for some time after, we won't be going on any/very few car trips but still need something to get home from hospital...

I don't suppose you would recommend one out of the list you have suggested? I really am a novice and am thinking of just going for a maxi cosi as I've heard of them and someone on the Car Seat Advice page on facebook (thanks for the suggestion by the way!) has one for their mini and likes it... .

Can you tell I'm a little out of my depth here?! I realise safety is of paramount importance and nothing comes higher than the safety of my unborn baby but there's just so much choice on the market nowadays!