One FF, one RF in a Mini Cooper?

[Unregistered]

I'm getting a new car, yay! But it's a Mini Cooper and I need to figure out the car seat situation!

I have a FFing 3.5yo, and an 18-pound 8-month-old who is ready to graduate to a RFing convertible seat.

I always see the Coccoro recommended for tight spots. I don't mind upgrading the baby to a new seat when she's ready to go FF, but I anticipate she'll hit the RFing limit of 33 pounds before she's 3 ...

And for my 3yo, I just need advice on narrow, low-profile seats! He's 38 pounds and 38 inches.

I'd prefer to get the same brand (another strike on the Coccoro, since that's the only FFing harness seat they've got).

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Patriot201]

Because the baby is 8 months, you can put the seat in more upright, which should help a bit.

Are you okay with seats that coordinate, but don't necessarily match? Such as a black Coccoro and a black FF seat?

 

[nannykates]

Do you frequently need someone to ride in your passenger seat?

 

[5littleH2OBabies]

I'm 5'9" with long legs - in my Caravan i need the driver's seat pushed all the way back. I've installed our Radian with angle adjuster behind the passenger side with more than enough leg room. I have a 2005 Cooper S.

 

[CourtneyL]

I have a mini cooper and I've tried a lot of RF seats in my car... My daughter is 26 months and is very close to outgrowing her coccoro.

In my search for a longer lasting RF seat for her, I've looked at a bunch of seats. Seats that could be installed more upright than 45 degrees fit better.

The radian with angle adjuster takes up about the same amount of front to back space as the coccoro. It was a pain to install though. Latch wasn't too bad, but seatbelt was nearly impossible (RF and FF). It also is really tall, so it blocked my view out the side window. The harness adjuster was really hard to tighten because it was right up against the seat too.

The Peg Perego convertible, when installed as upright as possible, takes up the same amount of space as the radian. The backrest angle was at 40 degrees. Latch install was really easy RF. Seatbelt was more challenging, but doable. FF the peg sits up really high and leaves very little leg room for the child. I didn't spend too much time trying a FF seatbelt install, but I noticed that the plastic button on the vehicle seatbelt interfered with closing the locks on the one side of the car seat.

The guide 65 took up a lot of space, even on the more upright angle. It was about 2" more front to back than the coccoro. The headrest was not extended above the shell.

I wound up buying the Peg convertible and I'll use that to continue RFing. I'm happy with it and it should get my daughter close to 4 RF. When the time comes to FF, I'll probably get a different seat that sits lower so she has some legroom.

Hopefully this helps and makes sense, I'm typing this on my phone.