I've wanted a Mini Cooper S for years. After recently finding out that my wife is expecting our first child, we've pretty much decided to move to the suburbs in from NYC for more space, which would also necessitate a second vehicle. Right now we have a Jeep Grand Cherokee which has more than enough room for a child, but it would still make sense to have a second car with enough room for a child seat in a pinch. Does anybody have any experience with a baby seat in the back of a Mini? Surprisingly, my wife isn't concerned about this as long as we have enough room in our primary vehicle. I don't really want a Clubman or Countryman, so it will be a Cooper Hardtop, or something else entirely. Any advice?

 

My baby days are far behind me now, but I did watch someone struggle with a baby seat once. Getting the seat in was tight. I'm sure it would depend on the style and type of seat you have. I'd take one to the dealer to try it out. Then it would be putting the baby in and out. I'm guessing that you'd want to teach your child to get in by themselves and buckle up by the time they reach 6 mo.

I have read MINI ads that state they are getting rid of their hardtops because of expanding families, but the joy of driving a MINI allows you to put up with some hassle.

I hope someone with first hand experience chimes in for you. Good luck and congratulations!

 

We have two MINIs, a 07 Cabrio and an 08 hardtop. Baby seats for the Grandkids fit fine. Don't know our brand but someone posted a link to Recaro child seats that were rated very high for safety and easy to get in and out. MINI has attachment points in the boot for the seats. Do a search on google referencing Nam you will find. You also might check Amazon as I believe that was there link. Good luck!

 

I had no problem getting the child seat in and out of my 08 hardtop. The problem came with the harsh ride on the stock run flats. My daughter used to get car sick in my mini until I switched to non-runflats.

 

I got rid of my R56 because The Britax Marathon Car Seat did not fit very well in the car. I got a Countryman in stead. IMO if it's rear facing car seat, the R56 is not a good choice. To give an example...my countryman was in and they gave me a hardtop for a loaner. I put the seat in and in order for me to get my 8 month old son in the seat, I had to go through the boot. For me, it is a not great choice. I miss my R56 but until his seat is able to be turned around, I will be running the R60 and then after that back to R56.

 

This is the one I recommend, I'd never put my little one in anything that wasn't the safest I could find. Since you will need to rear face for the first 2 years you want a convertible one. We have this in our SUV but I have the proride forward facing one in the mini so I don't see why this wouldn't fit. Buy it from Amazon and if it doesn't fit, return it.

 

Thank you! Looks like a great car seat. I've got about 7 months to go, but I'm already starting to research this stuff! I'll probably get this Recaro seat for my Jeep Grand Cherokee anyway. Just wish I knew for sure if it fit rear facing in the Cooper.

 

Two things........a clubman may be your answer as it has the second door on the passenger side and is much easier to get into. And....like others, in that my baby seat days are behind me.....my 6'6" son fits in the backseat on the passenger side of my hardtop. So there is room to navigate back there.

 

I find that my r50 is no different then my 01 civic ex when it comes to get the car seat in and get my 2 yr old out..both have two doors so if u can Händel maybe bumping your head in a hard top I say go for it..but to be on the safe side I say clubman if not countryman...just my two cents..

 

We have the Chico key fit. Our daughter's not quite a year old, and it's easier to get her in and out of my wife's Camry, but so far I've been very happy with getting her in and out of my R56S. It's easiest from the passenger side, but I can even slide her out from the driver's side. My wife can even sit in front, and although the seat's forward, it's not at the limit. My best friend has a clubman, and he clearly has more room and an easier time with the third door, but I still have more fun around the corners. . Oh, and I also swapped the runflats and put in koni FSD's (mostly because my wife was uncomfortable the last few months of pregnancy and made a few jokes about shaken baby syndrome). I'm starting to look at the next seat we'll need as she gets too tall for the current seat, but at this point no regrets! The best part is when she giggles at the pop and burble in sport mode.

 

Chico Key Fit 30 fit great in the back seat. There was more leg room for the front passenger than for the same car seat in our WRX.

Then we switched to a Britax Marathon 70. Both were easy to install. Getting a 1 year old in and out of a rear facing child seat in the back of a mini is not easy, but I did it for about a year - until he outgrew it rear facing (head has to be completely below top of seat) and then we turned it around to front facing. Now he's big enough to climb into the car and seat himself.

I should warn you, I would hate doing this if the mini were our only or primary car. Whenever we could we used our WRX since there the car seat(s) was in the middle of the back seat (with four doors)

BTW, The Sunshine Kids / Diono Radian XT, I think, is a better seat. But it does NOT fit in a Mini. That's what we now have in our WRX.

 

Luckily, this will not be our primary car. Our primary car is a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which has PLENTY of room. A Mini will be our second car. I've always wanted one despite the fact that it's impractical. I'm just concerned about days where our SUV might be in the shop or something when we will need to take our child somewhere. The other issue is fitting a stroller in the back...almost an impossibility. A Clubman is a much better bet, but my wife HATES it.

 

I've got an '09 MCS and have been using the Cosco Scenera for my two daughters since getting the car. I got it because its cheap ($40) but my wife informs me that it has "excellent crash test performance." So we're both satisfied with the seat. Only wish that I could find one that was black with white racing stripes.

For when I needed it rear facing, the car seat would be on the passenger side; for front facing either side works. The rear facing setup takes up a lot of longitudinal (front to back) space, so the passenger seat would have to be set all the way forward for the carseat to fit properly.

Currently, I've got my oldest in a booster and my youngest in the car seat. Best part about driving with the girls are the demands for the LED colors... But sounds like you've got a ways to go before that. Stock up on your sleep now, while you still can.

 

Also, the passenger seat has sensors in it that can tell the difference between a person sitting in it and an object (like a car seat). It has to do with the concentration of force that a car seat puts on the sensors. If the car senses that a person is not sitting in the passenger seat, it shuts off the passenger side airbag.

So it's fine I put the car seat on the front passenger seat. Cool feature, huh? But you probably don't want to tell your spouse.

 

i just recently purchased a r56 hardtop and i have a 2 month old daughter, i have a graco car seat that holds up to 22 lbs and i don't have any problems with it fitting, the front passenger seat has to be all the way up and its a little tight but it works

 

I've got an '07 hardtop, I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. I'm 6'1" at 220pounds. It's not bad at all putting the car seats in you just really have to get the right angle when you put them in. Now if your my size it can be a little tight when it comes to buckling them up but it's not bad. But I can get both seats and both kids in the back no problem, hope this helps.

 

We survived triplets with a Jeep grand Cherokee and a mini. When they were 2 we finally got a van and a Mini. I then traded my 03 MCS for a 2012. If this car is jus in a pinch then by all means get the MINI. No car that I want will carry all three kids so it does not matter for me. For my next mini purchase the kids will be in booster seats. Ill probably get a countryman and a Coupe JCW at the same time.

 

I need to revisit this thread as we finally got out 2013 MCS last week. Our Graco snug ride 35 fits ok for now, and I ordered an umbrella stroller so we'll have a means of transporting our daughter outside of the car, but what car seat does everybody recommend for when our daughter is forward facing? I've read good things about the Britax Marathon. Anybody use this seat in their R56?

 

its very tight but most certainly do-able, my daughter is 14 months we just switched to a convertible front facing seat and i must say its really not that bad, i dont mind it!

 

forgot to mention i have a 12 mcs!

 

I feel like it's going to be a much better fit that a rear facing seat, as the passenger seat needs to be all the way forward to accommodate it.

 

The funniest thing for us is that I mentioned before that I got rid of my 2010 R56 for 2012 R60 because of our son. Well as of last week, I bought a 2013 R56 MCS again and I have his seat facing forward. It's not as roomy but I enjoy the car much more and my son, who is 21 months now, loves the car more. We have Britax Marathon car seats in both cars. After all the research we did before he was born, I wouldn't use anything else but Britax.

 

Ha. What color is your '13 MCS? Ours is chili red and it's literally our 3rd extra car. We picked it up last week too. It will never see snow or bad weather but we'd like to take our daughter on day trips in it. Is the front facing seat more roomy than a rear facing infant seat? I feel like you could at lease slide the front seat back further.

 

Yes, I can fit our convertible Graco back there but don't expect anyone to sit in the front seat. And 2 seats would be out of the question unless you are very short.

 

There's not more room to slide the front seat back with a forward facing child seat?