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7 Days of Car Seats: The Maxi-Cosi Mico Gives Us a Splash of Color

Posted by SunnyChanel

 

I love color. So it’s really nice to see car seats hitting the market that are not the usual safe colors like gray, black, and beige. The Maxi-Cosi Mico Infant Car Seat not only makes a nice splash of stylish color in a dull hued baby gear world but it has all the safety features you want to cradle your loved ones like impact absorbing EPP foam lining, deep side wings, padded, adjustable 5 point harness, a rotating canopy for sun protection and for you, a ergonomic handle for comfty carrying.

The one pictured above is in a color palette called “Juice”. But if black is still the new black in your book, then you can get it “Penguin”.  The Maxi Cosi Mico, or what I’ll just call MCM is compatible with the European Quinny strollers (check out April’s post about them here). It’s designed for babies from 5 to 22 pounds and clocks in at $170 (but the stroller will set you back $550…you’ve been warned).
 


Comments

 

Kaz said:

We have one of these, and we like it. A couple notes:

- many car seats have the bar on the car seat base, and the locking mechanism on the seat itself. This allows it to sit comfortably and securely in many of those Snap-n-Go type stroller thingies (as well as many grocery carts). The Mico has the bar on the seat and the locking mechanism on the base. Not so good for strollers and carts.

- I believe one of the last times I was in babies-r-us, they had a new maxi-cosi stroller (not Quinny) that also supports this car seat.

- the footprint on this is small, which is nice if you want to try and squeeze another person in the back seat.

- the canopy doesn't seem to have the coverage, or range of movement that many other car seats do.

May 7, 2008 12:23 PM
 

pdx_mama said:

We also have one, in the Happy Flower print.  We get tons of looks and comments on the design, and for whatever reason my girlfriend's 1-year-old is obsessed with using it as an easy chair whenever we visit.  The seat rocks slightly when not in its base, so that has been useful for soothing our daughter if she's fussy getting strapped in, or if she needs to nap inside of it at a friend's house.

That said, until stroller compatibility increases, I wouldn't recommend it.  (Bugaboo is *slowly* making adapters available, which at least widens the spectrum somewhat.)

As Kaz notes, the footprint is relatively small, although we still have to put it behind the passenger seat in our Subaru Forester (03), pull the passenger seat all the way forward, and it's a squeeze to put two more adults in the back seat with the baby.  You could say this is more a car issue than MCM issue, but it still bugs.  

My main beef is with the buckles.  My little one is on the larger side - - 90%+ in every measurement - - and she wears cloth diapers (FuzziBunz, which we LOVE).  The straps are not nearly as adjustable as on other seats.  You can adjust reasonably for shoulders/height, but you can never gain proportional adjustment in the leg holes.  (The seat buckle, positioned at the crotch, can move forward slightly in the seat, but cannot be extended.  So if your babe's clothing, or your babe itself, has extra girth (in winter, especially), it's a tight squeeze.  Plus, you have to do this fiddly puzzle thing with the buckles while you put them inside, so it's not even easy to begin with.

Maybe MCM-US-2.0 will solve the buckle issue!  Until then, only 2.5 stars out of 5, with all deductions out of the usability column.

May 7, 2008 1:12 PM
 

IGNYC said:

The carseat is also compatible with the Quinny Zapp which retails for about $200

May 7, 2008 2:29 PM
 

sadie Roberts said:

I had this in lime. We got many compliments. Sadly, my 23lb 6 month old is now too big. I really liked the seat, except it was quite a challenge to get out of the base. But that probably means it is safe. I have happily upgraded to the Maxi-Cosi convertible seat that goes to 40lbs.

May 7, 2008 6:47 PM
 

Kaz said:

I eventually discovered that if you pull base release handle, and tilt the set toward the handle, it comes out more easily.

May 8, 2008 11:49 AM

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