UPPAbaby - Mesa V3

Uppababy Mesa V3 car seat fits. We just graduated to the Nuna Rava. It fits too. When going into the seat, watch baby’s head with the Nuna rava. I have it backward facing and reclined to position 1 and still have to be careful. But once little one is seated, clearance is good.

I current have one in my ‘23. I will try to get a pick next time we put the baby in the car. The passenger side seat will have to be moved slightly forward to fit. With that being said, I wouldn’t put it behind the driver seat, unless you already drive with the seat forward. We have an Uppababy carseat.

All of this! We bought our travel system (Uppababy Vista V2) on Facebook Marketplace for $350 then just bought the Mesa V2 bucket seat separately. I deep cleaned the stroller and accessories and they looked basically new. Once baby outgrows the bucket seat we’ll buy a convertible car seat, we’re considering the Joie Saffron which is $200 after discounts. In total we’d be about a grand in, but she’d be set until she’s done with car seats. So basically yes, you will have to spend some money, but there are ways to stretch your dollar and still get good products.

The Uppa Mesa car seat. ( I had to look it up) it works with or without the base so easy to use in an airplane or taxis.

It is super great as long as the stroller fits in your car. The typical Travel System Stroller (can attach the infant car seat) tends to be a bit bigger, so that’s something to be cognizant of. We got the Uppababy Vista with the Mesa infant seat and it has been great. We still use it now with the normal stroller seat (2.5 year old kid). We then got a Graco convertible car seat when our little outgrew the infant seat.

I have Vista 2 and mesa from uppa and love it! We have two bases, one in each car so we don't have to deal with switching bases. Not a hassle for us at all!

We love our Vista with Mesa car seat. Whatever you end up going with, I would highly suggest getting an infant car seat that can clip into your stroller. It’s been a lifesaver.

We did the Uppababy system - Cruz stroller, bassinet (got this on Marketplace, i would def not bother buying this new given how short it lasts for - there are tons available used), and Mesa carseat. It worked well for us! I believe we got the carseat from Snugglebugz and the stroller from Amazon.

I've used both the chicco and Aria and honestly, the only good thing aobut the Aria was how lightweight it was. My kid outgrew it quickly (\~5mos) and because it's so light, it feels really kinda flimsy. The UB Mesa on the other hand feels really luxe but it is so damn heavy. Hauling that thing around to peds appts or even hauling it out of the car sucks.

I think it’s easiest to start with making a list of your priorities! Convertible car seats (like the rotating ones, as well those that can be used rear facing or forward facing) usually can be used from birth to booster, but it’s important to know if that’s what you want. I personally like the convenience of having an infant seat/carrier that I can remove from its base in the car, because baby falls asleep in the car a LOT and I like to bring him inside without waking him. If you do go the route of an infant seat first, I’d recommend one that is compatible with a travel system because it makes like so much easier. I personally have an UppaBaby car seat/stroller combo and love it, but have heard great things about nearly all of the others too. I think having a bassinet attachment for a stroller is great when baby is small, because it allows them to stretch out and wiggle while you stroll, which is great for them developmentally. It’s not recommended that babies spend extended periods of time in the infant carseat, so I don’t recommend using them for walks if you can avoid it, and the bigger stroller seats aren’t recommended for babies until they have better head and neck control, which also makes the bassinet a winner. If you prefer to skip the infant seat and go to a convertible seat from the jump, that’s fine too! I personally have a rotating car seat for my toddler and plan to use the same one for my infant when he outgrows his infant seat. It makes for less strain on you when buckling the baby in, and is my favorite car seat I’ve ever used. If you go this route, you also don’t have to worry about a stroller that is compatible with an infant seat, which can be a plus if you are looking at some brands that don’t make car seats! I’d write down your must-haves. Decide if you want an infant seat or a convertible seat, and maybe watch some installation videos on YouTube to see if you’re willing to install the seat before you buy it (some are way easier to install than others). From there, decide if your budget is compatible with all or if you need to weed out the ones you don’t want to pay for. And just take it one step at a time! It’s overwhelming but you can’t go wrong, truly. It’s mainly a personal preference situation!

So I worked at BuyBuyBaby for 3 years and learned a lot of the different brands and their pros and cons. When we did have my LO I knew I wanted the car seat and stroller to be the most expensive of the items I was going to purchase of everything (and I had already left the store before they closed permanently) because I planned to use them the most. My co worker in the stroller/car seat department gave me all the info on what you should look for in a stroller (foam tires being a big one so it get a tear you can still push it vs ones that have air) and car seat (what safety measures and brands known for good ratings) I also knew that I wanted a car seat that could attach to the stroller without having to deal with adaptors etc so I could just put them in and go from the car. Settled on the uppa baby mesa infant and the uppa baby vista set (so came with the bassinet and toddler seat as part of the package). Was very pricy but three years later I'm still using the toddler seat now and the stroller while I've passed the other items along to friends having babies so I got my monies worth I feel.

If you'll have stuff to usually carry with you then doona isn't a good option, and neither is a convertible seat for infants. I'll suggest a good travel system with infant car seat (bucket seat). Peg perego agio z4 and uppababy vista are great and very comfortable strollers and their car seats are good as well. You can also look at reclining car seats (eg peg perego lounge). You can't recline them in the car but you can in the stroller so they're more comfortable for the baby.

We didn't skip the infant (aka bucket) seat BUT we did not have a stroller that it clicked into. My SIL gave me her used bucket seat so we trusted that it was in safe condition, but it's an Uppa Baby and we didn't want to buy the corresponding stroller. Even so, we did still find the bucket seat really handy and i would not recommend skipping. - handy when visiting people. Easier to be able to enter a house and put her on the ground in the seat for a sec while we unload etc. Gave her a moment to adjust as well before being handed off to someone. - handy when in offices and appointments; didn't necessarily have to disturb her by hauling her out when she was comfy/calm or sleeping. - easier to get her buckled in safely inside our home during summer heat and winter cold, rather than trying to do it outside in a parking lot. Just logistically easier to do this in the comfort of your own home, particularly in the early days when we weren't confident about the straps and took a little longer to get it right. Also in winter we knew we could bundle her up well inside our home and then just hustle to the car and click her in. No faffing around. - easier for quick errands like picking up a pizza or the like. Could bring her into a store in the seat, she was calm but got a little change of scenery rather than having to haul her out and then strap her back in. It takes like 5 mins to get a tiny floppy baby out or in, and they don't usually like it. It can get really flustered and reducing that stress is valuable. The bucket seat can be clunky to haul around but you get used to walking with it for the short distances you need to (home to car, car to store, etc). We had a lay-flat stroller (Bumbleride Indie) and I used a carrier alot for our June baby but nonetheless the bucket seat made a world of difference.

I found the bucket seat way easier. That said, never put either of my infants straight to convertible so maybe it would have been okay and I just never experienced it. I was so scared of “breaking” or hurting my newborn (especially my first - just first time mom things), that I liked to be able to bundle her in the bucket, then move her IN the bucket after. Getting a newborn into a convertible seat would be harder because you’re straining yourself outside the car, trying to get them in place, buckling, it’s cold out, etc. bucket seat you can do that all inside. That said, I’m sure you’ll hear from ppl who used convertible from birth and I’m sure they got by fine. Just as an example - I had the uppa baby bucket seat, with the uppa baby Cruz stroller. The bucket seat clips into the stroller so made outings with a newborn so easy. I did get my stroller used, and car seat new, which offset the higher price of the uppa baby stuff.

My wife and I make good money, and are definitely doing well. That being said, she sometimes falls under the spell of "higher price = higher quality" and needs to get brought down to earth. We bought an expensive Uppababy car seat and it was horrible for our baby. Seriously she had panic attacks at the thought of using it.  Don't be too overwhelmed by the high cost brand recommendations. Some are great, but sometimes hype is just hype. 

I’d look up complaints about customer service, specifically about recalls or having to replace anything with their products. We were debating between Nuna and Uppababy, and ended up going Uppababy because of the reassurance.

The uppababy car seats notoriously are hard to install at the correct angle. The CPST we saw said she hates installing/ checking them. We have a Clek liing, is it better than other cheaper car seats? Probably not. We liked the fact it was a Canadian company and had the load leg so that’s why we went with it. Nurtured in Halifax is where we ordered our car seat and stroller (Uppababy Vista V3) from. Definitely worth a trip to the store to test things out. It’s about a 4.5 hour drive for me but it was worth it.

Very few car seats need a base. We took our uppababy car seat in and out Ubers with ease throughout the first year - takes literally a few seconds to put the seatbelt through, and then you can throw your stroller in the trunk and attach the car seat to it on the other side

We love our nuna and so did our baby. He screamed when he was in the Uppababy car seat but was happy as a clam in the nuna.

Agree with all this. We have Uppababy car seat and the Vista V2 stroller with bassinet. It comes with the toddler seat which you can also use for infant use with the infant insert in the lie flat position. For a newborn I usually preferred to use the bassinet but sometimes the toddler seat with insert was more convenient. I also highly recommend getting the upper seat adapters immediately so you can have your car seat/bassinet/toddler seat raised up higher for lots of storage space below!