Can You Have A Baby And A Fiat 500?

Ok yes, this is a pretty niche blog post. But something I had to do a LOT of research about before I had Indi, was how I was going to get by with a baby in my Fiat 500.

You see, it’s a very small car. It only has 3 doors. It has a tiny boot. How are you meant to fit a car seat in there? What kind of pram will fit in that miniscule boot?

Well what my research told me was that a lot of people in this position just go ahead and buy a new car whilst they’re pregnant. Y’know, a more sensible, family-friendly car. But I wasn’t really in a position to sell my car (I lease mine and have a contract until 2020), and to be quite honest I didn’t really want to. I love my little mint green Fiat 500!

So yes, I made it my mission to figure out how to make it work. And seeing how it was a bit of a struggle to find this info I figured I’d put together a little post about how I got around it.

Also fun fact, I wrote the majority of this post when Indi was a newborn, but because I wrote it at 3am one night I completely forgot about it until now! So here I am, resurrecting it with a now 10 month old! And y’know what, this all still applies and we’re totally fine in the Fiat 500.

How To Adapt Your Fiat 500 Into A Family Car!

Can You Fit A Car Seat In A Fiat 500?

Yes, absolutely! But it’s not that simple.

First of all, if your Fiat 500 is from 2012 or later, it should have the right fixtures to be able to attach the isofix base. Great.

But fitting the actual car seat takes some effort. You have to put the front passenger seat all the way forwards and make sure the seat itself is upright, just so that there’s a gap between the car seat and the front passenger seat. You need that gap so it’s safe, but it does mean your front passenger seat is quite restricted. Read: tall people with long legs may have issues here.

I recommend heading to Mamas and Papas when choosing your seat as they will bring the base and car seat out to your car to make sure it fits before buying. It definitely takes the hassle out of the experience.

Once you have the baby, it is a bit of a struggle to get the car seat in and out of there. The 3 doors make it tricky but you eventually just learn the right angle to fit it through with a baby in tow. It’s doable.

And now my daughter is bigger and a lot heavier, I tend to have to use my knee to lean on as I jimmy her in. Obviously a 5 door car would be ideal, but what I’m saying is you can totally manage it.

In case you’re interested, I bought the Maxi-Cosi Rock Car Seat and the 2WayFix isofix base. No complaints over here, lads.

How Can You Have A Car Seat Mirror Without Headrests In The Back?

Ugh, this was a drama. Every car seat mirror I found attached to the back seat headrests. But, er yeah, my car doesn’t have back seat headrests.

In the end I settled on the Mamas and Papas mirror as it looked like it would just go over the back of the seat, without headrests. But honestly it’s a bit iffy. I use the clip to clip around the little flap over the boot (I have no idea what the technical term is, but see the below photo to see what I mean!). It’s wobbly and not very secure, but it works.

It does the job but I’ve recently been told that you can get mirrors that attach onto the actual car seat, so that would definitely be better.

Which Prams Fit Into The Boot Of A Fiat 500?

Not many!

The way I went about it was to look at the brand of prams I liked, look at their smallest model and then google whether it would fit in the boot lol. Not very technical I know.

I knew I wanted a Bugaboo pram, and I was lucky enough to collaborate with them. But when it came to choosing the model, I knew I had to be smart. I would have loved the Bugaboo Fox but there is no way it was fitting in my Fiat 500, so I chose the compact Bugaboo Bee5. I found a YouTube video of a guy fitting it in the boot so that was good enough for me.

When it came to doing it myself though, it definitely wasn’t as easy as it looked. In the newborn days you have the bassinet that detaches and fitting that along with the fold-up wheels part was difficult. But we got the hang of it. You have to try a few different combinations, but I promise it all fits in there. But yes, it’s a lot easier once your baby is in the pushchair combination, without the bassinet.

Other prams known to fit in the boot of a Fiat 500 include the iCandy Peach, iCandy Orange, Egg, Cosotto Wow, Babyzen YoYo and Silvercross Jet.

Ok, hopefully that answers all of your questions about having a baby when you drive a Fiat 500. It’s a bit of added effort, and obviously having a family car would be preferable, but when that’s not possible, the Fiat 500 comes through!

If you have another questions let me know. Happy to help!

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Total Blogger Transparency: This post contains a few affiliate links but I only recommend products or services I totally believe in and use myself. I wouldn’t play you like that, shorty.

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