UPPAbaby Mesa Car Seat Review – Why This Infant Car Seat Is Safe

My daughter in UPPAbaby infant car seat Mesa when she was a newborn

I am not associated with UPPAbaby company. I purchased an UPPAbaby Mesa infant car seat on my own and was not sponsored by UPPAbaby to write this review. This review is my honest experience and opinion. This review contains affiliated links. That means I will get a commission if you click the link and buy the item (but at no extra cost to you). Your support helps my work in bringing you useful information about baby products. Thank you!

I have been using UPPAbaby Mesa infant car seat for 14 months now. It’s been good so far with no issues. Infant car seat is for protection of your precious baby. Therefore, when I bought a car seat, safety was the most important thing to consider.  Safety meant not only the safe structure of the car seat but also easy installation of it. If the car seat wasn’t installed properly, it was not going to be safe no matter how safe its structure was. I needed a car seat that I could easily install without needing any expert assistance. So far I have been happy with my decision to get the UPPAbaby Mesa and it has done a great job. After 14 months of use, I have gathered pros and cons of this car seat and listed them below to share with you.

Pros of UPPAbaby Mesa Car Seat

Safety Feature And Very Easy Installation

UPPAbaby Mesa car seat accommodates preemies or small infants from 4 to 8 lbs with an infant insert. However, you may still need to put extra padding beside baby’s head for protection in the beginning. My baby was 6.9 lbs when she was born and I put extra padding beside of her head as you can see in the picture above. Other than that, she was strapped securely and placed tightly in the car seat. Soon, she didn’t need the extra padding any more since she grew fast.

Taking a infant car seat in and out of the base is pretty simple and easy. It’s pretty straight forward with one click in and out. Taking a car seat out of the stroller is also done by just a push of a button. Placing a car seat on the stroller is also easily done by clicking the seat into the stroller. Therefore, you won’t have to worry about a car seat not being installed securely into the car seat base or on the stroller.

UPPAbaby Mesa’s base has a tightness indicator and Mesa is the only infant car seat that has this feature. The indicator window tells you if the base has been installed to a car correctly. Color changes from red to green for visual confirmation that the base is installed correctly whether using LATCH or belt. I found this feature very helpful. It gave me confidence that the car seat is installed correctly and it is safe. Because of this feature, Mesa has a NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Information) 5 star rating, highest government-rated ease of use. For me, it only took seconds to install this car seat.  It was quick and easy. Also, I didn’t have to ask expert to check if the car seat was installed correctly.

In addition, UPPA baby Mesa’s base can be attached to a car using a seat belt or self-retracting LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) connectors. All cars manufactured after 2002 have LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) anchors so that a car seat can be attached using its connectors to the anchors. It’s up to you which method you want to use to install the car seat base. Mesa’s LATCH is self-retracting so there is no LATCH straps flapping around. MESA’s retracting LATCH also tightens effortlessly so that it minimizes installation error.

Extra Side Impact Protection

51% of side impact collision with an infant results in infant death. Mesa’s adjustable headrest has EPP foam that helps baby’s head be protected during a side impact collision. It provides extra protection for baby and minimizes head trauma & whiplash. The height of the headrest is also easily adjusted as baby grows so  I feel secured that my baby’s head is always protected.

No Re-Thread 5 Point Harness

Mesa also has a convenient no re-thread 5 point harness.  That means you don’t have to take apart the harness to adjust it as your baby grow. With a traditional harness, you have to take out the harness from harness slots and re-thread them into new slots to adjust the harness height. This process is not only inconvenient but also has potential for error. If harness is not put into the right slots correctly, the car seat will not function as it should in case of crash.

Mesa’s no re-thread 5 point harness is very convenient. The harness is adjustable by pushing a button or pulling the harness adjuster strap . I found tightening or loosening straps were easy to do and I was confident that the harness is in place correctly to protect my baby.

Compatiable With UPPAbaby Cruz And Vista

UPPAbaby Mesa car seat is compatible with UPPAbaby Cruz or Vista stroller. That means you don’t need an adapter to put Mesa car seat on the UPPAbaby strollers. I really like this because I have UPPAbaby Cruz stroller and I didn’t have to buy an adapter for a car seat. An adapter costs extra US $44.99 (CAD $75 in Canada) and I didn’t have to spend it.

[Update April 16, 2020] UPPAbaby Mesa car seat can also be used for the UPPAbaby Minu with an adapter.  You can also use a Baby Jogger Car Seat Adapter with a Mesa car seat for Baby Jogger City Mini 2 and City Mini GT 2 single strollers.

2 Year Warranty

UPPAbaby Mesa infant car seat has a 7-year expiration date, and even a 2-year warranty. Warranty is one full year more than what Graco, Chicco and Britax offers. Warranty is important because it gives you access to a safe, new model if there is a manufacturing defect issue.

Choice for Non-Toxic, No Fire Retardant Fabric

If you are interested in non-toxic stuff, now UPPAbaby has come out with a model called Henry. Henry uses Merino wool which is finer wool than regular wool. Wool is naturally flame resistant, therefore, fire retardant is not needed. The Henry Mesa is the first and only car seat to pass fire safety testing without the use of fire retardant. Although fire retardant is not used in large amount for car seats, still fire retardant chemicals are known to be toxic.

UPPAbaby Infant Car Seat Mesa On The UPPAbaby Cruz Stroller

Cons of Uppa Baby Mesa Car Seat

Hard to Carry

UPPAbaby Mesa car seat is 9.9 lbs. Personally, I think it is hard to carry  it around especially with a baby in it. I mostly carried the car seat placed on top of the stroller. Therefore, I didn’t have to carry the car seat without the stroller. However, I still had to carry the car seat into the car from the stroller or out of the car to the stroller and I found the car seat pretty heavy for me to hold.

Pricey

UPPAbaby Mesa infant car seat is US $299.99 retail (US $299.99 at Amazon.com or CAD $464.99 at Amazon.ca) UPPAbaby Mesa infant car seat does has high-quality materials, great design and safety features, however, the price is on the higher side.

Canopy Not Big Enough

The UPPAbaby Cruz stroller infant seat has a big canopy with a pull out sunshade. I really love that the canopy and the sunshade covers my daughter’s face from the Sun when needed. However,unlike Cruz’s canopy, I think UPPAbaby Mesa infant car seat’s canopy is not big enough. When I took my daughter out on a stroller before her 6 months, I only used car seat for her instead of an infant seat.  So I used the car seat placed on the stroller a lot. When it was really sunny, I had to put a blanket over the canopy to cover my baby’s face from the Sun. Although I understand that you may not want a huge canopy in the car seat, I wish that canopy was a little bigger or extendable with a sunshade.

Uppa Baby Mesa Infant Car Seat

Conclusion

UPPAbaby Mesa infant car seat is a car seat that provides safety for baby. It has features that minimizes potential error during installations or adjustments. Although there are a few things that I wish were different, the safety features it has put my mind in peace. The base that installs correctly without expert’s help, self-retracting LATCH that tightens effortlessly, easy to adjust harness all minimize error for baby’s safety.  Extra padding protection for baby’s head also protects baby from side impact collision. Manufacturing defects that can happen are all covered under 2 year warranty. Now you can also go for a non-toxic, no fire retardant Henry model. After 14 months of using UPPAbaby Mesa, I am glad I have chosen this car seat for my daughter’s safety.

If you are interested in non-toxic car seats, please read my post ‘Non Toxic Car Seats Without Flame Retardant Chemicals‘.

You can read my review on Britax Advocate ClickTight convertible car seat in my post, ‘Britax Advocate ClickTight Convertible Car Seat – Safest Convertible Car Seat‘.

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