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My honest review of the Nuna Pipa car seat
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Product Review: Nuna Pipa Car Seat
Note* I wrote this blog post in 2021. Since then, it appears that they discontinued the the exact model of the Nuna we have as well as the lite option! It looks like they only carry one option – the Nuna Pipa RX. Also, since the time of writing this, Buy Buy Baby has gone out of business, so disregard any mention of discounts there!
2023 update: If you’re looking for a Nuna car seat – get the Nuna Pipa RX!
If you want to keep reading, go ahead, just keep in mind the 2 Nuna models I compare below have been replaced with the Nuna Pipa RX.
How I decided between the Uppababy and Nuna infant car seats.
Here is my honest review of the Nuna Pipa car seat. Keep in mind this post was written in 2021.
When I was pregnant, I would stay up at night watching car seat review videos on YouTube, having anxiety over all of the options. I had NO idea which one to choose or even how to make a decision. AND they are offered in a variety of colors!
I was deciding between 3 car seats: Nuna Pipa, Nuna Pipa Lite, and the Uppababy Mesa. These are some of the most popular car seats on the market today and are top of the line in safety, features, and style. They are all great car seats (you can’t go wrong!) but below I will outline why I decided to go with the Nuna Pipa out of the three.
I ultimately decided on the Nuna Pipa car seat (and love it!) and here are my main reasons:
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It has a high safety rating. The base has a safety leg that provides extra protection in the event of a crash.
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I really liked the design: we decided on the Caviar color that has a sleek & elegant look. I liked the look of the grey “Frost” color, but thought it would show dirt more. I love the leather handle detail – I know it’s not necessary, but it makes me happy 🙂 I also chose a simple black color that is gender neutral. I know the Uppababy Mesa comes in a blue that a lot of people use for boys, but I wanted something neutral that can work for both genders so I can use it for the next baby too.
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The dream drape was a big deciding factor for me. This is a little drape that is built into the canopy that you can unzip to come down over your baby to provide shade or darkness for naps, and it attaches with 2 built in magnets. If you’ve seen people put blankets over their car seats, this eliminates that by being built in. I love it!
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The weight. This is one of the lighter car seats on the market, weighing a little under 8 pounds. The Nuna Pipa Lite is of course lighter (5.75 lbs) but it cannot be used without a base, and it is more expensive.
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This car seat can be used in any car without a base. We have a base installed in my car because we drive that the most, but we have also been able to use this car seat on a plane, and in a rental car when we travel.
We have the Uppababy Vista stroller and wanted a car seat that could attach. This is a very convenient feature. Since I liked the Nuna car seat better than the Uppababy Mesa that clips into the stroller, I bought an adapter that is compatible with the Vista so we can use the Nuna car seat with the Uppababy Vista stroller.
Below is our exact setup. The adapter easily clips into the Uppbaby Vista stroller and you can then clip the Nuna Pipa onto the Uppababy Vista. It is very simple – I would just recommend keeping the adapter in your car at all times so you don’t forget it!
Jett taking a nap under his dream drape while mom walks & shops at Legacy West with her Starbucks 🙂
I looked high and low, but did not see anywhere to get a discount or include for a registry completion discount for the Nuna brand products. We purchased our car seat from Nordstrom. You can, however get 15% off Uppababy products at Buy Buy Baby with your registry completion discount. This would bring the Uppababy Mesa car seat to $255 instead of $299. Read my blog post on the Uppababy Vista stroller. With the 15% off the stroller would be $850 instead of $999. If price is your deciding factor, the Uppababy Mesa would be the least expensive out of the three I am comparing in this post. (Keep scrolling to see a comparison chart below).
One thing to keep in mind that I didn’t know: You must be sure of your decision before you purchase a car seat! Even at Nordstrom, where they are notorious for allowing returns on anything, they do not allow returns on car seats. Once you open the box, it’s yours. This is for safety reasons, which I understand. I wouldn’t want to purchase a car seat that had been opened before and potentially used without my knowledge.
When deciding on a car seat, here are some things to keep in mind and questions to ask yourself when you evaluate your decision:
Price – How much do you want to spend? Is someone buying this as a gift? Keep in mind that you will only use an infant car seat for about a year, or 12-18 months (every child is different on when they outgrow it) then you will need to buy a convertible car seat. (I did not know this before I was pregnant) This is the convertible car seat we have, which can also be used from birth, if you don’t want an infant carrier. We were gifted these by a sweet neighbor after Jett turned 1.
Weight – Are you going to be lugging it around? Do you want a super light weight car seat or does the weight matter to you?
Twins? – If you are having twins, I would recommend the Nuna Pipa Lite. Two of the Pipa Lites weight about as much as one Uppababy Mesa carseat which could be a huge help with multiples. I don’t have twins, so I haven’t looked into it too much, but I think the Nuna Pipa Lite would be a perfect car seat for twins.
Style – Do you care what it looks like?
Compatibility – Do you have a modular stroller you want to clip it into? Make sure you research to see what is compatible with your stroller, or if you can buy an adapter to make it compatible.
Base – Do you live somewhere where you will be taking taxis or Uber rides often? If so, get a car seat that can be used without a base.
All 3 of these models come with one base. Consider if you need to buy a second base if you have 2 cars.
For our situation, we only have 1 base. We take my car everywhere with Jett, and since my husband and I both worked from home during Covid, it hasn’t been a problem at all. But, if both you and your husband work and trade off drop off and pickup at a daycare, you will need two bases: one for each car – so put 1 extra base on your registry. The car seat should come with one base. The base is very easy to install (my husband watched a YouTube video) and it has a green indicator bubble line to tell you when it is level. Then once the base is installed, the car seat just clicks right in.
Nuna Pipa vs Nuna Pipa Lite vs Uppababy Mesa
We absolutely love our Nuna Pipa and would highly recommend it to anyone. Click here to shop our exact car seat!
Deciding on a car seat is no easy task. Hopefully this helps and gives some food for thought if you are going through it right now! If you have any more questions, feel free to shoot me a message on my Instagram!
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