Less is More with the Combi Coccoro

I’ve always been a big believer that less is more, but never more so than now, with two small children and all the stuff they accrue. When I was pregnant with my son four years ago, I was determined that I’d make it through with a convertible car seat and skip the infant seat. Well, that lasted about a week before I realized that 1) he looked very small in that big seat, and 2) having a lightweight, portable seat really was important, especially when he fell asleep in the car.
Today, our Subaru is packed in the back seat with two Britax Marathons—great car seats, and I love the prints: Henry is sporting the Cowmooflage, and Sophie went for the Couture pattern. They’re fabulous seats, have excellent safety ratings, and seem to be comfortable—not that I’ve tried them out myself, mind you.

But I just came across these fabulous new seats from Japanese manufacturer Combi, and I’m quite smitten. It’s about time someone stepped up to the plate in designing a car seat that doesn’t take up half your back seat. The Combi Coccoro is small and lightweight (only 11 pounds—great for travel!), and comes in seven happy colors with scrumptious names like Carrot Cake, Cherry Pie, Strawberry Shake, Key Lime, Hazelnut, Cool Mint, and Chestnut.

So the fashion is there—fantastic. And I’ve mentioned how light they are—11 pounds is pretty easy to move about if you’re switching cars, having Grandma pick your kid up from daycare, or traveling by plane. But here’s the truly amazing thing about the Coccoro—you can fit THREE car seats in the back seat of a compact car!! No more of this, “Well, we’re having a third, guess we’ll have to succumb to the minivan” mentality. That’s right THREE Coccoros will fit in the back of a Toyota Corolla!

Now, this also means that when you have only two car seats in the back, an adult can fit between them—not the case in my car now. When we travel with my mom, we must either take two cars (locally), or rent a minivan (long-distance), just because our car seats take up so much room.

The Coccoro is also a convertible seat, meaning you can use it in the rear-facing position from birth and then turn it to face forwards once your little one turns 1. And is has this sweet insert for the littlest ones called the Mommy’s Lap Insert, which keeps your baby snug and comfy.

The Coccoro is arriving this month at Goore’s, and I tell you, if I was starting out with my first now, it’s the car seat I’d choose.

Jane