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New parents with a Model Y - Baby transportation?

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bee-unit

Member
Jul 12, 2021
19
19
Ottawa
#1
I'm buying my little sister a new car for her (very late) birthday, and she's due with a baby soon - the model I've been looking at is a Model Y, since it seems more practical/safer for someone transporting a newborn out and about (and I can't afford a model X so I didn't even look at it!). It was either going to be that or the Chevy Bolt EUV, but since they've started bursting into flames I don't think she'd appreciate one of those.

To that end, do any parents of newborns have any experience/recommendations for the Model Y? I've done a bit of research and it looks like conventional child seats will fit fine, all the safety stuff seems on point, are there any little conveniences/must have options/modifications that you made to make your life easier? I'm getting a wall charger for her garage, but I wasn't sure about LED lights, or whether it makes sense to do something to keep the interior safer/cleaner, storage, etc.
 
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#2
bee-unit said:
I'm buying my little sister a new car for her (very late) birthday, and she's due with a baby soon - the model I've been looking at is a Model Y, since it seems more practical/safer for someone transporting a newborn out and about (and I can't afford a model X so I didn't even look at it!). It was either going to be that or the Chevy Bolt EUV, but since they've started bursting into flames I don't think she'd appreciate one of those.

To that end, do any parents of newborns have any experience/recommendations for the Model Y? I've done a bit of research and it looks like conventional child seats will fit fine, all the safety stuff seems on point, are there any little conveniences/must have options/modifications that you made to make your life easier? I'm getting a wall charger for her garage, but I wasn't sure about LED lights, or whether it makes sense to do something to keep the interior safer/cleaner, storage, etc.
Click to expand...
Out of the box perfect family car.
Fits both forward and rear facing seats no problem for tall individuals.

My neighbour has a ‘21 s8, he drove our MYP today for 30min and loved it!
Funny I loved the MYP so much my little sis got the MYP as well.
 
#3
I would look at the Long Range with maybe the third row option. The third row is great when you end up hauling your kids and their friends around and all their gear to this game, that event etc etc.

As for aftermarket doodads and what not there a plenty of threads covering it.

Oh one thing I would do with a new car is get PPF, paint protection film on at least the front half of the car, and ideally the rear doors.
 
#5
She will have plenty of baby wipes anyway. So keep a pack in the center console at all times to clean the seats when needed.

I suggest tinting the windows with a ceramic tint. I have a 3 year old and she said it didn’t feel as hot with the sun shining on her during road trips after the tint was installed. She had complained prior to tint.

I did 50% Black Ceramic on the front windows and 80% Air Ceramic on the back windows, including the 2 small ones. Doesn’t make it too dark and definitely improved the comfort during road trips.
 
#6
Kudos to you @bee-unit for your love and generosity for your sis. I would suggest the 7 seat version. It will give a lot more flexibility. Go with the LR (long range model) even if you don't go 7 seat. Ride quality is much better. Babies don't need to deal with any more acceleration than needed. Show her how to put it in Chill mode, still pretty fast even there. Go with the base 19" wheels and save money over the 20" Inductions and get improved ride quality as well.

Window tint helps a lot with our little one. Keep in mind the various laws where you are. Get the tint with good heat rejection. If you make it too dark, when they are older they can't see out as well.

Go with the black interior. White might work but with kids, not worth the hassle. It will stain. Kids fling crap everywhere and if you miss, and leave it long enough, it will be an issue. I am so glad we didn't go that route with our MY. On less thing to worry about. As mentioned, carseat protectors are a must. She will have to find a rear view mirror that works as you can't see hardly anything in the back seat with the stock mirror and worthless for outside the car. Maybe view to the backseat is better but for me I can't see anything in the outboard seats with how ours are positioned.

The 7 seat gives you an interesting drop in option when you open the rear hatch for access to the last row. I can drop our kid easily into a car seat back there like a helicopter airlift. Downside is no air vents back there but generally good circulation through the car.

If you think she will keep the car a fairly long time, PPF would be a big plus but that drives up the cost even more. I didn't do the full car but did do everything back to the front doors.

The MY is really a great option for kids. I never considered the X at all. One pluse to all Teslas is you can precool or heat the car before you get in making it much nicer than loading your kid in a really hot/cold day. Vent the windows is one I use a lot along with turning on the AC here in Florida. I also like that I can set a max speed limit so if others drive the car, I don't have to worry as much. The voice commands work better than any other car I've tried. Not great but surprisingly good and really helpful when driving rather than fumbling around the menu system. Safer for my kid for sure.

I appreciate our MY a lot more now after putting some miles on it. Not perfect but a great daily driver and the range is pretty decent. We didn't need 7 seats but it has turned out to be a lot more useful than we thought it would. Especially when grandparents are here. We can space everyone out better. It is a great family car that can still be fun to drive.
 
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#7
We have two kids (2 year old and an infant). We took delivery of our MYP at the end of Q2. Our son came home in the MYP. It’s a great family car. We have a Graco SlimFit car seat for the 2 year old, and the Keyfit for the infant. I am 6’ and have no problems driving. Lots of storage space. Our other car is a Land Cruiser - but we end up driving the Tesla most often.

I second the comment about tint. Our 2 year old complains about the sun.
 
#8
Two kids here, one 2,5 years and the other a newborn. Our MYP has an UPPABABY Mesa and a large Graco forward facing seat with enough room in the back row for my wife to jump back there with the kids in case of meltdowns. We keep a Vista stroller with multiple attachments in the hatch (sub trunks and frunk hold my racing gear, but even with that the hatch holds the stroller and a few bags at the same time).

Worst part is not being able to floor it all the time because, you know, newborns not able to control their head and all.
 
#12
bee-unit said:
I'm buying my little sister a new car for her (very late) birthday, and she's due with a baby soon - the model I've been looking at is a Model Y, since it seems more practical/safer for someone transporting a newborn out and about (and I can't afford a model X so I didn't even look at it!). It was either going to be that or the Chevy Bolt EUV, but since they've started bursting into flames I don't think she'd appreciate one of those.

To that end, do any parents of newborns have any experience/recommendations for the Model Y? I've done a bit of research and it looks like conventional child seats will fit fine, all the safety stuff seems on point, are there any little conveniences/must have options/modifications that you made to make your life easier? I'm getting a wall charger for her garage, but I wasn't sure about LED lights, or whether it makes sense to do something to keep the interior safer/cleaner, storage, etc.
Click to expand...
I can fit 3 car seats in the second row or 2 car seats in the 3rd row of my Model Y pretty easily.
the perfect family car for day today transportation and road trips.
just came back from a 1000 miles road trip to work in another province with the kids and they loved the supercharging stops with Netflix, onscreen games and they have plenty of space for their head and legs even my 8 years old.

your sister couldn’t get a nicer gift than the one you are going to give her.
 
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#13
I recently picked up a convertible car seat. LOTS of research and looking. End up with a Britax One4Life. It fits behind the passenger seat and still allows the other side to both slide and fold down. Bonus: Its made in the USA.

We considered Diono's and Graco as well. Ruled out the Diono only because we're still in rear-facing mode and there is practically no room for the front passenger because the seat is so big. If we were in front facing mode, it likely would have won. Ruled out the Graco 4-ever because it was a couple inches wider and we werent sure if you'd be able to fold/side the seat behind the driver, the Graco may have worked though (someone in here can chime in), but we knew the Britax would from measuring. You can see how close it is with the 2nd pic The seats slide and fold down with no issue.
 

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#14
Tha_Ape said:
I recently picked up a convertible car seat. LOTS of research and looking. End up with a Britax One4Life. It fits behind the passenger seat and still allows the other side to both slide and fold down. Bonus: Its made in the USA.

We considered Diono's and Graco as well. Ruled out the Diono only because we're still in rear-facing mode and there is practically no room for the front passenger because the seat is so big. If we were in front facing mode, it likely would have won. Ruled out the Graco 4-ever because it was a couple inches wider and we werent sure if you'd be able to fold/side the seat behind the driver, the Graco may have worked though (someone in here can chime in), but we knew the Britax would from measuring. You can see how close it is with the 2nd pic The seats slide and fold down with no issue.
Click to expand...
We have two Graco 4-ever's in our MY. One being used by our 3 yo in front facing mode, and the other just converted to booster seat mode for our 6yo. In this configuration we can still flip down the middle seat armrest, but cannot flip down the middle seat section without fully removing one of the seats. It was tighter when they were both in front facing mode, but same result then. You will NOT be able to fit an adult in the back with the two car seats, maybe a child who is just big enough to no longer need a seat. Other than that the car is great with the two car seats.

FWIW - We have the 5 seater.
 
#16
Tha_Ape said:
I recently picked up a convertible car seat. LOTS of research and looking. End up with a Britax One4Life. It fits behind the passenger seat and still allows the other side to both slide and fold down. Bonus: Its made in the USA.

We considered Diono's and Graco as well. Ruled out the Diono only because we're still in rear-facing mode and there is practically no room for the front passenger because the seat is so big. If we were in front facing mode, it likely would have won. Ruled out the Graco 4-ever because it was a couple inches wider and we werent sure if you'd be able to fold/side the seat behind the driver, the Graco may have worked though (someone in here can chime in), but we knew the Britax would from measuring. You can see how close it is with the 2nd pic The seats slide and fold down with no issue.
Click to expand...
I‘m not sure about the one4life models but it doesn’t appear from the picture it has a rebound bar. We’ve had a few of the earlier click-tight models and none of them came with one. Britax should include it for the price, but they do sell them on their website. Just an FYI.

One thing you may run into if you keep the car for a long time, the Y isn’t very forgiving on seat width. In a booster with seatbelt mode it’s pretty tough in all but a few car seats for a kid to do it. The best we found was the clek oobr but my 6 year old still has issues.
 
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#17
we have two kids and the 7 seater. worked out great even when the grandparents were visiting.

definitely get the tint, seat protectors to go between the car and car seat (we went with diono), the vent cover (from amazon or etsy).
 
#20
Clark_Kent said:
No regrets with the MYP. I have owned two of them. I also pick up and drop the kids off at school just about every day. Just curious, why do you ask?
Click to expand...
I experienced a late night panic of sorts wondering if we should’ve gone for a 7 seater. I didn’t want to put my kids in the way back in case we get hit from behind and wanted a MYP anyway. but I was wondering if the extra seats would be nice to have a times
 
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