2022 UPPAbaby MESA Review: On the Up & Up with the UPPAbaby MESA Infant Carseat

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Updated January 2022

While UPPAbaby is a very popular name in the stroller world, MESA isn’t usually the first model name that pops into your mind when you think about an infant carseat. But maybe it should be because they hit this one right out of the park! I’m thoroughly impressed, from the installation, to the ease of use, to the aesthetics.

MESA Specs & Details:

      • For babies 4-35 lbs and 32 inches or less (1″ rule also applies)
      • No-rethread harness with 5-position front-adjustable headrest
      • 2 crotch strap/buckle positions
      • Lowest harness slot height is about 5.5″ and highest harness slots about 10″
      • Removable infant insert recommended for infants 4-8 lbs.
      • Robust head wings and shell lined with thick energy-absorbing EPS foam for enhanced side-impact protection
      • SMARTSecure™ system features auto-retracting lower anchor LATCH attachments
      • Built-in lockoff for seatbelt installations
      • Tension indicator on base – turns from red to green when base is installed tightly
      • Recline angle indicators on both sides of base
      • Storage pockets in cover for keeping buckles out of the way when placing a child in the seat
      • 7 year lifespan before expiration

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uppababy-mesa-baseMESA Base – the base is very low profile and clean looking. The entire base is rounded and smooth so it won’t leave a dent or scuff in your vehicle upholstery. The blue lockoff is located in the center of the beltpath. The LATCH connectors are stored in neat little compartments and you release them by pushing a button on top of the base. That’s a nice touch because then you don’t have LATCH straps flapping around interfering with your seatbelt installation or whacking you in the shin when carrying the base. There are recline angle indicators on both sides of the base and a button on top to adjust the recline on the base (there are 4 positions). A little window above the lockoff turns from red to green when the base is installed properly. I will discuss this more in the installation section.

Extra MESA bases can be purchased separately for $119.99

The 2022 MESA is available in several fashions. Bryce (White/Gray), Henry (Blueish Gray Merino Wool), Jordan (Gray Merino Wool) & Jake (Black). Fun Fact: They were all named after children of UPPAbaby employees!. UPPAbaby was the first manufacturer to bring Merino wool to market as a naturally flame retardant fashion that’s still able to meet federal safety standards without added chemicals. Both the Henry and Jordan fashions are OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified fabrics. They are also made without lanolin, so the Merino wool fabrics are naturally allergen-free as well.

Bryce Henry Jordan Jake

A button on top of the handle allows you to release the MESA from the VISTA or CRUZ stroller with one hand. The handle has 3 positions, all of which can be used in the car. The release mechanism to detach the carrier from the base is located on the back of the seat above the blue panel that serves as the shoulder belt guide for European-style beltpath installation when the seat is installed without the base (2014 version only)

The seat itself is fairly long front to back and should accommodate tall babies well. It measures about 28″ front to back when attached to the base and almost 26″ when installed baseless. It’s not particularly narrow and measures about 17″ wide. The base itself is a tad over 14″ wide and should puzzle well next to other seats due to its low profile. Internal seated height measures about 17.5″ tall to the top of the adjustable headrest.

photo (74)

Installation & Fit to Vehicle:

UPPAbaby claims that the LATCH installation on this seat only takes about 10 seconds and I will say that is accurate. As you can see in the video above, there’s not much to it and it’s as easy as they claim.

Lower the recline foot until the recline indicator shows green, then push the LATCH release buttons to remove the LATCH connectors, clip them onto your lower anchors, and press down on the base. You will hear a ratcheting sound as the base tightens. Keep pressing down on the base until the tension indicator turns from red to green in the little window. That’s it! A rock-solid install, effortlessly. Once it’s installed tightly, double check the recline angle indicator to be sure it’s still properly reclined. Also, UPPAbaby states that the Mesa must not be touching the vehicle seat in front of it so make sure there is at least a millimeter of space between the carseat and the back of the front seat.

Center LATCH Installations with Non-Standard Spacing: UPPAbaby allows the center seating position to be used with LATCH if the lower anchors are spaced less than 22″ apart and the seating position is approved for use with LATCH by the vehicle manufacturer. If the anchors are more than 22″ apart or the manufacturer does not approve that seating position for LATCH, then the vehicle seatbelt must be used for installation.

You can see the green window above the lockoff that indicates appropriate tightness. The gray button above it is to release the recline foot and the orange buttons on the sides are to release the LATCH connectors from their storage compartments.

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Green window above lockoff indicates appropriate tightness. Gray button on top releases recline foot. Orange buttons on the sides release LATCH connectors.

To install the MESA base with a seatbelt – open the blue lockoff, thread both portions of the lap and shoulder belt through the base and under the lockoff, then buckle. Pull on the shoulder belt portion of the belt to remove all the slack from the lap belt portion and clamp the lockoff shut over both the lap and shoulder belt until it clicks. Check for tightness by tugging at the beltpath – if the base doesn’t move more than 1″ from side-to-side or from front-to-back then your MESA base is properly installed!

Inflatable seatbelts  (available on certain Ford and Mercedes vehicles) are NOT approved for installation but in these vehicles you can use the lower LATCH anchors to install the MESA base instead.

The carrier attaches easily to the base. There is no jiggling around to find that sweet spot to click it in. You literally just set it there and it clicks right in like butter—if butter could click. To release the carrier from the base, pull the handle on the back of the seat and lift. This was also very seamless without any hang-ups or effort.

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Fit to Child:

I had two models for this seat. The first was my son Declan, who is 16 weeks, 13 lbs and 26.5 inches. I love the fit on him. He has the harness on the second position and actually needs the buckle in the second outward position, probably due to his fat cloth diaper butt. The harness is extremely easy to tighten on him, which is a perk to me because he HATES the tug-tug-tug other seats require to tighten instead of the one smooth movement the MESA has. The shoulder pads provide adequate protection from the harness rubbing on his neck without being big and intrusive. Sometimes I feel as though infant seat harness pads make it difficult to get a good fit on the shoulders of tiny babies, and also prevent the chest clip from being in the appropriate place; not so with this seat. The chest clip is a nice size and doesn’t swallow him. One thing that I really like is how deep the seat is. Declan has long legs, and they hang off the edge of his usual infant carseat. He can almost kick the vehicle seat already and I’m constantly whacking his feet on things when I carry him in it from the house to the car. None of this is unsafe (well, I guess whacking his feet on the door frames isn’t the nicest thing), but I like the fact that he’s completely contained in the MESA. The head protection is close enough to his head to make me feel like it would give it the proper support in a collision, but not so close to his head that he gets annoyed.

Great fit on 13lb Declan!

Great fit on 13lb Declan!

My second model was Declan’s tiny buddy, Logan. Logan was 4 weeks, 20 inches, and 7 lbs 8 oz at the time of the photos. He isn’t the biggest fan of the buckling/tightening process so I didn’t want to retake the pictures with him in the seat using the infant support cushion that comes with the seat, but he fits amazingly well without it. In fact, I had to raise the harness up a slot to fit him properly. Even with his tiny little body, the chest clip and harness covers were not intrusive. He was adequately supported, and the recline was appropriate for a newborn, and a low birth weight one at that.

Buckle rests nicely against the body without gaps.

Buckle rests nicely against the body without gaps.

Great fit even without the infant insert.

Great fit even without the infant insert.

Shoulder pads don't interfere with fit on a newborn sized baby.

Shoulder pads don’t interfere with fit on a newborn-sized baby.

For a preemie or very small newborn, the harness strap covers should be removed. The fit on the Huggable Images preemie doll is very good. This doll represents a 4 lb., 17″ preemie. Using the lower body infant insert is recommended for babies 4-8 lbs and is necessary to get a good fit on this very tiny doll.

UPPAbaby Mesa with HI preemie doll

Adjusting the harness and headrest is a snap. Simply pull the tab at the top of the seat and push the head rest up or down. It slides effortlessly and clicks into place with each position. There are 5 height positions that range from approximately 5.5″ to 10″ tall.

The tab above the headrest is easily pulled, allowing the headrest the slide up and down with the harness to achieve proper fit.

The tab above the headrest is easily pulled, allowing the headrest the slide up and down with the harness to achieve proper fit.

Cover/Maintenance/Ease of Use:

The cover is not plush, but it’s not rough either. It’s easily wipe-able for those well-known projectile spit-ups, and is also easy to remove to machine wash (cold water, delicate cycle, mild detergent, air dry flat). The cover has these nifty little cut-outs on the sides where you can place the tongues of the buckle so you don’t have to dig them out from under the baby when you place him in the car seat. The canopy is made of a different material, is SPF 50, and can be spot-cleaned or removed completely for washing (cold water – hang to dry).  It’s stretchy and pretty slick. My favorite part? The way it folds down. There is none of that obnoxious flapping around of the canopy when folded and the handle doesn’t get caught up on it. It simply folds down seamlessly against the top of the seat and almost looks like there isn’t a canopy at all.


The canopy folded away.

The manual is very easy to read: the pictures are clear and the directions are easy to follow. I appreciated the additional comments of keeping children rear-facing to at LEAST two years old, and to not place bulky jackets or blankets on the child that interfere with the harness. The cleaning instructions are also very detailed, and accompanied by pictorials. There are illustrated instructions included for attaching the seat to the CRUZ or VISTA strollers. The manual is also downloadable from UPPAbaby’s website in case the paper copy is lost.

Stroller Compatibility

 and Vista TS

MESA is compatible with both the UPPAbaby CRUZ and VISTA strollers to create what UPPAbaby refers to as a “Performance Travel System.” Attachment to the CRUZ does not require any adapters but attachment to the VISTA does and those adapters are included in the box with the carseat. There are also MESA adapters available from Baby Jogger that make this carseat compatible with several Baby Jogger strollers. One adapter works specifically with the City Mini, GT, Elite, Summit XC & Summit X3 strollers. A different adapter is required for attachment to Baby Jogger City Select or City Versa strollers.

FAA-Approval/Lifespan/Crash Guidelines:

The UPPAbaby MESA is certified for use on aircraft, but the carrier must be installed baseless; the base is not FAA-approved. In the event of expiration or any type of vehicle crash, the MESA needs to be replaced. The lifespan of this seat is 7 years from the date of manufacture. You can find this information on the bottom of both the carrier and the base.
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Extra Bases & Optional Accessories:

Extra MESA bases are sold separately and retail for around $119. A MESA carseat rain shield is available for $19.99 and also fits over the VISTA or CRUZ stroller bassinet. For sun and insect protection in warm weather there is the UPPAbaby MESA Cabana Shade for $29.99.

Uppababy

MESA Advantages:

  • 35 lbs. weight limit and tall shell to accommodate larger babies
  • 4 lbs. minimum and great fit on small babies, including preemies
  • Generous fold-away canopy with no excess fabric
  • Small chest clip
  • IMMI buckle is easy to buckle and unbuckle
  • No-rethread harness with a front adjustable headrest
  • Super easy LATCH installation and built-in lockoff for seatbelt installs
  • Recline angle indicators on both sides of base
  • Slits in fabric on cover allow buckles to be tucked out of the way when putting a child in the seat
  • Cover is machine washable (cold water, delicate cycle, mild detergent, air dry flat)
  • 7-year expiration allows for use with multiple siblings
  • 2-year warranty with proof of purchase (keep that receipt!)—extend it by an extra year by registering your seat within the first 3 months after purchasing!

Disadvantages:

In fairness, these may not be a problem for everyone but I list some potential disadvantages that may be an issue for some parents:

  • Harness is not removable or replaceable (harness can be spot cleaned using warm water and mild detergent but it cannot be removed or replaced)
  • Made in China

Conclusion:

The UPPAbaby MESA is an outstanding infant seat with a seamless install, cute color options, and it fits babies of various sizes nicely, including low birthweight infants. My son (who is not a big fan of being strapped in the carseat) doesn’t fuss as much in it as he does in his current ride, and doesn’t get as angry when I buckle him up. It’s nice and roomy on the inside and the head protection slides up and down with ease to fit the child. It comes with attachments to UPPAbaby’s high-end VISTA stroller and can also be used with the CRUZ (without any adapters needed) which can save you a few bucks if you wanted to use this seat as a travel system. I was highly impressed with the canopy, which I’m very picky about.

Overall, the MESA is packed with an abundance of premium safety and convenience features. There is a lot to love and for that reason, MESA is on our list of Recommended Carseats! Since it fits preemies and low birthweight babies so well, MESA is also on our separate list of Recommended Infant Carseats for Preemies & Multiples.

The UPPAbaby MESA Infant Carseat retails for $299.99 and more information can be found at www.uppababy.com/mesa.

Thanks to UPPAbaby for providing this seat for review and to baby Logan for allowing me to utilize his itty-bittiness. No other compensation was provided and the opinions and comments are entirely those of CarseatBlog!

Picky baby approved!

Picky baby approved!

4.5

CarseatBlog Experts Rating

Recommended: Mesa

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