Keeping your baby as safe as possible from the very start is THE number one priority for parents. The Nuna PIPA icon is an i-Size compliant car seat that can do exactly this - we've tested it out, so read on to see how we got on.
Quick Summary: The PIPA icon can easily contend with other leading infant car seats on the market. It has several state of the art safety features, such as side impact protection and memory foam cushioning for extra protection too. Baby was always comfortable and happy in the seat, whether awake or asleep and a happy baby means happy parents! The superb addition of the Dream Drape is a unique, one of a kind feature that we have never seen before on an infant car seat. Far from being a gimmick, it was an extremely useful feature to help shield baby whilst they sleep, that many more infant car seats will no doubt add to their models in the future. It would of been nice to have more colour options to choose from and lie flat capabilities, but all in all, the PIPA icon is super safe having passed all of the i-SIZE safety tests, as well as being comfortable for baby and easy to use for parents.
Whats good?
- Soft fabrics
- Dream drape
- Strong sun canopy
- Side impact protection
Whats not so good?
- Only 3 colour choices
- Does not lie flat
Nuna are a smart thinking brand creating Dutch designed products to help make life simple by solving everyday parenting problems. Parents who crave a taste for the finer things in life will be right at home with the luxe designs of the mindful and creative products offered to us by Nuna.
With a variety of nursery products to speak of, the PIPA icon is the i-Size infant car seat that stands proud as part of the Nuna family.
Installation
There are two ways to install the PIPA icon. If you wish for the seat to reach the i-SIZE standards, then you will need to use the seat in conjunction with the PIPAfix ISOFIX base, which will cost you an additional £130.
The ISOFIX base is easy to install by simply lining up the connectors with the ISOFIX anchor points on your car. The green indicators will show on either side of the ISOFIX arms when the car seat is clicked in correctly.
There are also two small green indicators on the sides of the base so you don’t need to bend too far into the car to check if the seat is clicked onto the base properly. A steel stability leg sits at the front of the base, and needs to be extended to meet the bottom of your car’s footwell, by squeezing the grey buttons on either side of the leg. Again, the indicators will change from red to green when positioned correctly.
We loved the ease of install of the PIPA icon with the PIPAfix base. With a growing baby, parents have enough to juggle, so the fact that clicking the seat in and out of the car is so easy is a definite plus point for us. To click the seat off the base and remove it from the car, you just pull the grey lever at the front of the base with one hand, whilst lifting the carrier with the carry handle.
You can of course also belt the seat into your car using a standard three point seatbelt. There are little blue stickers on either side of the car seat where the lap belt is to be inserted and again there is a marked clip on the back of the seat where the shoulder strap of the seatbelt is to be secured.
Day to Day Use
The PIPA icon is suitable from 40cm to 85cm, which is around birth to 15 months, with a maximum weight of 13kg. For newborns, the seat comes complete with padded inserts, which are made of the most touchable soft fabric. As baby gets bigger, you remove the sections as appropriate, so that the seat always fits snuggly.
Ease of use is a theme we are seeing quite clearly in the PIPA icon – the harness was also super simple to use – far simpler than some other infant carriers that we have used in the past. Just squeezing the back of the headrest allows the harness to move up and down automatically and adjusts to the perfect position with no fuss at all. The harness pads on the seat were a lot shorter than we are used to, but when popping a tiny baby in, this actually makes total sense. The harness pads can sometimes be overwhelming and there can be more padding than baby can cope with, but the pads on this infant seat were just the right size.
We loved the way that the headrest could be moved to seven different positions in a one handed motion, providing plenty of room for baby to grow.
The buckle is plastic which gave no risk of catching on clothes or getting hot in sunlight and it gave a reassuring clunk when clipped into its chunky buckle. Adjusting the tightness of the harness was easy. You simply pull the cord between their legs. Loosening the cord was just as easy – you just press the silvery/grey button below the crotch area of the harness and pull the shoulder areas of the harness cord and it will come loose again.
Because the PIPA icon meets the i-SIZE standards, it has passed additional side impact protections tests. It gives us great peace of mind knowing that baby would be protected if the car was hit from the side. The seat has special patented tailor tech™ memory foam that has side impact protection qualities.
The seat comes complete with a sun canopy and quite frankly it’s a canopy that could rival some strollers! Made from strong material, it also has a pull down visor. The canopy emulates the same quality that we have seen throughout the rest of the car seat with embroidered logos and strong rubber zips. Upon opening the zip compartment on the hood, we expected the canopy to just extend a little, but there is a stretchy ‘Dream Drape’ that pulls down. With mesh breathable panels in the sides, it attaches to the sides of the seat with big strong magnets. Baby was totally covered from the sun and it gave a great private space for baby to sleep without being disturbed by sunlight through the car window or passersby when used on the pushchair.
The carry handle is strong and classily coated in a licorice colour. The handle is adjusted using the rectangular shaped buttons on either hinge. It was comfortable to carry and easy to lift in and out of the car. We loved the way that the handle could be pivoted back all the way to support the seat and stop it from wobbling when getting baby in and out.
Another handy feature of the PIPA icon, is its ability to be used as part of a travel system. We tested the seat as part of a travel system with the Nuna PEPP luxx stroller and the Nuna IVVI savi pushchair. It can also be used with the new Nuna MIXX pushchair. It made quick trips and errands simple and the car seat went on and off the frame of the pushchair and into the car with ease.
Conclusion
The PIPA icon can easily contend with other leading infant car seats on the market. It has several state of the art safety features, such as side impact protection and memory foam cushioning for extra protection too. Baby was always comfortable and happy in the seat, whether awake or asleep and a happy baby means happy parents!
The superb addition of the Dream Drape is a unique, one of a kind feature that we have never seen before on an infant car seat. Far from being a gimmick, it was an extremely useful feature to help shield baby whilst they sleep, that many more infant car seats will no doubt add to their models in the future.
It would of been nice to have more colour options to choose from and lie flat capabilities, but all in all, the PIPA icon is super safe having passed all of the i-SIZE safety tests, as well as being comfortable for baby and easy to use for parents.
