Lightest Infant Car Seat – 4 Best Lightweight Options from 5 lbs

If weight is the only thing you care about in choosing the best infant car seat for your baby, the Nuna Pipa Lite and the Lite R are probably great contenders. They are the second-lightest on this list, weighing the same at 5.3 pounds, just slightly heavier than the lightest Maxi Cosi Coral XP (5 lbs vs 5.3 lbs).

The weight of Pipa Lite and Lite R does not include the canopy and infant insert, if adding these additions, the total weight should be heavier, but this does not affect the Nuna Pipa Lite and the Lite R being the lightest infant car seat. 

The Nuna infant car seats have many amazing features besides the ultra light weight, but this does not mean it’s the best choice for every family. Keep reading this entire review about the Nuna Pipa Lite and its more feature-rich siblings. We’ll also compare all six Nuna infant car seats. 

Let’s start with the pros of the Nuna Pipa Lite, and the Lite R (both are the same 5.3 lbs weight with a bit of difference in features).

It’s extraordinarily light. You may never encounter another conventional infant car seat (except the Maxi Cosi Coral XP with two different pieces) that’s this light. According to the manufacturer, the Nuna Pipa Lite is actually just 5.3 pounds if you leave the infant inserts at home and take the canopy off.

However, it weighs around 6.7 pounds if you attach those accessories on and is still the lighest infant car seat on the list, at least lighter than the Century Carry On 35 and the Graco SnugRide SnugLock 35.

You may have noticed that the canopy of Nuna Pipa Lite is removable. So do the other Nuna Pipa infant car seats. This is really a smart design, even though most families will have it on. The large canopy is made of UPF 50+ material and provides full coverage to protect your precious from the sun.

What does Nuna Pipa Lite have going for it? So much! For new parents, the base is fool-proof to install thanks to included True lock™ technique. You can easily get a tight and proper base installation in seconds. 

Different from the Nuna Pipa Lite with the basic series base, the Pipa Lite R comes with Nuna’s new RELX base, which has 4 different recline adjustments that allow you to find the perfect fitting angle for growing babies. Also, the Nuna Pipa Lite R has an adjustable and lockable load leg and even an anti-rebound bar for additional stability in an accident.

The downside? All that innovation earns Nuna infant car seat the title of “most expensive infant car seat on the market”. It’s true that all Nuna infant car seats are on the pricey side, the cheapest is the Pipa version, which is still $290. That’s almost triple the price of Century Carry-On and double the price of Graco SnugRide SnugLock.  

This is very similar to the Doona Infant Car Seat Stroller, which is the only car seat with four built-in wheels but priced over $500. This is the only infant car seat we can find more expensive than Nuna infant car seats.  

Other than the high price tag, what’s the hold-up? The Nuna Pipa Lite can only be installed using the included base. That means you always need to have the base with you to use the Nuna Pipa Lite. If you’re using the car seat for rides around the town and for short trips between cities using your family’s cars, that’s not an issue and you’ll still bask in having the lightest car seat for babies that you can buy. 

But what if you want to travel a long distance and take e airplane? You definitely don’t want to bring the base when you travel with an infant car seat, not at least if you want to make the most of a lightweight infant car seat. Also, the included 14-pound Pipa series base or 17-pound Pipa RELX base are extremely bulky to take for travel.

The same situation happens to the other versions – the Nuna Pipa Lite R and the Lite LX. But Nuna heard the parent’s feedback and provided a solution by adding a new family member – the Nuna Pipa Lite RX.

As the latest version in this Lite series, the Nuna Pipa Lite RX infant car seat is a true winner. It is equipped with all the best features that Nuna has to offer: ultra-lightweight infant car seat carrier, lighter easy-to-use RELX base, ability to install baseless, Dream Drape, magnetic buckle holders, and more.

If you take a step moving back by the high price of Nuna Pipa Lite RX, it’s very understandable. The $499.95 price is much higher than other Nuna infant car seats. If you want a cheaper alternative that supports installation without the base, the Pipa (note Lite) series is good; both the Pipa and Pipa RX allow baseless installation. But they’re heavier over 7 pounds.

The Nuna Pipa Lite RX is also about one pound heavier than the other Pipa Lite models (6.9 lbs vs 5.3/ 5.7 lbs), but for many on-the-go families, the ability to install baseless makes the trade-off worthwhile.

One important reminder to note: if there are only sloped seats in your vehicle (like the Subaru, Pacifica, Sienna, etc), you may need to use a rolled towel under the base to get it reclined right for your newborn to ride safely. You can consult with a local CPST to check everything before taking it on road trips. By the way, the instructions in the manual are not as clear and intuitive as other long-history car seat manufacturers.

All six Nuna infant car seats have the same size limit: 32 lbs/ 32″ with a lower weight limit (32 lbs vs 35 lbs) than the other choices on this list. But this small weight gap is not a biggie. It’s very probable that your baby reaches the 32-inch height limit before he or she is 32 pounds. For example, most infants are 32″ tall and weigh just 24 pounds at 18 months.

The entire Nuna Pipa series, including two original and two Lite models, is compatible with all the most popular strollers! No problem with the compatibility with Nuna’s own strollers. In some cases, you’ll need an extra adapter if you want to pair them with offerings from Uppababy, Bugaboo, Baby Jogger, B.O.B., and more.