Last time we needed to travel with a carseat, DD was in the infant bucket so it was easy. This time, she's too big for that...and I'm doing the first leg solo so I'm in no mood to lug my 24 lb toddler plus her 30 lb Britax Advocate CT. I've read in a million places that the Cosco Scenera is a great travel seat but I'm dithering over the regular version versus the new NEXT version. My main issue is that the NEXT requires rear-facing until 2 and DD is only 20 months. This isn't a problem when we're in the car -- we're keeping her RF as long as possible there -- but on the plane I might want to FF her part of the time so she can watch videos on the seat-back screen. This would be a last resort, but I just find myself squeamish about locking us into RF on the plane. But supposedly car installation is easier with the NEXT, so that would be a big plus when we get to our destination. Does anyone have experience with both? Or general thoughts on which you'd choose?
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I kind of feel like RF vs FF on the plane itself won't make a difference. It's not like in a car where the potential force of impact is predictable. And 20 months is close enough for me to be comfortable with it on the plane.
That said, we only ever flew wth C as a lap infant, so I am ok with cutting safety corners on a plane, but have been really strict in the car (she is still rf at 2 and will until the new baby is born).
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@Foodnerd81: yeah, I'm skeptical that RF vs FF on the plane would make much difference except in very specific, very rare scenarios. And we've mostly flown with her as a lap child so far, too, but this particular trip is just too long for that. But I'm also a rule-follower, haha. DD meets the requirements for height and weight to FF in the NEXT, just not age. I'm not even sure we'd FF at all, I just want the option. And this seat will only be used for travel, so I just don't want to make the wrong choice and have to get another convertible travel seat at some point -- I'm hoping that the next one we get will be a harness-to-booster. But I think either version of this seat will probably be fine for our needs. Just figured I'd ask the Bee first.
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I have only used the regular Scenera on the plane, in both rear and forward facing positions. My son just hit 40 pounds at 4.5 years old, so this seat has served us very well.
I am not sure why the NEXT wouldn't be able to be used forward facing on the plane at your child's age. I would think that the age restriction is most important in the car, but I would be concerned about install on the plane.
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@looch: the NEXT specifically says no FF before age 2, it's written into the manual just like height and weight. Apparently the whole design of the seat is made to keep kids RF. They even made the top slot of the shoulder harness low so kids actually outgrow it FF (at or above shoulders) but can still RF (at or below). But I'm not too worried about that because DD is short.
Was the regular one easy to buckle in on the plane?
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@PurplePeony: Does it say specifically that you can't use it forward facing on a plane before the age of 2? I would think the manual would be specific on the car install, but not the plane...why would it matter so much on the plane, you know?
The install is pretty easy, I always ask for a belt extender to give me a little more slack in the belt when rear facing. Problem is that the padding is kind of thin, so you can feel the buckle through the seat.
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