Several questions on best travel car seat - Scenera or Cocorro compared

Hi there,
We are traveling to Europe for 2 mos. with our 21 month old. We need a car seat we can use in taxis, which can easily (and quickly!) be installed in the back using the seat belt for rear facing. Based on the helpful advice I have found from this board, I have narrowed it down to the Cocorro and the Scenera. However, I can't tell which will be easiest to use. I want to be able to install the seat within a minute or two. Thoughts? Also, we do plan to forward face her, but when she outgrows that feature, are these seats pretty easy to install forward facing with a seatbelt while traveling? We'd like to use the seat as our back up travel car seat in the future.

Also, will the Scenera last longer for forward facing that the Cororro? Our daughter is quite tall - 33 inches long already.

Finally, will I also need a seat belt lock or something like that for european seat belts? If so, what is that called? Thanks!

Also, does it matter if the taxi only has a lap belt versus a shoulder strap? thanks in advance!!!

I have never played around with a Cocorro (I don't think that we have it here in Canada) but I do have a Scenera. I find it really easy to install forward facing (I have tried it in a mazda protege5, honda crv, and toyota rav4) with both the latch and the belt. The latch with this seat isn't as user friendly as some of the fancier ones (it is the clip thing as opposed to the button to push) but still isn't bad. Rear-facing it is a bit more time consuming though as it requires a couple pool noodles or a large towel roll to get it to the proper angle. I had to fiddle with it for a good 5 minutes to get it tightly installed at an angle I was happy with, which could be frustrating when hopping in and out of a taxi.
My son is 26" long and is on the second out of 5 strap heights for the scenera and still has oodles of room in it. I believe that it offers more growing room than the Cocorro, but someone else who has seen that seat in real life can offer more insight!

..and before anyone asks, I didn't put my son in it forward facing obviously as he is only 3 months old, I just wanted to see how it fit in the different cars.

My vote would be for the Evenflo Tribute.

Do you plan to use the car seat on the plane? This is highly recommended, and will be a safe and comfy spot for baby to sleep as it will be familiar. Checking a car seat with your luggage is a bad idea. The airlines are extremely rough with luggage and car seats, in many cases they get flicked across the tarmac, damaging them in ways you can see, and in ways you cannot see.
You'll have a much more pleasant plane ride if your child is in a clean, comfy and familiar environment. Also, this eliminates the concern of possibly loosing your seat in a lost luggage situation.

The Scenera is a great travel seat but is a little bit more time consuming of an install, in my opinion. I find getting it installed RF for a young child to be difficult. It can be more upright after one year
of age, but I still found it difficult. This is just my experience.

The fastest seat to install is most likely the one you have practiced installing and know the proper use guidelines of. You'll find you'll become more and more efficient the more you install the seat (the cars in Europe are different, yes, but many concepts of the install will be the same).

Kayden - 2.5 RF BLVD 65 & RF Truefit Layla- 6 FF BLVD 65 CS & HBTB

I recommend the Coccoro for traveling in Europe. Not all European seat belts lock (in fact, most don't). The Coccoro comes with a clip-on style lock-off for rear-facing, and has built-in lock-offs for forward facing. With the Scenera, any time you can't use ISOFIX/LATCH you'll be stuck with a locking clip.

Also, you can install/uninstall a Coccoro rear-facing while the child is in the seat, which would be good for taxis. It's easier with LATCH but it can be done with a seat belt too, with a little practice. It would be pretty hard to do with a Scenera.

I have no very specific recommendations, as I'm anticipating travelling with BOTH Cocorro and Scenera seats in two weeks (for two kids), but my 3.75yo DD, 37" and 32 lbs, can still RF in a Scenera and FF in a Cocorro. I think she could have RF'd in it until 2.5 at least, maybe a little longer. Cocorro installation is a little easier (and it's just so dang cute) but Scenera would last longer and is less expensive too. I'd think you'd do fine with either, probably.

thanks, everyone! We will go check out both and see which feels better. Leaning toward to Cocorro due to the locking feature.

A thousand times Coccoro. We flew from Houston to London last night and travel with that seat was just so darn easy. I was able to attach it to my City Mini for walking through the airport. It was a breeze to install in the van that brought us to our flat. DS was FF on the plane because we flew British Airways but I was able to get a good recline on the seat and he slept well on the flight.

Brigala said:

I recommend the Coccoro for traveling in Europe. Not all European seat belts lock (in fact, most don't). The Coccoro comes with a clip-on style lock-off for rear-facing, and has built-in lock-offs for forward facing. With the Scenera, any time you can't use ISOFIX/LATCH you'll be stuck with a locking clip.

Also, you can install/uninstall a Coccoro rear-facing while the child is in the seat, which would be good for taxis. It's easier with LATCH but it can be done with a seat belt too, with a little practice. It would be pretty hard to do with a Scenera.

Click to expand...

Besides this, the Coccoro will fit in a stroller frame (either the Coccoro Flash if you can get one, or a universal carrier like the newer Snap N Gos.) Could be very, very handy when traveling in cities with good sidewalks (I know not all European cities, or parts of them you might tour in, are stroller friendly) and taking taxis and trains.

There's also an available carry bag with shoulder strap for those times you couldn't use a stroller frame, and it's super-light to carry.

In your circumstance, as long as the kid fit well in it, I'd go Coccoro all the way.

I'm curious what people do with this cart after you've used it to carry your carseat onto the plane? Do they let you bring it into the cabin with you? Do they let you gate check it or?