Combi Coccoro for travel seat

So I have a 20 month old boy who's 50% in height and 3% in weight, and we will be flying over Christmas to see my in laws. I am debating about getting a combi coccoro to travel with. I know its outgrown fairly fast rear facing but I'm not worried about that because I have another little one on the way, but I am worried about getting it installed in my in laws car. We are arriving at 9:42 at night and I will need to get it installed in the dark and freezing cold of the U.P. My in laws have a fairly new car so it should have latch, but I don't want to be messing around with a new car and a new car seat with a probably cranky boy because its past his bedtime. Do you think this will work or should I look into the Sureride? I just wasn't sure about the Sureride because its not as narrow and on the way back from the airport my husband and I will be in the backseat next to the car seat and I thought it would be bulkier harder to get through the airport.

We got our CCO when DS was 23 mo (we also have another on the way!). Practice installing at home first, but it's a super easy install. No pool noodles, pretty easy LATCH, harness adjusts nicely. Other than a practice run at home, the first time we used it was on an airplane (BEST AIRPLANE SEAT EVER) and the second time was installing in a European rental car. No issues. Since you have a little time you might be able to find a deal -- I got mine for $133 from blinq and it still had the tags on with a recent date of manufacture.

FYI here's why I love the CCO for the plane (FF):
Because of the Coccoro's curved base you have a lot of leeway as to the installation angle. Once we started cruising and it was time for DS to sleep, I reclined his chair, loosened the seatbelt, tilted the Coccoro to a more reclined position and re-tightened the seatbelt. It worked like a charm! He had a great little "next" for sleeping. When he was awake we put it upright again very easily. I will say that the seat's overall height prevents use of the tray table when a child is sitting in the seat, but that was not a deal breaker for us. To transport it through the airport, we turned the seat backwards and upside down and ran a small bungee cord through the FF belt path and attached it to the frame of our City Mini, while DS rode in the Ergo. It was even easier than taking the infant seat on an earlier trip and DS was happier.

When you route the seatbelt through the FF belt path on the plane I recommend flipping the lock plate so that it opens AWAY from the car seat. Your life will be easier :dance:

So its recommended we FF on the plane? We have a 2 hour flight, then a 1 hour layover then another 2 hour flight. Is there an advantage besides the person in front being able to recline? Is it easier to see/care for the child this way?

And I've heard that the coccoro can be hard to install in some cars which is really what worries me, is that just with the seatbelt, as long as have latch it should be ok?

Also I wasn't planning on taking a stroller as we wont need it once we arrive, I was thinking about strapping the seat to a carry on suitcase and getting my husband to pull him instead of me pushing a stroller and a carry on, although maybe I could get away with checking the bag and just pushing him with the diaper bag attached to the stroller. Hmm lots to think about!

1mommy said:

So its recommended we FF on the plane? We have a 2 hour flight, then a 1 hour layover then another 2 hour flight. Is there an advantage besides the person in front being able to recline? Is it easier to see/care for the child this way?

And I've heard that the coccoro can be hard to install in some cars which is really what worries me, is that just with the seatbelt, as long as have latch it should be ok?

Also I wasn't planning on taking a stroller as we wont need it once we arrive, I was thinking about strapping the seat to a carry on suitcase and getting my husband to pull him instead of me pushing a stroller and a carry on, although maybe I could get away with checking the bag and just pushing him with the diaper bag attached to the stroller. Hmm lots to think about!

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There are lots of ways to get through the airport if there are two of you! No worries on that front, just be creative.

From a safety perspective, I'm totally comfortable FF on a plane though I won't do it in a car at this age. RF would have totally blocked the front seat's recline and we had a 12hr flight, so no question for us. Honestly I don't think it matters, just personal preference. FF was also easier to read books together or for DS to watch movies on the built in screen (23mo + 12hr flight = movie marathon!). RF would have been easier for feeding him and using the kindle (though he managed the latter *just fine* while FF).

I have had no trouble installing in cars a few cars (CR-V, Camry, European BMW 1-series). The LATCH install is easy enough, you just have to unsnap the cover and keep the belt in the little guides. I find it helpful to manually pull on the strap and then use the "tail" to tighten while still holding taut. Does that make sense? I'm not sure where you heard that it was hard. The curved base helps it play nicely with different cars. We got a Scenara previously for travel and THAT was hard. The CCO is a cake walk by comparison.

I've only done seatbelt once as practice, but if you're staying in the US where all cars for the last 10+ years have locking belts it would be just like installing an infant seat without the base. If you'll be outside the US or in a car with non-locking seat belts then you can either do euro routing (I haven't quite gotten this down yet, though some swear it's easy) or use the included locking clip (haven't needed it, but will soon). It's easy enough to use that we plan to put it in the babysitter's car (no LATCH or locking seat belts!) once she starts driving DS home from preschool this winter.

We have both a Sureride and a CCO. My DS1 outgrew the CCO right around 25 months after being tiny forever and having a growth spurt. DS2 used the CCO from birth then. Both are easy to travel with. Both are relatively lightweight, though the Sureride feels lighter than the CCO to me. We haven't had issues installing either. We've always used LATCH so far though. I don't know that you can go wrong with either choice really.