Question Cybex Aton Q v Aton 2 v Nuna Pipa

Hi,

I was hoping you guys might be able to help me decide on a car seat. I have narrowed my choice down to the Nuna Pipa, the Cybex Aton 2 or the Cybex Aton Q. Here are my questions.

First, my husbands car has a hump in front of the middle seat. Taking that into consideration, am I better off to install the seat in the middle without the load leg or to install it on one of the side seats?

My thought is that if I will be installing in a side seat, I will go with the Aton Q due to the enhanced side impact protection.

If, however, I would be better off planning to install it in the middle seat without the load leg, is there much of a difference between these 3 seats from a safety prospective?

It seems like the enhancements for the Aton Q v the Aton 2 are mostly geared towards side impact. Please let me know if you disagree. In which case, it seems like the Aton 2 would be as good a choice and likely make more sense since it is cheaper.

Further, the Nuna seems to have a better sunshade, is lighter (which is important since I will have to hoist it up into the backseat of a tall SUV) and can accommodate a taller child than the Cybex seats (which is important to me since my husband is 6'7" and I am 5'8", so I think there is a reasonable likelihood that our child will also be on the tall side). So, if it is as safe of a seat in the center position, it seems like maybe that is the way to go.

Anyway, taking into consideration these concerns, what would you recommend?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Welcome! I am not a car seat tech, but I have an Aton 2 and so I can perhaps give you some advice from a parent perspective.

Unregistered said:

First, my husbands car has a hump in front of the middle seat. Taking that into consideration, am I better off to install the seat in the middle without the load leg or to install it on one of the side seats?

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The safest car seat placement is the one where you can get the best installation. In both my cars (Honda Accord and Subaru Impreza), it is much harder to get a good install in the center than on the side. We still install in the center in the Honda Accord because it is an older vehicle, but in the Subaru Impreza, we install outboard. This allows us to use both the load leg and the linear side impact protection on the Aton 2.

My thought is that if I will be installing in a side seat, I will go with the Aton Q due to the enhanced side impact protection.

If, however, I would be better off planning to install it in the middle seat without the load leg, is there much of a difference between these 3 seats from a safety prospective?

Click to expand...

The linear side impact protection on the Aton Q is supposed to be safer than that on the Aton 2, because it is on the shell instead of the handle. Personally, I feel 100% comfortable with the LSP on the Aton 2, though. I am not swayed enough to upgrade to an Aton Q for the next baby.

I'm not sure how to compare the Nuna Pipa to the Cybex seats from a safety perspective, though. As far as anyone knows, they are both equally safe.

It seems like the enhancements for the Aton Q v the Aton 2 are mostly geared towards side impact. Please let me know if you disagree. In which case, it seems like the Aton 2 would be as good a choice and likely make more sense since it is cheaper.

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The other improvements are a bigger sunshield (which is a HUGE downside of the Aton and Aton 2 -- probably the most common complaint), and a unique adjustment system....as you raise the headrest, the seat gets deeper in order to accomodate the growing baby. I don't think that this is a safety thing, though, on the Aton 2, there is a piece of EPS foam under the cover that you remove when the baby gets bigger. My guess is that the Aton Q's system just eliminates the steps of re-threading the harness (EASY PEASY on the Aton 2...I don't think this is a huge advantage at all of the Aton Q) and removing the piece of EPS foam (I don't think this was hard either, but I don't remember because we removed it awhile ago).

Further, the Nuna seems to have a better sunshade, is lighter (which is important since I will have to hoist it up into the backseat of a tall SUV) and can accommodate a taller child than the Cybex seats (which is important to me since my husband is 6'7" and I am 5'8", so I think there is a reasonable likelihood that our child will also be on the tall side). So, if it is as safe of a seat in the center position, it seems like maybe that is the way to go.

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Keep in mind that a taller child is likely a heavier child. Many parents get tired of lugging around even a light seat and choose to switch to a convertible once their child has outgrown it. My petite daughter is 13 months old and still technically fits in her Aton 2, but we've moved up to a convertible already. As soon as the winter weather was mostly over, we went to the convertible and haven't looked back. One day I took her out in her Aton 2 because I thought it would be more convenient. It was just a hassle. [/QUOTE]

Anyway, taking into consideration these concerns, what would you recommend?

Thanks for the help in advance.

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Other things to consider:

You mentioned that you and your husband are tall. If you need a lot of leg room up front, the Aton 2/Aton Q is the way to go. The Nuna Pipa is smaller, but not as small as the Cybex seats. This is why my husband and I ended up with the Aton and then the Aton 2. We are totally comfortable even in our small car.

In favor of the Nuna Pipa, the dream drape really is amazing. We had to string blankets over our daughter all the time when we were using the Aton car seat with the stroller. The Aton Q has a much bigger sunshield, but it's still not as big as the Nuna Pipa's.

Speaking of strollers, the other thing to consider is stroller compatibility. If it's important to you, there is nothing wrong with letting stroller compatibility make your decision for you. Our decision to get the Aton definitely locked us into a more limited (and pricier) selection of compatible strollers. I would guess it's the same with the Pipa?

Good luck! We love our Aton 2 like crazy, but I can totally see a lot of plus sides to the Nuna Pipa.

I look forward to more feedback on this. I know many say the aton 2 is smaller than the pipa but can anyone confirm by how much? The aton q has different dimensions and is heavier than the aton 2 so I would be curious how its backseat space is compared to the pipa as well.

Thanks to all those that respond.

Unregistered said:

I look forward to more feedback on this. I know many say the aton 2 is smaller than the pipa but can anyone confirm by how much? The aton q has different dimensions and is heavier than the aton 2 so I would be curious how its backseat space is compared to the pipa as well.

Thanks to all those that respond.

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I believe the Aton 2 is two inches shorter than the Pipa when they are both used with their bases, and the Aton 2 is one inch shorter than the Pipa when they are both installed baseless.

I didn't know that the Aton Q has different dimensions than the Aton Q! Very interesting, as the Aton and Aton 2 both have the same dimensions and all three Cybex seats and bases are interchangeable, from what I understand.

Here are the dimension I found.

Aton Q -- Length / Width / Height : 26", 17.25", 15.5" inches -- Weight: 10 lbs
Aton/Aton 2 -- Length / Width / Height : 25", 17.25", 15.25" - 21" inches -- Weight: 9 lbs
Carrier Base: 12.2 lbs

Pipa Car Seat-- Length / Width / Height : 26.1", 17.4", 18.1" inches -- Weight: 7.7lbs*
Carrier Base -- 14 lbs
*weight does not include canopy or insert

Unregistered said:

Here are the dimension I found.

Aton Q -- Length / Width / Height : 26", 17.25", 15.5" inches -- Weight: 10 lbs
Aton/Aton 2 -- Length / Width / Height : 25", 17.25", 15.25" - 21" inches -- Weight: 9 lbs
Carrier Base: 12.2 lbs

Pipa Car Seat-- Length / Width / Height : 26.1", 17.4", 18.1" inches -- Weight: 7.7lbs*
Carrier Base -- 14 lbs
*weight does not include canopy or insert

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The Aton/Aton 2 is 26" when used with the base and the Pipa is 28" when used with the base.

Posting to follow this thread. I just posted my own thread about whether to move to the Aton 2 or Q from the Keyfit 30 with baby #2.