Cosco Scenera Rear-Facing Installation Question

After reviewing the posts on this message board I decided to recommend a Cosco Scenera for my mother to purchase since she would not be transporting my son very often and it was praised as being a good cost effective and safe second car seat. Now that it's installed, though, I have some questions.

My husband and I both have Britax car seats in our cars (I have a Roundabout and he has a Marathon). They are both installed rear facing with the floor tether and are rock solid.

The Cosco Scenera, on the other hand, is extremely wobbly in the back of my mothers car (installed rear-facing). I'm assuming this is because it does not have a floor tether like the Britax does.

Can someone please tell me how to get the Cosco Scenera installed so it doesn't move around so much? My mother has a 2005 Subaru Legacy Outback wagon if that makes any difference. Thanks!

Hi! I just posted essentially the same question below. . . the answer I got is that the wobbliness is fine as long as there isn't more than 1 inch of movement along the belt path. . . .

I was worried, too!

I guess I should have scrolled down to see your question. Thanks for pointing that out!

Did you use a pool noodle under the front of the seat (toward the rear of the car)? I found that I had to do that in our Outback to get a decent recline and have the seat tight. And as PP said, it will be "wobbly" at the back (toward the front of the car) since it is not tethered. All non-tethered seats will be like this.

I found that I got a tighter fit with the Latch strap on the outer edges of the front "horns" rather than under the edges. Then I rocked the carseat up and got it a bit tighter and pushed it back down. I used one section of pool noodle just wide enough to fit between the 2 Latch hooks.

I feel better knowing that others are having trouble but that it is a good safe seat. We are using it as our primary seat but my husband doesn't like the wobbliness of the seat. We used a Graco SR2 before and that is all he has to go on for a reference.

I will buy a noodle and try that. We have been using towels to fill in the space but it just doesn't quite make the tight fit. The seat is not going any where but it is wobbly. The seat has a LATCH system with it and someone else was saying something about a floor tether. Could the top tether be used like that and how does it tether to the floor? Just curious. Also, the manual states that if the seat is rear facing, you are supposed to use the holes under the seat for the belt. Does the other access holes work better and is it still safe to do that?

Do not use the tether rear-facing with this seat. Only Britax (and maybe one other?) has actually tested and approved rear-facing tethers. The seat really is safe with out it and passed the crash testing just fine.

You must use the rear-facing belt path indicated in the manual for rear-facing. Using any other path is not safe, and will probably make it more unstable.

The infant seats seem more stable because they have the large base. If you install the SR2 without the base, it is _WAY_ more tippy than the Scenera. You may want to make an appointment with a tech to have the seat checked to help your husband feel better about the intallation.

Hi. Take a look at these videos and see if they help answer your questions: http://www.carseatsite.com/videos.htm . If you are installing the seat with the LATCH connectors on the seat, watch the LATCH video. If you are installing the seat with the seat belt, watch the seat belt video. The seat that's being installed is a Cosco Touriva, which is what the Scenera replaced (essentially the same seat). Since the seat is being installed in a Sienna, it won't be the same as in an Outback, but it should be a similar installation.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com

Thanks for the awesome videos! They were really helpful. It would be nice if we could pin a thread of these type of resources.

The video is good but I always heard you should put your knee in a seat to get it its tightest. She doesn't do that.

okay... had posted the link to the same videos... so editting my post.

she doesn't put her knee in because what she did was get behind it and push her body into the top of the seat... I do that in my third row... if I do it in the second row I have to put the front seat forward first and, since my van is dodge and locks at the latchplates of the belts... so it's easier for me to recline my vehicle seat, install... just reach over the seat and pull the belt or latch tight... then put the vehicle seat upright...

Heather - if those of us who could do so, had videos shot of us installing seats and emailed them to you, would you want them for your site?

Kat

That's a good idea, Kat, but it would cause bandwidth issues for me. I still have a few more videos to add that I've already done and as more people see the page and download the videos, it increases the bandwidth and I'll end up having to pay more for it.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com

ah... good point.

then... another question... what's a good site for hosting videos?

one that I could figure out... cause I would like to do that... at some point I'd also like to get my tripod site finished.

Kat

I'm just using a different technique. I don't put my knee into a rear-facing seat because I think it's awkward and requires a lot of energy. The technique I showed actually uses very little muscle and gets the seat rock solid at the same time--it's my favorite, but doesn't work in every situation (probably 95%, though).

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com

Heather. . . . I'm in a Honda Civic, so I can't get behind the car seat quite the same way. So, should I be doing the manuever with my knee?

Also, DS is 9 months. . . is the 45 degree angle an imperative thing at this point or is he no longer "a young baby"?

Thanks-
Kellie

(so good to watch the video!)

I am in the same boat - installing in an Oldsmobile sedan and DS2 is 11 months old. Do I need the 45 degree angle? I really worked up a sweat installing the Scenera with LATCH. I have never installed in a LATCH car, so maybe this is the way it always works, but I haven't worked that hard to get a tight fit since my very first carseat install - a Snugride base in a 2-door 1989 Dodge Colt that needed a locking clip... arggghh!

Thanks,

45 degree angle isn't necessary. Generally, once the child can sit upright unassisted (but possibly before), more upright is fine. With DS, I think I stopped worrying about the recline when we switched from the infant seat.


Ilana

CPS Tech and mom