Cosco Scenera NEXT: Small Seat, Big Value!

AC RF vehicleUpdated March 2019. Note for all photos: Dorel is updating the angle at which a rear-facing seat may be installed. Newer versions of the seat may not be permitted to go so upright. Read your manual carefully, and follow the one that came with your seat.

Lightweight, colour options, inexpensive ($99), narrow, and long-lasting YES PLEASE! What’s not to love!

Dorel, parent company of Cosco, has brought the Cosco Scenera NEXT to the Canadian market and it is a fantastic addition to our line-up. They are also bringing some interesting features that are unique, so like always, you must read your manual. Available at Walmart, Babies R Us, or at Amazon you’ll like what you get for the price.

Seat Specs:

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Rear-facing 5-40lbs, 19-40″, 1″ of clearance above the top of the head now required (March 2019) – follow what is stated in your manual.
Forward-facing 22-40lbs, 29-43″, top of the ears level with the top of the shell. If your manual also states a two year minimum then you must follow that.

We very much like the layout in the NEXT manual – clear, concise, easy to follow. And to highlight an important minimum on the original batch of seats: a child MUST be at least 2 years old to forward-face. Go Dorel! This a trend we expect to see on more and more seats in the Canadian market. Update March 2019: newer seats have removed that requirement, but it is still recommended to rear face as long as possible.

  • Machine washable and dryable cover
  • Removable cup holder
  • Weighs less than 8lbs
  • Use of lower anchors (UAS, LATCH) for the full harness weight of the seat
  • 8 years until expiry
  • Harness covers available for purchase directly from Cosco

It is also extremely important to note that if you use this seat to the max rear-facing, as we encourage you to do, it will not be usable at all forward-facing. You may not know this looking at the specs and so it’s important to understand why. When rear-facing the harness comes from at or BELOW a child’s shoulders, keeping him down and contained within the seat during a crash. When forward-facing the harness comes from at or ABOVE a child’s shoulders. The design of the NEXT is such that a child will fit longer rear-facing than forward…and that’s okay. It does it extremely well, so read on!

Here is the same child rear- and forward-facing: At age just-turned-two (the minimum to use it forward-facing), 35″ tall, and 28lbs it is outgrown already forward-facing as the harness is no longer at or above his shoulders…but LOTS of room left rear-facing.

AC RF vehicle AC FF vehicle AC FF harness height

Take home message here Consider the NEXT a rear-facing only seat, something it does with ease. Kind of like an infant seat with no handle. It is highly functional in rear-facing mode so that is what we will focus on.

Fit To Vehicle…NEXT weight

…is spectacular. Truly. It fits in small spaces. It’s on the narrow side. It’s lightweight and easy to install. When mine arrived I dangled it from a digital fish scale (everyone has one of these, right maybe it’s for luggage…) and it came in a 7lbs 10oz. Amazing!

RF level lineThe NEXT has a line on the side that must be parallel to the ground for children who can not sit up unassisted – this is to protect the child’s airway and enables them to keep their heads properly tilted back.

For children who can sit up unassisted the NEXT can be installed more upright, and this is where its amazingness comes out. It can fit in extremely small spaces front to back, leaving ample room for front seat passengers. Update November 2018: Cosco has updated the rear-facing angle instructions, read more here. Update March 2019: Canadian seats may not be installable more upright at all. Read manuals carefully and follow the instructions in yours.

Those of you who had a second child and felt the only way to have room to drive was to turn your child forward Rejoice! Chances are excellent that the NEXT can enable rear-facing a good long while yet. Pretty awesome eh? Some visual examples of just how much room it gives; even more front to back space can be gained installing with this body positioning technique (a different seat is shown but the pelvic brace + peeling the cover back is what you’re after). We also like that the harness adjuster mechanism (that button you push to loosen the harness) isn’t buried when rear-facing.

2012 Ford F-150 extended cab with rear-hinge doors – my tallish self can sit in the passenger seat no problem even with the NEXT at the fully reclined newborn angle.

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2012 Ford Focus hatchback. With the NEXT at the newborn angle behind the passenger I had more room in the passenger seat in this car than I have had with any other rear-facing seat. Install it more upright in the middle and both driver’s and passenger’s seats can be all the way back.

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NEXT also makes a 3-across pretty doable. This is of course dependent entirely on the vehicle and what seats it is beside but the compactness plus narrow shape at the bight (the part that makes contact with the vehicle seat back and bottom) is very 3-across friendly. Furthermore it leaves room to buckle a booster next to it.

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3-across in a 2012 Ford Focus hatchback.
3 across in a VW Jetta - NEXT is the blue one in the middle.
3 across in a VW Jetta – NEXT is the blue one in the middle.

Bottom line is it installed everywhere we tried it. While I’m sure it is possible to have an incompatibility out there somewhere we haven’t yet discovered one rear-facing.

Truth be told…we didn’t much bother with forward-facing. If you’re going to forward-face an under-two then you can’t use this seat to do it, and if your child is average-to-large in height or torso length chances are it’s nearly outgrown forward-facing so again, not the seat for you! Plenty of other rear- and forward-facing options on the market though.

Fit to Child

Like all things car seat, reading your manual is SUPER important. The NEXT has very specific, very unique harness routing and crotch buckle routing for use with a newborn. If you use the lowest harness position you MUST route as directed. This is to shorten the harness sufficiently for a newborn, enabling proper tightening. With the 5lb minimum weight, and low harness height, combined with ability to properly shorten the harness, we expect it will fit the average newborn quite well.

2 weeks old, 7.5lbs, 20.5" long this wee one is already on the second-lowest harness slot!
2 weeks old, 7.5lbs, 20.5″ long this wee one is already on the second-lowest harness slot!

NEXT does not come with infant padding but please do use rolled receiving blankets, such as pictured here, for side support if needed. Don’t put anything behind or around baby’s head — no aftermarket head positioners as they’re not approved for use with this seat.

AL infant routing
6 weeks old; 11.5lbs, 22.5″ long.
SK RF
15 months, 22lbs, and 31″ tall.
SK RF big kid
2.5 years old, 25lbs, 34″ tall.

This evenly proportioned child is right near the height limit at 39.5″ tall and 35lbs…but at 3 years, 9 months he fit for a long time, with ample leg room.

AB RF NEXT

Longevity and fit also depends, of course, on child proportions. In the green shirt: 2.5, 30lbs, 37″ with a long torso. In the purple shirt: 4 years old, 31lbs, 38.5″ tall. Loads of leg room too! Although these kids are similarly sized the long torso on the younger child means he won’t fit in the seat quite as long as his older sister. Most seats require at least 1″ of shell above the head (in addition to being within height and weight limits); the NEXT allows a child’s head to be even with the top. Both of these kids have lots of room left by shell height and weight but are coming close by standing height. The seat is outgrown whenever ONE limit has been met, so keep an eye on all three!

AL RF legroom AL RF 4yo

Other points to note:

We quite like the new look of the manual. Easy to follow and hopefully easy for parents to use properly. Please read your manual – car seat and vehicle – before installing!

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NEXT is a super option for airplane travel. Remember it weighs less than 8lbs so not only will it be easy to transport through the airport, it will be easy to carry on to the aircraft. The compact size and ability to be more upright can be a handy feature. If you’ve never traveled with a car seat before please consider it for your next trip; your child can sleep in a familiar place, and s/he can be safely restrained in case of turbulence, rough landing, or aborted take-off. Bonus! Rear face that kiddo and no worrying about stopping him from kicking the seat in front of him.

AC RF plane

The seat padding is pretty comfy, and the cover is machine washable and dryable. You have to remove the harness to remove the pad but that’s quick and easy. We love that it’s available in six different cover options !

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Do you love colour? Patterns? Prefer for your car seat to match your upholstery? Want something to best camouflage kid dirt and detritus? You have lots of choice with the NEXT! We love choice.

NEXT Moon Mist Grey NEXT River Run Blue NEXT red NEXT Lime Punch NEXT Broadway dots NEXT Otto

Overall Impressions:

Superb value and longevity in this seat provided you use it as a rear-facing only option. That is its true use, and it will easily get most kids rear-facing past age 3. If your child is long-torsoed and hugely tall then you might want to explore other options. The NEXT will enable those of you with small cars to keep on rear-facing your kids even behind a tall adult. Easily removable cover, detachable cup holder to store treasures, cute covers, and lightweight shell make the NEXT a winner in our books.

Now…want to win one? Thank you to Dorel Juvenile Group for providing one Scenera NEXT in the colour of your choice (based on availability) to one lucky person in Canada! Giveaway is over – thanks to all who entered, and congrats to our lucky winner!

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