I purchased my Alpha Omega car seat at Walmart in Canada in August 2001 when our first daughter outgrew her infant seat.
WHY WE BOUGHT IT
1. Limited opportunity to compare with other products: Frankly, in our geographic location, selection of car seats that you can see and touch before you buy is poor. I excluded many of the competing products immediately because they were the overhead-shield style of car seat, or did not have 5-point harnesses.
2. Harness. Not only does the Alpha Omega offer 5-point harnessing, we also thought that the harness tightening strap was a very important feature. Located at the front bottom edge of the seat, it’s the strap that you pull or loosen to quickly and easily adjust for varying layers of clothing.
3. Convertibility: Is intended to be both rear-facing and front-facing. Our daughter was too heavy for her infant car seat at 4 months, but not yet old enough (strong enough) to use a front-facing car seat.
4. Recline feature one-hand adjustment pulling large red handle underneath child’s legs.
5. No Rethreading Shoulder harness can be raised for growing child without rethreading the whole belt through higher slots. We were already annoyed by doing this disassembly-reassembly for 3 stages of growth on our infant seat. The Alpha-Omega has one set of slots for the shoulder straps. They are built into a center back panel and headrest that is separate from the rest of the car seat’s frame and slides up and down into various notches.
6. Attractive. We thought the trimmer design was better-looking than some car seats that look like huge squashed beanbag chairs.
7. Nice fabric. I know some contradict this, AND I know why. The seat we bought had nice fabric, in a combo where some pieces were a plush “tweed” weave and others were somewhat like velvet. It was the only seat at the store that was like that. All the other Alpha Omegas there (different production runs?) were upholstered in that cheap synthetic fabric that is kind of like nubuck leather or similar to the flocking sprayed onto the inside of cheap jewelry boxes. It’s bad-looking when it’s clean, worse when it’s coated with ice cream, and not as washable as fabrics like the one we got.
DISLIKES DISCOVERED THROUGHOUT 20 MONTHS OF USE
Twisting Harness Straps
I have always been happy that I bought a seat with 5-point harness. Particularly since I have found that other friends and relatives do not always take the same care I do in properly tightening the harness (in spite of my urgings!) However, the straps are ALWAYS twisting, sometimes even through the buckle, requiring dismantling and rethreading. This is completely baffling to both my husband and me, as we really try to keep them straight. I always thought this was the “nature of the beast” of child car seats, but it seems to be the nature of OUR beastly little chair.
Harness Tensioning Strap Binds
If you are not familiar with the back mechanics of the strap you pull to tighten the harness: Car seats with this feature most commonly have a flat piece of somewhat triangular metal on the back. The ends of the shoulder straps thread into slits in the plate. Below that, the end of the tensioning strap (my term) is attached, before being routed out the bottom of the seat for you to pull on.
In most of our use of the Alpha Omega our daughter’s height was such that the metal plate in the back was somewhere around the bend in the seat frame where the top and bottom meet. The Alpha Omega has some plastic ridges there (the shaping in plastic items that provides strength). Since the metal plate is not flexible, it sometimes catches on the plastic ridges, preventing you from pulling the strap as tight as you would otherwise like to. I see this as making the difference between the harness tightness being “OK” versus being “really good”.
Recline Feature Totally Useless and Misleading Marketing
Cosco sells this chair in part by touting it’s easy one-handed recline. The recline handle does not operate smoothly enough to truly do this one-handed with the weight of your child in the seat. However, that’s really a minor point, since the proper use of the tether belt eliminates any chance of reclining the seat, making it a meaningless feature. I’ll explain further:
But first, another reviewer commented that in rear-facing use, the seat is to be used ONLY in the most reclined position. I can’t remember if that’s true and don’t have the manual with me right now. Assuming you ARE allowed to change the position of the recline for your infant, HOW are you going to do it when the handle is jammed into the upholstery of your car’s seat back?!
Speaking of this inaccessibility in rear-facing use, the same goes for the harness tensioning strap. It is located right at the bottom edge of the seat, and is then similarly buried in your car’s seat back. On other chairs (Britax, Romer, Maxi-Cosi) this strap emerges from the seat higher up – just in front of the buckle making it easier to use when the seat is rear-facing.
Once you have moved to front-facing use, it’s essential to have the top of the seat back secured by using the tether belt and making it as short as possible. By doing this, you made the seat back immobile and thus are prevents from using the recline feature. I couldn’t actually believe that this was the case! I phoned Cosco Dorel to see if I was misunderstanding the instructions somehow. Nope! That’s the way it is. On car seats such as Romer and Maxi-Cosi the seat has a “frame” where the attachments to your car are made, and a “bucket” that the child sits in. These two components are attached, of course, but this allows the “bucket” to pivot/recline while the seat is tightly installed.
In summary, on the Alpha Omega the “recline” should be viewed only as a one-time adjustment when switching the seat between rear- and front-facing uses. It is most definitely not a comfort alternative for your sleeping toddler.
Shorter Span of Use Than Manufacturer Claims
Coso sells this seat for intended use as a booster chair when kids exceed 40lbs – it’s supposedly good up to 80lbs. However, I think MOST children (mine definitely) will exceed the maximum height capacity of the chair LONG before they reach 80lbs.
SOME THINGS WERE GOOD
Easy-Adjust Shoulder Harness Height
This actually works as well as Cosco claims. You simply squeeze together a spring-loaded bar that runs across the seat’s upper back (must undo the tether strap and pull chair forward off your car’s seat to do this). An easy adjustment like this makes it much more likely that the seat will be readjusted just as soon as your child’s growth is noticed. A benefit I had not considered pre-purchase what that this also made the seat very practical in the few situations when we transported the children of friends and relatives. It was quick and easy to adjust the chair for each child.
Fabric
The fabric has exceeded my expectations. It has not sun-faded, pilled, etc. I have washed it many times and it still looks and feels like new.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Rear-Facing Use: “Fair” Only
The seat is “OK” rear-facing, but nothing great. Since it’s back is taller than dedicated infant seats, it extends much further forward. At time of purchase, we were driving a 4-door Honda Civic sedan. The seat was fine in the center, but almost brushed the back corners of the car’s front seats. We would not have been able to install it rear-facing in either of the outboard position without moving the seats more forward than was comfortable for my tall husband and me. Our previous vehicle had been a two-door hatchback. Although we did not have the Alpha Omega at that time, I think it would have been very difficult to use rear-facing in that car, if not down-right impossible since the smaller car had less room between the front and rear seats (in which to accommodate the projection of this long back).
The Removable Base
This base is used in rear-facing mode. It is optional on the front-facing car seat: supposedly you need the base ON to allow for recline, but as I explained above, the recline is useless for other reasons. You have the option of removing the base on the front-facing car seat to allow for airplane use and smaller vehicles/contoured bucket seats. This base MUST be removed when using the chair as a booster seat. Some find that it is difficult to remove the base; I thought it was easy. On each side, you push down a plastic tab, allowing you to push a steel rod out the side and remove it from the chair. Then the seat simply lifts off the base.
All in all, I would think this car seat was fine and dandy if it was a freebie I got second-hand from a friend or relative. But considering I bought it new, I am very disappointed in it.I am also disappointed in myself for taking the easy way, out in so many respects, at the time of purchase. I won’t make the same mistake this time. :-)
I hope I have "saved" you from this seat.(Although I do realize that the ones I have found to be superior do cost a lot more money. I guess car seats are one of those things you really can't/shouldn't cheap out on).
Cheers, Shannon
UPDATE: December 31, 2003
The twisty straps make me angry every time I head toward the car!
With continued use, the harness strapping has twisted and creased worse than ever. I try to flatten it when buckling my daughter in, but the folds and creases are quite settled into the straps. I have even tried ironing the straps when I've been washing the car seat cover and harness. It looks better, but a single use and it's back to all crunched up.
We are currently using a second-hand Maxi Cosi Priori for our oldest, having resumed rear-facing use of the Alpha Omega for baby #2.
The Maxi Cosi Priori is made by the SAME company: Cosco Dorel. The one we bought is 5 years old. The straps are perfect! No twisting, folding, creasing, etc, etc. This makes it MUCH, MUCH faster to properly buckle our child in each time.
Obviously, Cosco Dorel is quite capable of making a good harness strap. But it would appear that they underrate the safety importance of the harness being untwisted and uncreased. The Maxi Cosi Priori is a much more expensive carseat. I suspect it would increase their manufacturing costs of the Alpha Omega only a tiny bit to use the better quality belting on all their carseats.
UPDATE: May 02, 2004
Yay! I SOLD IT!! On the upside, we care for our belongings carefully and (as I mentioned in the original review), the plush synthetic fabric held up fabulously. I got a good price on resale due to the seat's popularity and it's excellent condition.
On the UPPER side - I never have to fight with those horrible straps EVER AGAIN. Removing that horrid carseat from my minivan has been ushered inner peace into my environment just like the big Feng Shui craze supposedly does!
In replacement, I bought a Britax Marathon and had it shipped out. It's fabulous - even better than the high ideals I expected of it after all the internet hype.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 110
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
Equipped for both rear-facing and forward-facing travel, this all-in-one car seat comfortably accommodates a child from birth to age eight and beyond....More at Albee Baby
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