Review: Cybex Aton Cloud Q Carseat

Cybex Aton Cloud Q

RRP £230

Personal Rating: 4 out of 5

 

 

PROS

Instructions enclosed (once found) were clear, concise and easy to understand

Suitable from birth to around 18 months

Stylish (has a Swedish "ikea" look to it) and comes in a range of 17 other colours!! (Had to Google this, as mother-care only showed 6, possibly only 6 available in the UK)

Ample padding alll over - especially around where the back of head and side of head would rest. The padding on the chest and groin/tummy straps is soft too, so when tightened it didn't dig into Aiden. He seemed happy and comfortable to be in the seat.

The padding is also adjustable, so as baby grows your able to extend the headrest and spinal protection.

It can be turnt into a fully reclining position - not fully on a journey but slightly reclined compared to other general seats. Its a fab idea for if we were visiting family and didn't wish to disturb him transferring from car-seat to a travel cot. I was quite happy to leave him in there for a hour after we returned from our journey to continue his nap.

Can be installed using isofix base, or just a seatbelt which is practical for if using multiple cars.

It has a integrated sun canopy - which is and can be very well hidden.

The Cybex Aton is travel system frame compatible with the Aton Base 2 Fix as well as Mothercare Orb, All Bugaboo, Baby Jogger, Cybex Onyx and Cybex Callisto. I have the mothercare orb, but unfortunately dont have the adapters currently so were unable to try it that way)

The carseat in general feels very solid and sturdy. No flimsyness of the handle or the seat when rocked, both with aiden in and out of it.

CONS:

To begin with, there were no instructions in the box, so i was a little confused as to how to install the carseat. Ended up googling how to and finding via their video, that the instructions were very very well hidden in a compartment under the base of the seat. A little note on the box/seat saying they could be found there would have helped, rather than waste 25mins finding some online!! Not very practival if it were my mum or nan installing the seat for the first time (no offence to them) as they wouldnt think to google instructions...

In practice, to get the car seat to fully recline , i struggled big time. it was and still is hard to do. We followed the instructions (after we found them)  and did exactly as it said. I couldnt get it to recline, so got my partner to have a go, who also struggled - as well as my mum!! We then emailed you, Heidi, who contacted someone from Vybex to contact me - which they did. Id just like to also mention that their customer service was FAB! Within 10mins of you sending me an email to say that you had asked for someone to call me, they did. He gave me a step by step instruction of what to do (which was what we were doing!!) and still no luck. Just as he was about to offer to send someone out to us to check the carseat and ensure it wasnt a fault, we managed to get it to recline. Once we managed to get it to recline and upright it seemed easy. However, i still struggle to do so on my own, same as partner. Ity may just be due to it being a new seat and needing the joins to move a few times in practice.

Its slightly heavier than my usual maxi-cosi pebble car seat. Not as heavy as others ive reviewed, but still noticable, and must bother me if i feel its a "con" to the seat.

I also noticed that when the carseat is at its oldest stage (18ish months) and the insert has been extended to its maximum, there is about a 2 inch gap of no padding, right where the base of my sons spine would lie - this could cause some discomfort, and not just that - not protect him as much as it could.

It looks quite bulky. Not so bad in our MPV people carrier, but quite a bit in the KA. Struggled a little to place and remove the seat using the seatbelt safety in my KA, with the leaning in through the front passenger door to install. Much easier in the MPV

Summary:

I love this car seat. I love its modern unique style, the colours it comes in and the fact its stylish in general. Its compatable with my travel system which is a big bonus  and can be secured in using seatbelt and isofix for added safety. Its extremely well padded out, with the extendable padding for when my son, Aiden, gets older. Aiden seemed to enjoy it too, as continued his nap after a journey we went on.  The only problem for me was that it was slightly heavy and a tad bulky for my car, but i cant complain as my car is diddy, worked perfect in the MPV and my mums Mini.