Alpha Omega Carseat Review

I bought 2 Cosco Alpha Omega car seats, attracted by the slogan "the only carseat you'll ever need" and the fact that you supposedly can use it as an infant seat, a toddler seat, and a booster seat. I do not like it at all, and would not recommend it unless you really can't afford to buy more than one carseat.

First, we never used it as an infant seat because it is not a carrier. I can't imagine not having an infant carrier available back in the days when my son was still light enough to be carried that way and when he fell asleep every couple of hours. Without an infant carrier I would have woken him up every time I got out of the car just by lifting him from the seat. With a carrier, if I was lucky, he would sleep all through shopping and wake up just in time for me to get back in the car and have the ride rock him back to sleep.

We first started using it when we turned my son around front-facing - at just under a year old. The car seat was an absolute horror to get installed in both my Ford F150 super cab and my husband's Mazda Tribute. We could not install the base in either car because it would not allow the seat to be pulled tight and not wiggle if we used it. Therefore, the car seat sits directly on the bench seat in both vehicles, and cannot be tilted at all. When my boy falls asleep in the car I have to pull over and pile pillows around him in a kind of pyramid to keep his head from hanging forward over the straps.

The alpha omega has some sort of plastic bar under the skimpy seat covering that causes a red mark on my sons back when he sits in it for too long, so I know it is uncomfortable for him. The carseat has a head roll that my husband had to actually cut out because my son is not old enough to use the car seat as a booster seat, but he is too big for the head roll, and we couldn't get it off. The straps for the car seat constantly twist around and if you are not diligent about untwisting them it can cause the straps to get stcuk in the chair.

I do like the 5 point harness and it is easy to fasten and unfasten all the straps, but that does not make up for the fact that the carseat is uncomfortable, especially for sleeping children. We rented a car seat with our rental car once that I really liked because the sides around my boys head were large and deep, and when he fell asleep in the chair his head rested against the side quite comfortably. If I had had a small pillow it would have been alomst as good as a bed. If I ever buy another car seat I'll look for one like that.