WayB Pico vs Cosco Scenera Next: Thoughts After Using Both

When it comes to travel car seats I always say that unfortunately, there’s no ideal solution when you look at the models sold in the US. Realistically, in the US there are only two options for toddlers and preschoolers: WayB Pico and Cosco Scenera Next.

Especially if you want the car seat to be FAA-approved (which isn’t a must, but some prefer it), these are the only lightweight options that don’t require extra carts to drag through the airport. We used both WayB Pico (full review here) and Cosco Scenera on numerous trips and both car seats have pros and cons.

Which one is better? Or, is there a better solution?

WayB Pico vs Cosco Scenera

Installation & Set Up

WayB Pico opens with one movement and takes seconds to set up. You can easily adjust the headrest as the child grows, but we usually just push it down to make it even more compact. It does take a minute or two to properly strap into the car, but it’s not complicated at all.

The biggest advantage of WayB Pico is that you can bring it on board the airplane and store it in the overhead bin – no need to gate check it. You can bring it to the gate and then ask if there are empty seats your child under 2 can take for free and bam – you have a car seat ready if that’s the case.

Also, something that’s insanely important for those flying on long-haul flights. You can easily remove WayB Pico and store it in the overhead if your child starts fussing or wants to lie down.

With any other car seat this isn’t possible, because they won’t fit in the overhead so if you bring a car seat and your baby or toddler hates it and screams bloody murder there’s no way to store the car seat anywhere – he’s stuck in it.

On the other hand, Cosco Scenera Next doesn’t fold up at all, so while lightweight it’s obviously much bulkier. It’s not as easy as attaching it to a stroller with a clip and zooming through the airport as you can do with WayB.

Plus, while many parents are afraid of gate-checking car seats due to potential damage Cosco Scenera arrives without ANY padding in the box, which could already be an issue if a delivery driver wasn’t careful with the package.

Cosco installation is pretty self-explanatory in a car, but even when it was properly installed the seat kept wiggling and moving to the side, especially when front-facing. We almost always had to put the towel underneath and it still felt looser than any other car seat we owned. Even more so when it was rear-facing.

It’s also not the easiest car seat to install on a plane. I often saw other parents having it incorrectly installed on planes, which defeated the purpose of having a car seat on the airplane in the first place. It’s not the manufacturer’s fault, it’s a definite user error, but they could have made it simpler so people would have easier time to install it. Why is that?

The problem is that for installing it on the aircraft the belt buckle is likely to be at your child’s back, which can make things uncomfortable. I witnessed a family in front of us once whose child kept screaming bloody murder for an hour that the buckle bothered him until a family was forced to put the car seat under their knees.

Flame Retardants

I often talk about the outdated US law that required many baby and toddler items, from cribs or toys to strollers and car seats, to be sprayed with flame-retardant toxic chemicals.

The materials on Cosco Scenera Next aren’t free of flame retardant chemicals, which are toxic to babies, so that’s something to take into account as well.

Meanwhile, on WayB AstroKnit mesh is a wool-polyester blend, and thanks to the flame-resistant qualities of wool, it’s inherently flame-resistant with no added chemicals.

Rear-Facing Option

The Cosco Scenera Next is one of very few travel car seats that fits a younger toddler who cannot sit front-facing in the car just yet (the legal requirement in the US is 2 years while in most European countries is 12-15 months).

Naturally, as avid travelers with babies and toddlers, we used Cosco Scenera Next on dozens of trips and watched other parents using it too.

We started using it with Holden when he was almost a year old, and while it’s approved for a newborn we wouldn’t trust it as there was no side protection for the head. If you have a chunky child that might work, but for smaller and thinner toddlers it’s often impossible to fit the straps properly and securely.

Child’s Comfort

When it comes to a child’s comfort, undeniably Cosco Scenera is better for napping because the child is essentially in a big bucket.

In WayB the child has to sit upright and up until 36″ more or less the head can plop out when a child falls asleep. Some chunkier toddlers can also have issues with the crotch strap being short.

When it comes to getting your money’s worth I have to say that we outgrew Cosco Scenera before my son was even 2 years old, which is pretty ridiculous because at 2 years old.

Basically, due to the height limit (40 inches), and head height limit of 1 inch below the shell of the seat, Cosco Scenera isn’t working with tall kids and I will say that despite the 40″ limit the comfortable limit was surpassed at 36-37″.

Final Verdict:

Neither WayB Pico nor Cosco Scenera are bad car seats. They do their job just fine, but I’ll be real: we were very underwhelmed by Cosco Scenera Next and quickly ended up using European travel car seats for our travels outside of the US.

• WayB Pico wins for ultra-compact and last-minute in-cabin installation but loses on longer road trips and higher price tag.
• Cosco Scenera Next wins for more comfortable nap time possibilities and low pricing, but loses big time on low height limit, bulkiness and lack of fold.

Is there a better option? Honestly, yes. While car seat laws vary, the general rule of thumb is that North America requires chest straps, while they’re forbidden anywhere else.

If you’re buying a travel car seat to travel to Europe, for example, nothing is stopping you from buying a car seat upon arrival. You will be fine traveling with a European car seat worldwide—except Australia, where your American car seat isn’t legal.

We were very happy with the German nachfolger car seat that weighs half of what WayB Puco or Cosco Scenera and folds into a small backpack. Our son could sleep comfortably, and stay rear-facing and we had the option of a top tether.

For babies, there’s Avionaut Pixel that’s basically like Nuna Pipa Urbn but even lighter – just 5 lbs.

Then there’s also Maxi Cosi Nomad Plus that’s much more comfortable than WayB Pico and significantly cheaper.