European Belt Path

The Aton installs very well with the European Belt Path – and because of how compact it is you rarely need to do the tipping trick (shown in video below).

Harness & Fit

Fit for Preemies: This seat does not fit preemies. The infant insert does not go under the child’s bottom, like it does on the Aton2, and as a result preemies will not fit well in this seat as they won’t be as close to the first shoulder strap slot. Due to the lack of an insert that lifts the baby up, it is also a problem that for babies weighing less than about 6 pounds that the straps, when tightened properly, interfere with the carrier locking into the base – and the carrier will need to be used without the base with the smallest babies with the Aton (this does not apply to the Aton2 or AtonQ).

For smaller babies & some full term newborns it will be necessary to fill in the gap between the child’s bottom and the crotch buckle to prevent the baby from slouching into the gap. We’ve found that the shoulder strap covers repurpose themselves very well to be used to fill in this crotch buckle gap (the filling in is done after the baby is buckled snug).

Longevity: The Cybex Aton carriers are shorter in seated height than many other infant seats – so your baby will outgrow them a few months (approx. 3 months) sooner than many of the other seats. The trade-off is that because they are shorter, they take up much less room into the front seat, making them good for small vehicles & tall drivers. Most babies will fit in the Aton until 9-12 months of age – and are more than ready to switch into a convertible seat at this point, especially since most convertible seats can be used from birth.

Untwisting Straps: There is a rethread harness that tightens/loosens pretty smoothly. However, the harness straps on the Cybex seats will twist more than average (the CloudQ will twist the most of all, as it uses a thinner strap material) – but are easy to untwist with the triangle trick shown in the video below.

Removable Inserts & Pads

Shoulder Strap Covers: These are never required, and we recommend removing them from day one – as not only do they add extra pressure into the side of the baby’s neck, but they also are way too big and make the straps twist.

Newborn Inlay: This is a styrofoam wedge under the infant’s bottom. They recommend using it until the baby is 11 pounds. We suggest using it until your baby’s shoulders reach the lowest set of shoulder strap slots withOUT the newborn inlay.

Infant Insert: If you have a newer model Aton where the insert is like a donut shaped pillow behind the baby’s head, we recommend removing this from day one. If you have an older Aton where the insert goes under the baby’s bottom as well, we recommend using it until the baby’s head reaches the stitching line above which the insert tips forward… as you don’t want the insert to push your baby’s head forward (if you haven’t taken it out by 11 pounds, do so at that point).

Sunshade

The sunshade on the Aton is not the greatest – and we found the SnoozeShade to be the perfect supplement for giving baby shade, as well as darkness during daytime naps. The Joonie looks like it would also work well. We do not recommend putting a blanket over the carrier – as this is not ventilated.

The handle must be in the carry position at all times when this car seat is used in the car.

Room into the Front Seat

The Cybex Aton & Aton2 are the most compact infant seats on the market – taking up 3-5 inches less room into the front seat than most other infant car seats. The Aton/Aton2 are therefore great for situations where you have a driver or front passenger who needs as much room as possible, and requires that the car seat be installed behind them. To put this in perspective, if you upgrade to an airplane seat with “extra legroom” you are typically paying for 3-5 inches extra leg room.

Belt Tensioning Plate

All Cybex bases feature a belt tensioning plate – which is a plate that goes over top of the seat belt or LATCH belt and as you lower the plate it tightens the belt further for you – helping you achieve a super tight installation. Technically, the belt tensioning plate isn’t a lock-off, since Cybex wants the seat belt’s own locking mechanism engaged at the end of the installation process – but we’ll just call this a technicality since for most cars this just means adding a very simple last step of pulling the shoulder belt out all the way to engage the seat belt’s locking mode. While the belt tensioning plate on the Cybex bases requires some muscle to lock down, once locked the belt never slips or loosens.

LATCH Installation

The Aton base is usually equally likely to yield a secure installation with the seat belt as with LATCH, but LATCH installations require a little less brute force to lower the belt tensioning plate – and also you don’t have to thread the LATCH belt through the base, like you do with the seat belt which can be a little confusing for some.

This base is a workhorse. In all our years as The Car Seat Lady, we’ve found this base to be the most likely to install securely of any other seat on the market. If this base doesn’t install securely, you need a different car, not a different car seat.

Every Cybex base has black plastic lower anchor funnel guides that come attached with a zip-tie to the base. We find these to be useless in nearly all situations and more hassle than they’re worth.

Seat Belt Installation

Since the Aton base is typically equally likely to yield a secure installation with LATCH as with seat belt, why would you want to do a seat belt installation, since it can be somewhat more difficult than the LATCH installation? If you are trying to install 2 car seats side by side, installing the car seat that is going on the side with the seat belt will typically pull that car seat closer to the door (making the center seat wider) than if you use LATCH.

European Belt Path

The Aton2 installs very well with the European Belt Path – and because of how compact it is you rarely need to do the tipping trick (shown in video below).

Harness & Fit

Fit for Preemies: The infant insert goes under the baby’s back and bottom and offers a decent fit for preemies, including those at just 4 pounds.

For smaller babies – and some full term newborns – it will be necessary to fill in the gap between the child’s bottom and the crotch buckle to prevent the baby from slouching into the gap. We’ve found that the shoulder strap covers repurpose themselves very well to be used to fill in this crotch buckle gap (the filling in is done after the baby is buckled snug).

Longevity: The Cybex Aton2 is shorter in seated height than many other infant seats – so your baby will outgrow it a few months (approx. 3 months) sooner than many of the other seats. The trade-off is that because they are shorter, they take up much less room into the front seat, making them good for small vehicles & tall drivers. Most babies will fit in the Aton2 until 9-12 months of age – and are more than ready to switch into a convertible seat at this point, especially since most convertible seats can be used from birth.

Untwisting Straps: There is a rethread harness that tightens/loosens pretty smoothly. However, the harness straps on the Cybex seats will twist more than average (the CloudQ will twist the most of all, as it uses a thinner strap material) – but are easy to untwist with the triangle trick shown in the video below.

Removable Inserts & Pads

Shoulder Strap Covers: These are never required, and we recommend removing them from day one – as not only do they add extra pressure into the side of the baby’s neck, but they also are way too big and make the straps twist.

Newborn Inlay: This is a styrofoam wedge under the infant’s bottom. They recommend using it until the baby is 11 pounds. We suggest using it until your baby’s shoulders reach the lowest set of shoulder strap slots withOUT the newborn inlay.

Infant Insert: This is the insert that goes behind the baby’s head and back. We recommend using it until the baby’s head reaches the stitching line above which the insert tips forward… as you don’t want the insert to push your baby’s head forward (if you haven’t taken it out by 11 pounds, do so at that point). While the instructions recommend folding the lowest part of the infant insert under the baby’s bottom (doubling it up so that it raises the baby up) for smaller babies, we find that doing so causes the baby to sit in a “C” shape which increases the risk of the baby’s head falling down into a chin to chest position. With this seat, we recommend leaving the infant insert as a single layer behind the baby’s back & under the baby’s bottom.

Linear Side Protection
The Aton2 carrier has Linear Side Protection (LSP) wings that comes out from the bottom of the carrier’s handle. LSP is designed to work in a direct side impact and will try to allow for earlier energy transfer into the shell of the carrier, to hopefully decrease the amount of energy transferred into the baby’s body.LSP is only used when the baby is next to the door – you never use it when the baby is in the center.

Sunshade

The sunshade on the Aton2 is not the greatest – and we found the SnoozeShade to be the perfect supplement for giving baby shade, as well as darkness during daytime naps. The Joonie looks like it would also work well. We do not recommend putting a blanket over the carrier – as this is not ventilated.

The handle must be in the carry position at all times when this car seat is used in the car.

Room into the Front Seat

The Cybex Aton & Aton2 are the most compact infant seats on the market – taking up 3-5 inches less room into the front seat than most other infant car seats. The Aton/Aton2 are therefore great for situations where you have a driver or front passenger who needs as much room as possible, and requires that the car seat be installed behind them. To put this in perspective, if you upgrade to an airplane seat with “extra legroom” you are typically paying for 3-5 inches extra leg room.

Load Leg

The Aton2 base features a load leg – and you should use it whenever possible as it is a significant safety feature that decreases forces on your baby’s head and neck in a crash. Read more about load legs here.

Here are a few cases where you won’t be able to use a load leg

Center seat with a floor that is raised up such that the base is jacked up off the vehicle seat when the load leg is used

Hollow floor – like a Chrysler/Dodge minivan with Stow N Go seats

Very deep vehicle seat where the use of the load leg prevents the base from making contact with the back of the vehicle seat

Belt Tensioning Plate

All Cybex bases feature a belt tensioning plate – which is a plate that goes over top of the seat belt or LATCH belt and as you lower the plate it tightens the belt further for you – helping you achieve a super tight installation. Technically, the belt tensioning plate isn’t a lock-off, since Cybex wants the seat belt’s own locking mechanism engaged at the end of the installation process – but we’ll just call this a technicality since for most cars this just means adding a very simple last step of pulling the shoulder belt out all the way to engage the seat belt’s locking mode. While the belt tensioning plate on the Cybex bases requires some muscle to lock down, once locked the belt never slips or loosens.

LATCH Installation

The Aton2 base is usually equally likely to yield a secure installation with the seat belt as with LATCH, but LATCH installations require a little less brute force to lower the belt tensioning plate – and also you don’t have to thread the LATCH belt through the base, like you do with the seat belt which can be a little confusing for some.

This base is a workhorse. In all our years as The Car Seat Lady, we’ve found this base to be the most likely to install securely of any other seat on the market. If this base doesn’t install securely, you need a different car, not a different car seat.

Every Cybex base has black plastic lower anchor funnel guides that come attached with a zip-tie to the base. We find these to be useless in nearly all situations and more hassle than they’re worth.

Seat Belt Installation

Since the Aton2 base is typically equally likely to yield a secure installation with LATCH as with seat belt, why would you want to do a seat belt installation, since it can be somewhat more difficult than the LATCH installation? If you are trying to install 2 car seats side by side, installing the car seat that is going on the side with the seat belt will typically pull that car seat closer to the door (making the center seat wider) than if you use LATCH.

European Belt Path

The AtonQ installs very well with the European Belt Path – and because of how compact it is you rarely need to do the tipping trick (shown in video below).

Harness & Fit

Fit for Preemies: We do not recommend the AtonQ as we have found that for both preemies and full term newborns there is an increased chance of the baby’s head going into a chin-to-chest position in this car seat because the AtonQ’s head restraint protrudes forward from the back rest and most preemies and many newborns are too short for their head to rest fully in the head restraint, meaning that only the top of their head is within the head restraint and it can tip their head down into a chin to chest position. Read more about newborn head position here.

For smaller babies – and some full term newborns – it will be necessary to fill in the gap between the child’s bottom and the crotch buckle to prevent the baby from slouching into the gap. We’ve found that the shoulder strap covers repurpose themselves very well to be used to fill in this crotch buckle gap (the filling in is done after the baby is buckled snug).

Longevity: The Cybex AtonQ is shorter in seated height than many other infant seats – so your baby will outgrow it a few months (approx. 3 months) sooner than many of the other seats. The trade-off is that because they are shorter, they take up much less room into the front seat, making them good for small vehicles & tall drivers. Most babies will fit in the AtonQ until 9-12 months of age – and are more than ready to switch into a convertible seat at this point, especially since most convertible seats can be used from birth.

Ease of Use: There is a no-rethread harness that does not tighten easily – you’ll need to use a lot of bicep to get the straps properly snug on the baby each time. It is the friction created by the no-rethread harness that makes these straps more difficult to tighten than those on the Aton & Aton2 (which have rethread harnesses).

Untwisting Straps: The harness straps on the Cybex seats will twist more than average (the CloudQ will twist the most of all, as it uses a thinner strap material) – but are easy to untwist with the triangle trick shown in the video below.

Removable Inserts & Pads

Shoulder Strap Covers: These are never required, and we recommend removing them from day one – as not only do they add extra pressure into the side of the baby’s neck, but they also are way too big and make the straps twist.

Newborn Inlay: In newer versions of the AtonQ there is a styrofoam wedge under the infant’s bottom. They recommend using it until the baby is 11 pounds. We suggest using it until your baby’s shoulders reach the lowest set of shoulder strap slots withOUT the newborn inlay.

Infant Insert: There is NO removable infant insert in this seat. The no-rethread harness in this seat features a head restraint that moves/up down and has a stretch of padded fabric that extends down to the baby’s bottom. While the instructions recommend folding the lowest part of the infant insert under the baby’s bottom (doubling it up so that it raises the baby up) for smaller babies, we find that doing so causes the baby to sit in a “C” shape which increases the risk of the baby’s head falling down into a chin to chest position. With this seat, we recommend folding the extra padding so that it is behind the baby’s back, and not under their bottom, when your baby is small and doesn’t have good head control.

Linear Side Protection
The AtonQ carrier has Linear Side Protection (LSP) poles that come out from the sides of the carrier (near the baby’s head). LSP is designed to work in a direct side impact and will try to allow for earlier energy transfer into the shell of the carrier, to hopefully decrease the amount of energy transferred into the baby’s body. LSP is only used when the baby is next to the door – you never use it when the baby is in the center.

The handle must be in the carry position at all times when this car seat is used in the car.

Room into the Front Seat

The AtonQ is one of the most compact infant seats on the market – taking up a few inches less room into the front seat than most other infant car seats. However – the Aton/Aton2 are even better than the AtonQ for situations where you have a driver or front passenger who needs as much room as possible, and requires that the car seat be installed behind them.

Load Leg

The AtonQ base features a load leg – and you should use it whenever possible as it is a significant safety feature that decreases forces on your baby’s head and neck in a crash. Read more about load legs here.

Here are a few cases where you won’t be able to use a load leg

Center seat with a floor that is raised up such that the base is jacked up off the vehicle seat when the load leg is used

Hollow floor – like a Chrysler/Dodge minivan with Stow N Go seats

Very deep vehicle seat where the use of the load leg prevents the base from making contact with the back of the vehicle seat

Belt Tensioning Plate

All Cybex bases feature a belt tensioning plate – which is a plate that goes over top of the seat belt or LATCH belt and as you lower the plate it tightens the belt further for you – helping you achieve a super tight installation. Technically, the belt tensioning plate isn’t a lock-off, since Cybex wants the seat belt’s own locking mechanism engaged at the end of the installation process – but we’ll just call this a technicality since for most cars this just means adding a very simple last step of pulling the shoulder belt out all the way to engage the seat belt’s locking mode. While the belt tensioning plate on the Cybex bases requires some muscle to lock down, once locked the belt never slips or loosens.

LATCH Installation

The AtonQ base is usually equally likely to yield a secure installation with the seat belt as with LATCH, but LATCH installations require a little less brute force to lower the belt tensioning plate – and also you don’t have to thread the LATCH belt through the base, like you do with the seat belt which can be a little confusing for some.

This base is a workhorse. In all our years as The Car Seat Lady, we’ve found this base to be the most likely to install securely of any other seat on the market. If this base doesn’t install securely, you need a different car, not a different car seat.

Every Cybex base has black plastic lower anchor funnel guides that come attached with a zip-tie to the base. We find these to be useless in nearly all situations and more hassle than they’re worth.

Seat Belt Installation

Since the AtonQ base is typically equally likely to yield a secure installation with LATCH as with seat belt, why would you want to do a seat belt installation, since it can be somewhat more difficult than the LATCH installation? If you are trying to install 2 car seats side by side, installing the car seat that is going on the side with the seat belt will typically pull that car seat closer to the door (making the center seat wider) than if you use LATCH.

European Belt Path

The seat belt routing path for the carrier when used without the base is somewhat unique in that the lap belt passes through both the shell of the seat AND the lap belt guides in the handle.

It will not be possible to do a European belt path installation with the CloudQ in a significant number of vehicles as the seat belt will be too short. The CloudQ is the deepest of the Cybex car seats – meaning it takes up the most room front to back in the vehicle. Typically with a deep car seat, when installing it without the base, one can tip the car seat more upright, get the shoulder belt wrapped around the carrier, and then tip the car seat more reclined – but this is not possible on seats where the handle is positioned above the baby’s feet with the vehicle lap belt running through it (like on the CloudQ, Doona, and Peg Perego 4-35). As such, when the seat belt is not long enough to wrap around the carrier, one will need to try the trick shown in the video below, and if the seat belt is still too short, you will need to do an American belt path installation of the carrier without the base.

When trying to install the CloudQ without the base, we also noticed that when the carrier was reclined properly (according to the red line on the side of the carrier) that in some vehicles it is likely that the only thing making contact with the back of the vehicle seat will be the handle – i.e. the edge where the baby’s feet hang off will not touch. This will likely affect one’s chances of achieving a secure installation.

Harness & Fit

Fit for Preemies: We do not recommend the CloudQ as we have found that for both preemies and full term newborns there is an increased chance of the baby’s head going into a chin-to-chest position in this car seat because the CloudQ’s head restraint protrudes forward from the back rest and most preemies and many newborns are too short for their head to rest fully in the head restraint, meaning that only the top of their head is within the head restraint and it can tip their head down into a chin to chest position. Read more about newborn head position here.

The crotch buckle is extremely low on the CloudQ (when in car seat mode) which makes it such that the buckle tongues will dig into the baby’s inner thighs when you make the harness straps properly snug. The problem starts from day one and will only get worse as baby’s thighs get chubbier.

Longevity: The Cybex CloudQ is taller in seated height than any other Cybex – but due to the crotch buckle issue, you won’t be able to use it for that long.

Ease of Use: There is a no-rethread harness that does not tighten easily – you’ll need to use a lot of bicep to get the straps properly snug on the baby each time. It is the friction created by the no-rethread harness that makes these straps more difficult to tighten than those on the Aton & Aton2 (which have rethread harnesses).

Untwisting Straps: The harness straps on the Cybex seats will twist more than average (the CloudQ will twist the most of all, as it uses a thinner strap material) – but are easy to untwist with the triangle trick shown in the video below.

Removable Inserts & Pads

Shoulder Strap Covers: These are never required, and we recommend removing them from day one – as not only do they add extra pressure into the side of the baby’s neck, but they also are way too big and make the straps twist.

Infant Insert: This is the pillow under the baby’s buttocks that extends along the sides of the baby’s body. Cybex recommends removing this when the baby is approximately 11 pounds. We haven’t been able to use this insert as it makes the crotch buckle tongues dig into the baby’s inner thighs even more than they already do.

Linear Side Protection
The CloudQ carrier has Linear Side Protection (LSP) poles that come out from the sides of the carrier (near the baby’s head). LSP is designed to work in a direct side impact and will try to allow for earlier energy transfer into the shell of the carrier, to hopefully decrease the amount of energy transferred into the baby’s body. LSP is only used when the baby is next to the door – you never use it when the baby is in the center.

Lay Flat Feature

The most unique feature of the CloudQ is that it can recline completely flat when used OUT of the vehicle – like on a stroller – as shown in the video above (please note the video showed a pre-production model of the CloudQ which is slightly different than what is for sale in the US). It is recommended that babies do not spend long periods of time in the car seat, partially due to the semi-upright position it requires which can be stressful for some preemies and newborns. The CloudQ allows you to take your sleeping baby from the car and without waking them to transfer them to a bassinet/crib, simply lay them flat in the CloudQ once you’ve clicked it onto the stroller or set the carrier on the floor of your house. Make sure you ALWAYS keep the harness straps buckled AND snug whenever the baby is in the car seat – and especially when the seat is laying flat to prevent strangulations & falls. Due to the lay-flat recline mechanism, the CloudQ carrier is quite heavy at 13.9 pounds – approximately 5 pounds heavier than the Aton2.

Handle Position

The handle must ALWAYS be in the anti-rebound position whenever the seat is used in the car (with or without the base). This position is referred to as the “drive position” in the manual.

To the untrained eye, the CloudQ base will look almost identical to the Aton2/Q base… but sadly it is far from identical. As amazing as the Aton2/Q base is… this is how not-amazing the CloudQ base is. For some unknown reason Cybex messed with the angle that the belt (LATCH belt or seat belt) takes as it passes through the base. The video below tries to show the difference (but if you haven’t installed a lot of car seats before, don’t worry if you remain confused… suffice it to say, the CloudQ base has problems not found on the other Cybex bases). The CloudQ installation problems are unfortunately seen in many other manufacturers’ bases, but until this point hadn’t been seen in a Cybex base.

If you have a CloudQ base you can refer to the videos in the Aton2/Q base sections above – but don’t be surprised if you have more difficulty with the CloudQ base installation.