Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate i-Size car seat review: the only car seat you'll ever need

How we tested the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate

• Two months of daily use 

• Tested with a seven-month-old baby

After installing the car seat in my Skoda Karoq, I used it for every journey. I mostly drove to and from baby classes in my local area around south east London, but on a few occasions took an hour-long trip to my in-law’s house in West Sussex. My seven-month-old, Emily, was happy to sit in it for the long journeys and also on occasions where we had to wait for rain to stop while the car was stationary. 

During testing, I scored the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate car seat out of five on a number of different criteria, including: installation, safety, stability, ease of use, comfort, design, ease of cleaning and value for money. This allowed me to get an overall feel of its performance.

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Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate: what’s in the box?

• Ultra i-Size car seat with integrated base

• Five-point plus anti-escape system

• From birth multi-stage seat insert

• Anti-slip, energy-absorbing chest and tummy protectors

• Extendable sun hood

• Vehicle compatibility list

• ISOFIX routing guides

• Four-year guarantee card

• Tuck-in tool

• Instruction manual

How easy is the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate to install?

The Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate can be installed easily using the support leg and your car’s ISOFIX points. The seat doesn’t detach from the base so there’s no need to use your car’s three-point adult seatbelt.

There are green/red indicators on the car seat to ensure correct installation which are very reassuring for parents who may not have installed a car seat before. You’ll also find a colour indicator on the harness buckle to show that it’s properly clicked into place. 

While I found the support leg tricky to adjust as it wasn't obvious where the release buttons were located, installation took me around five minutes in total. The instructions were simple to read, but I also looked at the installation videos on both the Cosatto website and YouTube to ensure I was confident with the process. 

I was so surprised by how easy the seat was to install that I even asked my husband to check it over afterwards for reassurance. The only real issue I had was the weight of the car seat which, at 14.5kg, was so heavy that I needed him to help me lift it into the back seat.

As the car seat came ready to use, there were very few items in the box. Included with the seat is an extendable sun hood, chest and tummy protectors, instruction booklet, vehicle compatibility list, ISOFIX routing guides, and a five-point anti-escape system in a bag. In the seat itself was a patterned, multi-stage insert with detachable parts.

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Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate: how does it look?

The Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate comes in two designs: Silhouette (black) and Whisper (neutral). I tested the Silhouette version, which has a plain black frame and matching pattern on the multi-stage insert. 

Featuring high-quality, breathable materials with smartly designed patterns to hide stains and scuffs, the car seat is also made from recycled plastic bottles - a bonus for eco-conscious families.

The seat design is ideal for a growing child, with a high-contrast pattern for younger babies without looking too babyish for older children. While I do think Cosatto could have given parents more colour options to choose from, I like that the two colourways offered are gender-neutral.

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Is the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate safe?

The All in All Ultra 360 Rotate has met the R129/03 (i-Size) safety standard, and passed mandatory side-impact and roll-over testing using the latest crash test dummies. Reassuringly, Cosatto also says that the car seat has been extensively tested beyond the standard R129 requirements, in line with the testing conducted by the German automobile club, ADAC, which undergoes some of the strictest crash testing in the world. 

As well as offering extended rear-facing capabilities till age four (or 105cm), which is the safest way for a child to travel, the car seat comes with a pop-out side impact protection system located on both sides, which is very reassuring in the event of a side-impact collision (it will absorb force away from your child’s head and neck). 

For peace of mind, it also comes with a quick-release five-point anti-escape system which is an optional safety addition if your child likes to try and wriggle out of their car seat. The non-thread harness also boasts energy-absorbing chest and tummy protectors.

Once I fitted the seat in my car, it felt very stable and I felt confident that my daughter, Emily, would be safe in it. It’s equally as stable in the front-facing position but, at seven months, she is still too young to travel in that direction. 

The shoulder/chest straps can be easily adjusted using an easy-access release button and pull cord. The detachable padding on straps are secured with a hidden metal hook which prevents them from slipping downwards. However, the buttons on the padding tended to pop open easily when strapping my daughter in. 

The underside of the protective padding around the straps has a rubbery feel, which may cause friction in the summer months, but during testing it didn’t irritate Emily’s skin in the slightest. There were no loose attachments or parts on the car seat that could come off and cause a danger so I was confident knowing she would be safe in the seat at all times. 

I would have felt more confident when first using this car seat if the instructions had more safety advice. A diagram for how a child should be safely seated and how tight the straps should be would have come in very useful, especially as a first-time mum.

What age is the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate suitable for and is it easy to adjust?

One of the most impressive features of this car seat is its ability to cater to different ages. The car seat can be used from birth (or 40cm) as a rear-facing seat with the removable insert.

There are useful diagrams on the car seat itself as a reminder to adjust the seat when necessary. A child of 40 to 76cm should be rear-facing. You then have the option to move the seat into a forward-facing position (at around 15 months), although your child should stay rear-facing for as long as possible - in this case up to 105cm (age four). 

For older children, the seat can be adjusted further while in the forward-facing position to accommodate a child up to 150cm (around 12 years old). The insert should be used for a child of 40 to 60cm and can be modified in stages before being removed completely once they are over 105cm. 

I was able to adjust the 11-position headrest easily and smoothly by pulling a strap on the top of the car seat. It also had an extra extension for older children with instructions on how to adjust the fabric and straps to accommodate a growing child. 

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What's the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate like to use day-to-day?

A highlight of the All in All Ultra is its smooth, one-handed 360-degree rotation, which allowed me to easily get my baby in and out of the car seat. When she’s older, this feature will then allow her to climb in and out herself. 

Transitioning from rear-facing to front-facing is effortless, thanks to the 360-degree spin facilitated by a release button on the base. Once rotated back, the seat then locks into place when it reaches the correct rear and front-facing positions.

When I unboxed the car seat, I was excited to see a magnet feature on either side of the seat that holds the harness open while getting my child in and out. Disappointingly, the magnets weren’t strong enough for their intended purpose despite a few tries. 

Aside from the weak magnets, it’s very easy to safely adjust the straps, even in a rush, and the car seat features a built-in, stow-away harness compartment when you need to switch the car seat between different age modes.

The car seat didn’t obstruct my view while driving nor cause a distraction. As Emily currently sits rear-facing, I am able to watch her using a baby mirror attached to the headrest.

During first use, I kept our old car seat in the back of the car as a precaution in case I didn't feel confident using the All in All Ultra 360 and needed a backup. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, but having the extra car seat there allowed me to see that there was still a lot of space available in the middle seat. On one day trip, we had two adults in the back of my Skoda Karoq alongside the car seat, which was a tight fit but still surprisingly comfortable. The seat and the base are slim compared to other car seats I’ve used.

While it could, in theory, be used in a second car or taxi if you're willing to move it, it's not very portable so is best used permanently in one car. As it has an integrated ISOFIX base, it’s not suitable for use in an aeroplane. 

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How comfortable is the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate?

My seven-month-old is generally very content in the All in All Ultra 360 Rotate, however I have noticed that she sits quite far forward when the multi-stage insert is in place.

Nevertheless, the seat provides plenty of room for my daughter’s feet while rear-facing, with lots of room to grow. The rebound bar, covered in padded fabric, offers extra protection in the event of a crash (and helps with the seamless 360-degree rotation), however the fabric tends to slide off easily when kicked. 

There are four recline positions for both the rear-facing and front-facing positions which are easy to set using a latch on the front of the seat. These allow for smooth adjustments even with my daughter in the seat. 

Emily finds the car seat so comfortable that she often drifts into sleep within 10 minutes on most car journeys. On longer trips, she wakes up after a lengthy nap and is happy to continue sitting in it.

I like the extendable hood, which successfully shelters her from the sun. This will be very handy during the summer months for providing maximum shade and UV protection in place of a car sunshade.

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Does the car seat come with any extras?

Aside from the sunshade, the car seat doesn’t come with any extras but I don’t think this is necessary. A nice-to-have addition would be a designated clip or bar to attach toys, a common feature in many car seats, but it’s not something I’d consider essential.

Is the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate easy to clean?

Reassuringly, you can remove the car seat covers for machine-washing. I haven't had to remove them completely for cleaning yet as there have been no major accidents, however I have used baby wipes to mop up small spills. As I've been testing the Silhouette (black) version, most of the marks and stains are well hidden.

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Is the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate good value for money?

Overall, I think the Cosatto All in All Ultra 360 Rotate offers incredible value for money considering it can be adjusted and extended for a child from birth up to age 12. 

It comes with all the features you could possibly need, including an impressive 360-degree swivel, pop-out side impact protection and extendable sun hood, and has a hard-wearing fabric that’s easy to clean. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to other parents.

About the author

Rachel Best is a Senior Developer at Mumsnet and mum of one. She has worked at Mumsnet for almost 12 years and has developed an exceptional amount of knowledge on what parents are looking for when it comes to baby products, most recently becoming part of our trusted team of parent testers.

About the editor

Laura Westerman is an editor, writer and Deputy Head of Editorial Content at Mumsnet. Mum to a one-year-old, she is fully invested in finding the best and most affordable products for families.

With over seven years' experience as a full-time editor, five of which have been spent writing, commissioning and editing product reviews and round-ups, Laura has a keen eye for what parents love and likes nothing more than putting together honest reviews to make parents' lives that little bit easier. 

In addition to her work as a writer and editor, she has also appeared in a number of product review videos for Mumsnet's YouTube channel.

About Mumsnet Reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of research and testing. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage.