As I mentioned above, my daughter is now starting to use the car seat as a booster. The first time my daughter figured out how to undo the seat belt, it terrified me. She now knows how to buckle and unbuckle herself safely, which is great if we’re in a hurry, but I graco travel system still worry that she’ll all of a sudden decide to unbuckle herself while we’re driving. Like most car seats, it buckles in the center across your child’s chest as well as in between their legs. The Nautilus allows LATCH to be used while in high back booster mode.
The fabric looks nice but feels cheap compared to the competition and there isn’t much padding for comfort. On the upside, we didn’t see any defects on our product or inconsistencies like poor stitching or loose connections. The Graco is fairly easy to use, though not the top of the pack. Buckling the Graco is easy, but children do need to reach back pretty far thanks to the height of the seat. The vehicle belt retainers do a good job of keeping the belt positioned correctly and children didn’t have any trouble using them. This combination seat will last you and your child for years to come as it converts from a harnessed seat to a belt-positioning booster, to a backless booster.
It fits most kids well in all modes, and installs well in most vehicles. I had a problem with the seat belt installation in a 2015 BMW M235i. Because my model is over the weight limit for the lower anchors, I did not attempt a lower anchor install.
However, when it comes to the price tag, the Nautilus is still cheaper than both of these other seats. You’re getting a great, high-quality car seat at a fraction of the cost of a Britax car seat. It’s relatively easy to find any important car seat information you may need graco travel system right on the seat itself. Whether it’s the expiration date or the model number, just look for the sticker on the outside bottom of the seat. Securing the Child – This category looks at the ease of using the features that secure the child correctly into the car seat.
While Latching is recommended for this seat, it might to give you a tight fit like when you use your vehicle’s seat belt. However, you may find the LATCH a bit more difficult to use except when converting the seat to a booster. It’s not even the fact that it’s incredibly safe which makes this seat so attractive, but the fact that it comes with different modes which offer a simple transition for your kid. In other words, this is one of those child safety seats that grow with your child. Size is often a major problem for parents when looking for the right safety seat for their babies.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The IIHS ranks the Nautilus as a Best Bet when used in highback mode; the Britax Frontier earns the same rating. Consumer Reports gave the Nautilus its top rating for crash protection (“excellent”), scoring it at the top of its rankings of 12 harnessed boosters. The Nautilus’s biggest competitor is the Britax Frontier, so let’s see how they compare. The Britax Frontier is bigger and wider than the Nautilus—and the Britax seat works up to 90 lbs.
In fact, it doesn’t only meet all the safety requirements required for child car seat but also exceeds them. Apart from its innovative designs, this convertible car seat comes with a lot of impressive features that would make parents fall in love with it. It does not only provide adequate protection for babies and toddlers, but is also versatile enough to accommodate even the older kids that are in preschool. If you have ever spent an hour trying to rethread those dastardly car seat straps into a bigger slot for your growing kid, then you will appreciate this feature!
Overall, though, the belt fit was good, with the lap belt low on her hips and the shoulder belt on her collarbone. Because there is no headrest or slots, she could continue to use this until 57″, 120 pounds, or the belt fit was no longer good. The high back mode often provides a proper belt fit for most children. The lap belt goes low enough along the hips, the shoulder belt is nicely adjustable and centers along the collarbone well. In this mode our model was still on the second to highest position, since the belt guides are above the slots for the harness.
The Nautilus DLX and Nautilus 80 Elite have a built in lockoff. Graco states to use the lockoff when installing with a lap and shoulder belt instead of locking the retractor. The lockoff is easy to use, and it’s familiar to parents who have used most Graco lockoffs for the past eight years or so. A gray and red arm that clamp down in opposite directions from one another.