Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat, Matrix Review. The new Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat is the only forward-facing car seat your child will need. Car Seat is the only forward-facing car seat your child will need. It helps keep him safe in a 5-point harness longer than most car seats, all the way up to 65 pounds. Later, the seat converts to a highback booster then backless booster, for comfortable, custom protection up to 100 pounds....
"better than radian or britax in my humble opinion" 2008-03-24
By Misstico (Bayside, NY)
So I did a LOT of reseach before buying this, read multiple message boards, then to the store to look at them, etc. This replaced a britax that was passed down to DD #2 for my rather large 4 yo girl(40lbs, 40inches)I want to keep her harnessed for as long as I can. I finally decided to go for it b/c of
1)price (though it really wasn't an object) but I am a big fan of bang for your buck,
2)sturdiness, i was never a fan of graco until i bought this seat. It's got a nice weight, sturdy frame.
3)comfort, memory foam! DD loves it, she sleeps very comfortably in it without slumping over like she used to.
4)size, not gigantic like the regent but large it enough to have a big kid sit in it
I was concerned about its looks but it's much better looking in person.
Finally, who can beat amazon's price!
I highly recommend it, I think it will last my DD until she's prob 7-8 yo (My average sized 8yo nephew fits!)
"Amazing Car Seat - Design and Value" 2008-05-31
By S. Dakin (Washington, DC United States)
My Wife, a Pediatrician, did a ton of research - with the first priority being safety, safety, and, I'll say it again, safety.
We were Britax users for our first car seats and found it a fine car seat, though pricey.
So, this time around, with our son growing too long for the Britax seats that we had, we decided to look at all the options.
Price was not part of the equation.
Design was not either.
Safety was it.
We highly recommend this Graco car seat (We have three now)
1) The price blows Britax away.
2) The design is very nice. Our son loves the drink holder as well as the toy "compartment" in the arm rests. He "hides" toys in the arm rests and has a lot of fun fooling us.
The installation was simple.
The headrest is extremely easy to use and to "fit".
The five point harness is critical to our son's safety and it is very easy to use. Though, it is slightly different than Britax, so there is a few days of getting used to a "new" system. After that, there is no problem.
Overall, we are very happy with Graco.
"Love this carseat!" 2008-03-14
By leighann (Alpharetta, GA United States)
I bought this seat two weeks ago for my six-year-old and we both love it. She's pretty close to 40 pounds and was about to outgrow her current seat. I'd like her harnessed a little longer in one of our vehicles that has "backseat issues". I was thrilled when this seat came out. I really like Graco products and since this was more of a want than a need, I couldn't justify $300 for some of the other higher-weight-harnessing seats.
Putting it together was a little weird. It was difficult to pop the arm rests in. It's supposed to make a click, but it was a very quiet sound. They must be in right, though, because she puts her weight on them getting in and out and they haven't wiggled.
The strap adjuster took some time to get used to. It has a shield over the release so a child can't loosen the straps. But this also means you can't see it, so you have to feel around for it.
The cupholder is great. It actually holds a real bottle of water rather than just a sippy cup. Big kids use water bottles!
I've installed it in my Camry with the lap/shoulder seatbelt and it went in like a dream. It will eventually be in the Jeep Cherokee. Although I haven't tried it in there, I don't anticipate any problems.
The headrest sticks when you raise and lower it, but it should loosen up and that won't need to be done all that often, anyway.
Be sure to pay attention to the specifics. Children must be one year old and weigh 20 pounds (both, not either/or) to use this seat and it's forward-facing only. Even though you can use it at 20 pounds, I'd recommend leaving your child rear-facing until 30-35 pounds (depending on the seat) in a convertible seat. Not only will your child be much safer, you'll get more use out of the Nautilus. Since the Nautilus expires after six years, if you get it for your one-year-old it'll expire when he's seven and you'll still need another booster. If you get it when he's two or three, it'll expire when he's eight or nine and can go straight into a seatbelt.
"great car seat for keeping kids harnessed longer" 2008-03-02
By Sara (Illinois)
I found this car seat while searching for something reasonably priced that would harness past 40 pounds. I bought a different seat first, but while it claimed to harness to 50# and 47", my 37 pound 2 year old was already too tall for it. I returned it and purchased the Nautilus. We are using the harness straps in the second hole down, so he still has a good deal of room to grow in this seat. The straps are extremely easy to adjust and installation was no problem. I use the vehicle seatbelts rather than LATCH. The arm rests are very sturdy. The cup holder is in a good location. I plan to keep him harnessed in this seat for hopefully 2 more years, or until he becomes too tall, and then continue to use this seat as a belt positioning booster. The headrest is very easy to adjust and is able to raise quite high. This seat can accomodate a 20# child, but it's much better to use a convertible seat and keep the child rear facing to 35#.
"All around good car seat" 2008-03-18
By Jayne Plant (Colorado Springs, CO)
This car seat is very well designed.
1. Good for tall kids.
2. The straps are on rollers, so that they are easy to tighten.
3. Straps are easy to tighten because of a loop design at the end.
4. The release buckle is easy to undo (Might be a con for some)
5. Cup holder on one side and storage compartment on the other side.
6. Very comfortable.
7. Not too big and not too heavy.
8. Nice click sound to make sure the straps have latched.
The only negative so far:
1. The straps tend to get twisted about 1 in 10 times.
By Misstico (Bayside, NY)
So I did a LOT of reseach before buying this, read multiple message boards, then to the store to look at them, etc. This replaced a britax that was passed down to DD #2 for my rather large 4 yo girl(40lbs, 40inches)I want to keep her harnessed for as long as I can. I finally decided to go for it b/c of
1)price (though it really wasn't an object) but I am a big fan of bang for your buck,
2)sturdiness, i was never a fan of graco until i bought this seat. It's got a nice weight, sturdy frame.
3)comfort, memory foam! DD loves it, she sleeps very comfortably in it without slumping over like she used to.
4)size, not gigantic like the regent but large it enough to have a big kid sit in it
I was concerned about its looks but it's much better looking in person.
Finally, who can beat amazon's price!
I highly recommend it, I think it will last my DD until she's prob 7-8 yo (My average sized 8yo nephew fits!)
By S. Dakin (Washington, DC United States)
My Wife, a Pediatrician, did a ton of research - with the first priority being safety, safety, and, I'll say it again, safety.
We were Britax users for our first car seats and found it a fine car seat, though pricey.
So, this time around, with our son growing too long for the Britax seats that we had, we decided to look at all the options.
Price was not part of the equation.
Design was not either.
Safety was it.
We highly recommend this Graco car seat (We have three now)
1) The price blows Britax away.
2) The design is very nice. Our son loves the drink holder as well as the toy "compartment" in the arm rests. He "hides" toys in the arm rests and has a lot of fun fooling us.
The installation was simple.
The headrest is extremely easy to use and to "fit".
The five point harness is critical to our son's safety and it is very easy to use. Though, it is slightly different than Britax, so there is a few days of getting used to a "new" system. After that, there is no problem.
Overall, we are very happy with Graco.
By leighann (Alpharetta, GA United States)
I bought this seat two weeks ago for my six-year-old and we both love it. She's pretty close to 40 pounds and was about to outgrow her current seat. I'd like her harnessed a little longer in one of our vehicles that has "backseat issues". I was thrilled when this seat came out. I really like Graco products and since this was more of a want than a need, I couldn't justify $300 for some of the other higher-weight-harnessing seats.
Putting it together was a little weird. It was difficult to pop the arm rests in. It's supposed to make a click, but it was a very quiet sound. They must be in right, though, because she puts her weight on them getting in and out and they haven't wiggled.
The strap adjuster took some time to get used to. It has a shield over the release so a child can't loosen the straps. But this also means you can't see it, so you have to feel around for it.
The cupholder is great. It actually holds a real bottle of water rather than just a sippy cup. Big kids use water bottles!
I've installed it in my Camry with the lap/shoulder seatbelt and it went in like a dream. It will eventually be in the Jeep Cherokee. Although I haven't tried it in there, I don't anticipate any problems.
The headrest sticks when you raise and lower it, but it should loosen up and that won't need to be done all that often, anyway.
Be sure to pay attention to the specifics. Children must be one year old and weigh 20 pounds (both, not either/or) to use this seat and it's forward-facing only. Even though you can use it at 20 pounds, I'd recommend leaving your child rear-facing until 30-35 pounds (depending on the seat) in a convertible seat. Not only will your child be much safer, you'll get more use out of the Nautilus. Since the Nautilus expires after six years, if you get it for your one-year-old it'll expire when he's seven and you'll still need another booster. If you get it when he's two or three, it'll expire when he's eight or nine and can go straight into a seatbelt.
By Sara (Illinois)
I found this car seat while searching for something reasonably priced that would harness past 40 pounds. I bought a different seat first, but while it claimed to harness to 50# and 47", my 37 pound 2 year old was already too tall for it. I returned it and purchased the Nautilus. We are using the harness straps in the second hole down, so he still has a good deal of room to grow in this seat. The straps are extremely easy to adjust and installation was no problem. I use the vehicle seatbelts rather than LATCH. The arm rests are very sturdy. The cup holder is in a good location. I plan to keep him harnessed in this seat for hopefully 2 more years, or until he becomes too tall, and then continue to use this seat as a belt positioning booster. The headrest is very easy to adjust and is able to raise quite high. This seat can accomodate a 20# child, but it's much better to use a convertible seat and keep the child rear facing to 35#.
By Jayne Plant (Colorado Springs, CO)
This car seat is very well designed.
1. Good for tall kids.
2. The straps are on rollers, so that they are easy to tighten.
3. Straps are easy to tighten because of a loop design at the end.
4. The release buckle is easy to undo (Might be a con for some)
5. Cup holder on one side and storage compartment on the other side.
6. Very comfortable.
7. Not too big and not too heavy.
8. Nice click sound to make sure the straps have latched.
The only negative so far:
1. The straps tend to get twisted about 1 in 10 times.
