Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat, Matrix
by Graco Baby
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List Price: Our Price: $137.50 You Save: $52.49 (28%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $136.95 (click here) Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat, Matrix
Customer Review: Excellent car seat, but something you need to know!
Summary: 4 Stars
My little guy was only 3 when he hit 40 lbs and needed to move out of his car seat instead of the usual 4. There are a limited number of boosters that have the 5-point-harness option and I really felt my younger child still needed this feature. The studies show the 5-point-harness should be used as long as possible so I didn't want to take him out of that prematurely. This was the best value cited by Consumer Reports. The other good 5-point-harness seat is the Britax Frontier which is twice the cost and doesn't seem to have any selling features to make it worth the extra $. Some people have said it's more comfortable, but my kid seems happy in the Graco seat, even on very long trips.
THAT SAID! Anyone buying ANY car seat should feel really comfortable with quickly opening the center buckle from different places in the car. I had some scary moments with this one when it would not open no matter how hard I pulled down on the latch with my thumbs. I was freaking out because I could not get my child out of the car - not so much because of the immediate situation, but what if we were in an emergency situation and I couldn't get him out? I have figured out that it will always release if you PUSH down on the button from above - somehow the angle is just better (?) but that's really only easy to do from the outside of the vehicle and is more of a challenge from the front, say, if the car were sinking in water and you're reaching back to get him (my biggest fear as it happens). I've worked around it but it still makes me a bit nervous. I hope this is not a product-wide problem - I'm hopeful since nobody else mentioned it?
Customer Review: Is this false advertising?
Summary: 1 Stars
We are very disappointed with the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1. I am particularly disappointed in the false presentation of this carseat by Graco. My husband and I have agreed we will hesitate before buying a Graco product again.
We have a 3 1/2 year old boy who is 35 lbs and average height. He is much too small for a booster and we wanted a good seat that would keep him in the five point harness as long as possible for safety. Statements like "The Nautilus features an extended five-point harness design that can accommodate children over the age of one, from 20 to 65 pounds in weight", "Forward-facing car seat can accommodate children up to 65 pounds." and "Its five-point harness accommodates children up to 65 pounds" convinced us to buy what seemed like a good affordable carseat. And it IS a beautiful carseat.
But the statement in the instruction manual that if the crotch strap is under your child then you need to change to the booster made us send it back! Our son is not large, he is very average to a little small in size and he was sitting directly on top of the crotch strap when the strap was in the furthest position. Not only would this be uncomfortable and unsafe, the manual says not to use the carseat this way. So we were faced with placing a 35 lb child in a booster seat! No Way!!
We shipped it back immediately (at a cost of $20) and bought the Apex 65 which he fits in very nicely with room to grow.
Graco either needs to add a third slot for the crotch strap to this carseat or change their advertising because their current wording is very tricky, bordering on false!
Customer Review: Great carseat!
Summary: 4 Stars
I love this carseat so much, I'm going to purchase another one for our other car! I was having a hard time finding a carseat that was high-weight on the 5-point harness that didn't cost a ton of $$. My kid is a car sleeper, so good head support was a must (this is an issue with my other carseat now).
It has great head support for when he falls asleep, nice deep, wide cupholder, and is the most secure fit I've gotten in any of my carseats so far! My 30-month, 30-pound son is very comfy, and it's super easy to adjust around his clothing, etc. NOTE: I don't recommend putting it together in a parking lot at 11PM in winter, as it takes some time to assemble and is hard to do with cold fingers :)
UPDATE 9/24/10: I have to knock this down a star now that my kid has grown some more. We had to remove him from the 5-point harness just before his 5th birthday, even though he's only about 44lbs. The crotch strap on this is TOO CLOSE to the back of the seat. So when we buckle him in 5-point, it smushes his 'stuff' and makes him uncomfortable for the whole ride. It became so much of an issue that we had to discontinue use of the harness and go to the belt. The whole reason I got this was for the high-weight limit on the 5-pt. In addition, it's VERY hard to clean. Easy enough to get the pads off and wash, etc, but when you disassemble it there are a ton of little crevices that are filled with nasty stuff (cracker crumbs, raisins, you name it) that is SO hard to get out! It's at 4 stars (down from 5) due mainly to the crotch strap issue, though...but still very comfy and easy to buckle into.
Customer Review: More practical than Britax Boulevard
Summary: 5 Stars
My first car seat was a Britax Boulevard for my first daughter. I figured safety was a bigger weighing factor at that time (first-born), and Britax Boulevard rated very highly on top. But I struggle to put the seat belt on the Britax Blvd every time. I have to dig into my daughter's butt to get the buckle out everytime. To this day, I still do. My 2nd, 3rd and 4th car seats are Graco Nautilus. I bought three of them at different times. I like the Graco Nautilus better than the Britax Boulevard, because I think the Graco is more user-friendly and ergonomically correct. With the Graco, seat belt is easiler to put on. Both of my two daughters fights over the Graco, but the 3 year old always gets her way. So I have my 3 year old (32 pounds) sitting on the Graco Nautilus and my 4 year old (42 pounds, 45 inches) sitting on the Britax Blvd. The seat on the Britax Blvd is high, so my 4 year old always bumps her head on the top of the car whenever loading/unloading, and she always complains that she does not have a cup holder. So she give me her sippee cup and I put it in the front driver seat. I think the Graco is more practical and can be used longer. My Britax Blvd is about to retire soon (about 1-1/2 to two years old only and still in excellent condition), since my youngest does not want to sit on it, and my 4 year old is getting too tall for it. Graco is the way to go. My recommendation is to just buy one rear-facing, and then transition directly to the Graco Nautilus. Also, Graco has the 5 point harness which will keep my daughters safer for longer.Customer Review: Safe Seat, Great Price
Summary: 4 Stars
I did a ridiculous amount of research before I went ahead and bought this seat and I am not sorry I did! My son is 3 years old, 40 inches and about 36 pounds. He is not a skinny child but not overtly large. He's very verbal and has made it clear that he is comfortable in this seat and the cupholder is the cats meow. I know a lot of reviewers complain about the crotch strap issue and when I first tried my son in the seat a year ago he didn't fit well, but suddenly then he did closer to 2.5. I realized later it's The Diaper Situation. Now that he's in underpants there is no problem. I noticed most of the online review complaining about this are from parents with younger boys and I can only assume most of them were in diapers. I cannot see him fitting as comfortably at 65 pounds, but I also haven't ordered the extender so that is a bridge we'd cross later. I spoke with the folks at SafeSeat and they confirm that is perfectly ok for the crotch strap to be under the child's rear as long as the child is comfortable with it being brought around to the front to be fastened properly.
The seat has an incredibly easy install, is comfortable and safe. The price was right, it's attractive in appearance, the covers come off easily for cleaning, and we've had zero troubles with customer service. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because it's very heavy and cumbersome. I don't intend to carry it around with me, but we do fly often. I'll have to figure something out then.