Customer Reviews

Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat, Matrix

5 star:		(704)
4 star:		(246)
3 star:		(70)
2 star:		(44)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I own 2 Britax Frontiers in Pink, and the Graco Nautilus in pink as well. As a Mother who owns both models, I will tell you the major differences between these two seats from my point of view.
#1 Frontier is more expensive (which is why I got the Nautilus for my spare)
#2 Frontier is SO much easier to adjust the shoulder height strap. With a simple squeeze of a lever, the straps go up. The Graco needs to be rethreaded. This is BIG pain when you have another child who wants to use the seat. With the Frontier, it is no biggie to pull the lever.
#3 Frontier seat material is prone to wear where the child's bottom and legs rub on the seat. It also shows WAY more stains and soaks up spills quicker than the Graco.
#4 Frontier has 3 crotch strap adjustments for easy fitting. The Graco only has 2 which makes the older kids sit on the strap. This can get uncomfortable. My oldest DD takes the pad off of the crotch strap on the Frontier (she says it makes the seat look like a "baby seat" with the pad), but she can not do this with the Graco, as the crotch strap rubs on her legs causing red irritation when wearing shorts. The graco pad is very thick and wraps the entire strap (between the legs) and then goes up to sit on the belly. She does not seem to mind sitting on it, but it does not look too comfortable to me.
#5 Padding on Frontier is WAY thicker (on both seat and seat back)and more comfortable to sit on. I can't imagine that the Graco would be comfortable for long trips.
#6 Heads slump forward for younger kids when sleeping in the Graco. The "wings" around the head are very fat (giving the appearance of a "yonger child's seat") and are so close to the child's head that it causes it to go forward when sleeping. The frontier has wider "wings" and are perfect for sleeping children. The "wings" are farther away from the head and are angled just right as to allow sleeping and looking out the window. The "wings" are thinner and have more of a "big" kid look. This thinner look in NO WAY implies that Graco is safer for the thicker "wings", as Britax states that its wings are "true side impact protection". Graco does not state this. The plastic around wings appear to be of stronger material on the Frontier, even though they are thinner. Frontier also has the "hugs" system on the harness to minimize forward head movement. Graco does not.
#7 The Graco has only a 12.5 inch seat width for the child to move around in. The Frontier has a 12.5 seat area around the tush, but opens to a spacious 17 inch wide seat. This may not be an issue for the younger kids, but the older ones need more space. This may, however, be an issue for small cars.
#8 Cup holder and "hidden" storage are neat in the Graco. The Frontier has 2 cup holders, but they can not both be out, as one hits the door when installed on far right or left. The cup holders also do not go smoothly in and out when installed in the vehicle, as the seat blocks the cup holder from retracting. This does not happen when the seat is not snugged down, but when installed..... This is not too much of an issue as we just leave them out. This is only an issue when I have a third child trying to walk to the back 3rd row between 2 Frontiers with cup holders out!

Bottom line. If you need a car seat around the time that Britax has a sale, I would get it over the Graco. The price difference at that time would only be $50. I think that your big kids will be happier in the Frontier. If you have a smaller child, remember, he/she will be a big kid soon!

The crotch strap.

This seat looked ideal in every way. I liked it right out of the box, and when I put it together. It was exactly what I was looking for.

Then, I sat our average-sized 3 1/2 year old in it, boxed it up and sent it back, very disappointed.

The crotch strap, in the closest position, was beneath the back of my son's crotch. In the farther (and only other) position, it was even with, and slightly pressing against, the front of my son's crotch. In other words, no room to grow whatsoever. There is no way possible that this seat would allow my son to sit comfortably in a five-point harness all the way up to 65 pounds. At that point, the strap would be well beneath his crotch and be uncomfortable and dangerous. No way... and I really wanted it to. If there was one additional slot for the strap, an inch or so farther out, this seat would be PERFECT, in my opinion.

So, I gave this seat a 3 out of 5. For a younger child, or one just reaching my son's age and size (again, he is very average in weight, height), I would probably rate this seat a 5. But, since it clearly will not be able to do what it says it should do, up to 65 pounds, I cannot give it a 5. I honestly don't know how any child can be accomodated in this seat up to 65 pounds, unless they are a very, very skinny 65 pounds.

If Graco updates this seat to add one extra slot an inch or so farther out for the strap, I would buy it again immediately. I was, and am, a little angry that the seat won't work as advertised. Buyer beware; look up the few other comments on the crotch strap first. Then, please, go to the store and "test seat" this seat before buying, and please consider how big your child will be at 3 1/2, or older. Otherwise, you may find the same disapointing fact I did.

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!)

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.

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.

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#.

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.

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.

After two weeks of research using [...] and Amazon, I stumbled across the Nautilus in another person's review. After trying out a couple of car seats in store we decided to buy the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 for our 5 yr (38 lbs, 42in) daughter. She is too tall for her Cosco Alpha Omega, but I did not feel good about putting her in a booster because she is under 40 lbs. Plus, the new recommendations are that kids should remain in 5 pt harness seat for as long as possible. I was considering the Britax Regent (Britax's website has excellent info on exact measurments of their seats) The hightest strap placement on the market-but is way too big to fit comfortably in my Ford Escape, no cup holder or booster option, and daughter said not comfortable. The SafeGuard Go (the second highest strap placement but top tether is required for install), two of my friends have this seat and love it. I liked compactness and portability, but really wanted a bit more padding and recline option. The Britax Frontier sounds good, but no stores have it yet and the Nautilus is very similar for almost half the price. What I like about the Nautilus is that it's well padded and reinforced with steel. My daughter is in the next to highest strap setting, so I'm hoping I can get two years out of the harness option. In any case she will be well over 40 pds by the time she grows out of the harness and will be able to use it as a booster. I like the cup holder (while this may seem like a small thing there have been several fights in my car about cup holders between my girls) it's part of the seat so it doesn't stick out and seems deep enough to prevent tipping, it also has two nifty cubbies on the inside of the chair. I'm hoping they won't be major dirt collectors, but daughter likes them for her little toys. It is very easy to loosen and tighten straps unlike the Alpha Omega where I really had to tug and still wasn't satified with tightness. I put it together and installed in about 1/2 hour and that included reading the manual. Moving the straps up or down is not complicated, but it does need to be removed from car to do. It has a recline option, but I have to say it is very negligible, like 5% at most. My daughter does not sleep in the car and no other seat of this nature has that option that I've found. We take a very long car trip every summer and I am concerned she will not be able to sleep through the night. I may get some kind of travel pillow. I would think for a younger child who still naps this might be a problem. I had no problems installing using latch & tether, it is nice and tight. (again read manual b/c once child is over 40-48 lbs you need to use seatbelt to install which would probably add time to install. I think the Nautilus is a great option for keeping your precious cargo safe and secure for a very good price. This is the 8th carseat I've purchased between my two kids, grandma and aunties' car and feel I have quite a bit of expierience when it comes to different features. Do your research and decide what features YOU need. All car seats have to meet minimum standards and correct usage and installation is the most important part. Know your child's height/weight and limitations of the seat. Most kids grow too tall for a seat before they reach the weight limits. If you are looking for a harness option for your older child I think this is a great seat!!

I too am wondering why the price is so expensive on here, compared to Walmart (where we bought ours). The only thing I can think of is that this carseat is so high in demand, and sold out at many places, that they are selling it from a company with a really high price. I would definately wait until the price goes down to get this seat. That said, this carseat is absolutely the best one yet. I origally wanted to buy one for my three year old nephew (who I care for) because his seat was getting outdated. Instead, I ended up buying two of these, one for him and one for his 5 year old sister. She was already in a plain booster seat, but I decided to buy this so she can be in a harness longer. Now, she should fit with the harness until she is at least 7, which is a whole lot safer. She actually doesn't mind being back in a carseat, because this seat is so cool, with it's cup holder and two "secret treasure holders." I also love the buckle (which I can open with one hand) compared to my nephew's old system. It is also easier for my neice to buckle the harness then to buckle herself into her booster seat using the car seat belt. So much faster! Another bonus, this carseat is also safe for one year olds on up. I do home daycare and occasionally have different kids using the seats. This carseat has straps that are the absolute easiest to adjust. It litterally takes seconds. I origally thought the price of $150 was high (and that was when I was planning on buying just one!), but it truly is the last carseat you will need to buy. It is a fantasic carseat and soo worth the price. There are probably more expensive carseats that aren't as nice. And for the added piece of mind of having them in a harness longer, priceless.