Nautilus crotch strap....

[daycaremom2002]

Has anyone had any concerns over the length of the crotch strap on the GN? I recommended it to someone in my tech class for his almost 3yo, and he went and bought it. He just called and said that the crotch buckle is on her belly and there is at least 1 1/2 inches of space between the harness and her thighs.

Is this ok? I know some of the old seats had long buckles and were ok to use. He is worried that it might impact her tummy and injure her in a wreck. He called our lead instructor and asked her, and she told him that if he wasn't comfortable with it, then it isn't ok.

I am going to forward this thread to him so he has access to this site and its wonderful resources in the future.

[ffpmcps]

Do you know the stats for his child. I would be worried that she is awfully small if it fits her that way. I tried my then 16mo, 21lb DD in ours when we first got it. (Just for fun and pics, she still rides RF in her ET). Here is a pic http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=33629 You can see that the crotch buckle comes up a little, but I wouldn't say it is on her belly. If I remember correctly, she wasn't very far from it either, less that 1 1/2" from what I remember. If it is fitting her that way she sounds as if she is def too small. :twocents: Hopefully he comes here and could maybe even post a pic.

Andrea

[daycaremom2002]

I will ask him to either send me a pic, or post one himself. He said she is on the second set of slots with the padding removed. I am not sure how far the crotch buckle is from the child, I just know that the harness is above her thighs. He said she is 2 years and 8 months old. She was in a Safety 1st seat that he just found out expired in December. He said that the buckle was under her in the first slot, so he moved it out.

I will have to ask for pictures.

[Mattkarn]

I would probrally move the buckle back to the first slot and see it the buckle sits better on her. :twocents:

[daycaremom2002]

I would probrally move the buckle back to the first slot and see it the buckle sits better on her. :twocents:

The first slot is underneath her. The manual says to use the slot closest to, but not under. This was my first thought too. I am going to ask for pictures to see exactly what he is talking about.

[snowbird25ca]

The old Triumph 5 carseats had insanely long buckles - with young kids you'd sometimes see the buckle right up above their navel - it's just the way the harness was.

I haven't observed the buckle being really long like that in any of the Nautilus pic's so far, so it'll be interesting to see how the seat is fitting his dd.

As for safety, I know there wasn't any safety concern over the Triumph 5's long buckle even though it was against the abdomen, so I don't see it likely that there'd be a safety concern with the Nautilus unless it meant the harness was really fitting poorly... but if that's the case the buckle may be in the wrong position for his dd. Somebody else posted pic's of a kid in the seat who would need the lowest slots and they fit fine.

Maybe someone could dig out some pictures of their kids in Triumph 5 seats to give you an idea of just how long a buckle I'm talking about? I never had the seat, otherwise I'd happily share them. But I'm sure someone here must. :thumbsup:

[monzogary]

Here is how the Nauti fits my two dds.

DD3 is 4.5 yo, 40 3/4" tall, 45# and has a 14 3/4" torso; the crotch strap is longer than in her Britax, but not unusually so.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/monzogary/0307081347.jpg

DD2 is 7.25 yo, 46 1/4" tall, 50# and has a 17" torso; the crotch strap seems to fit her fine.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/monzogary/P3030003-1.jpg

And just for comparison, the old style Triumph with the insanely long crotch strap. DD2 was 2 yo and under 30# here.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/monzogary/01-03-04035.jpg

I think the Nautilus has a decent length strap, not too long and not too short. DD3 sometimes complains about her Britax Wizard pinching her when we buckle her as the strap is shorter and she has decent size thighs.

HTH!

[daycaremom2002]

Thanks for the pictures Mary. That is exactly what I needed. I think his DD fits like yours. The picture of the Triumph 5 was exactly what I was describing to him. I will have him look at these pictures and see if he can get a pic of his DD to compare.

So, even with the crotch strap as long as the Triumph, there were no worries about abdominal injuries? That is what I thought, but it is great to have the re-assurances of some experienced techs on this.

[joolsplus3]

No, there's no concern about abdominal injuries. They just don't exist in harnessed kids, despite a wide variety of harness geometries (the Husky and Airway were shockingly long on some kids, too). The main forces will be spread out enough on the shoulders and hips that the buckle is insignificant.

:thumbsup:

[daycaremom2002]

Thanks. That is what I was thinking, I just needed a good way to say it!! LOL.