Pics of 8 yo in Nautilus

[bobandjess99]

While at my sister in laws, I took her little girl out to the van to see how she fits in the Nautilus. She is barely 67 pounds, 8.5 years old, and 4'8' tall.
She absolutely couldn't fit into the harness, is about 2 inches over the highest slots. Wth the headrest up in the highest possible position, she could be using it as a BPB, the guide is just barely at/above her shoulders.

There was plenty of room at the hips, the girl is a beanpole. Her shoulders were a little scrunched IMO, but she said it felt fine. I took a closeup of her leg sticking out over the seat..her femur is a good 4 inches longer than the depth of the seat, so I imagine it would not be very comfortable for long.
The crotch strap was coming out from under her....and you can see what a small, thin girl she is...anyone with a more..uumm..substantial bottom area would certainly have issues, IMO.
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/room/IMG_0168.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/room/IMG_0165.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/room/IMG_0166.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/room/IMG_0164.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/room/IMG_0167.jpg

[scatterbunny]

I expect that's how my dd will also fit at that age. She's almost too tall for the harness now, at 4'3" and 59 pounds, not quite 7 years old. However, she's in the 90th+ percentile for height. I imagine this girl is tall for her age, as well.

[StarrNanny]

Great!

She's adorable BTW, and also... I am horrified that she is only one inch shorter than me and she is 8.

[ginny4]

NICE PICS!! she is so SKINNY. well my DS is similary skinny too & he too was squished in the seat. my almost 9yo
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a35/lundtv/2008-2009.jpg
so if you ask me longevity of the GN is just not there.

[firemomof3]

In response to ginny, I totally agree with you. But, what else is there? It seems that the new Frontier won't be any better, I'm not quite sure what Britax was thinking. It has lower harness slots but a higher weight limit. Don't they know that children outgrow the seats by height before weight? Its frustrating!

[ginny4]

In response to ginny, I totally agree with you. But, what else is there? It seems that the new Frontier won't be any better, I'm not quite sure what Britax was thinking. It has lower harness slots but a higher weight limit. Don't they know that children outgrow the seats by height before weight? Its frustrating!

i thought it was foolish to take harness height away with the frontier as well. i'd say that the majority of people aren't interested in harnessing their 8yo like "we" do. in fact i was only interested in harnessing my DD & YDS til 6yo. I KNOW the regent would do that & i'm sure that it would have been fine in the GN as well. personally i was not thrilled with the lack of shoulder space on the GN. i don;t think GRACO actually sat some bigger kids in the seat! that's why we opted for the regent. it would have been better to keep the harness height of regent with the ability to booster too. i think they could've done it.

other than the LACK of harness height the frontier looks promising. it offers much more shoulder space than the GN (or at least from what i can tell with the specs) which is HIGHLY important to me. i LOVE that it can latch in booster mode for extra security & the TSIP of the headwings.

i'm anxious to get my hands on it justto test it out. sit my kids in it. see if it actually is THAT good.

it is frustrating! the frontier will STINK for the VERY TALL kids who just truly need the regents harness height

[firemomof3]

Very good points. My 4.5y/o daughter is tall/skinny so the GN works great but my son is of average height but heavy so I think the Frontier will be great for my little linebacker! :)

[scatterbunny]

Keep in mind, it's a lot harder for a seat to pass testing/head excursion limits the higher the top slots get. I think any harnessed seat that can keep average-sized kids harnessed comfortably to age 6-8 is a great seat. :thumbsup: The Nautilus can do that. My daughter is taller than an average (50th percentile) 8yo right now, at 6y9mo. Therefore, it doesn't really surprise me that she's almost too tall for the Nautilus. :twocents:

[wondering1]

Still lovin the Regent here. I've got time to wait for a new amazing something or another to come along. DC may not outgrow the Regent until around age 10, over 4 years from now.

[Mommy2Five]

That's one LONG and SKINNY 8 y/o!!!

My oldest (who will be 9 in June) is 75th percentile for height, and still fits in the GN harness!

[megabloxs]

Aren't the Frontier and GN the same
height slots? I have measured the GN
as 18.25 when I had it, and the Frontier
says 18.5.

So they seem to be the same, or close
enough to it.