Can a Frontier or Nautilus be used in booster mode without removing the harness straps?

[SDMama]

The reason that I am asking this, I'm thinking of getting a Nautilus as a second seat in my husbands car to take my daughter to school. I also have a younger 3 year old and thought it would be great to get something that he could use as well, since usually there is only one of our children in his car. If we are taking both, we use my car. I'm deciding between a Nautilus or a Monterey booster for our extra seat in my husbands car.

[joolsplus3]

Technically the answer is no, but I don't think there's a real safety reason behind that. You're aware the Monterey has no harness, yes?

[bobandjess99]

technically no, as jools said, but it actually falls into that "parental decision" category. I will say I do let my stepson use it as a booster with the harness in....I see nothing wrong with it, and it is certainly easier than uninstalling the seat....

[SDMama]

Yes, I am aware that the Monterey is just a booster...which is why I'm looking at the Nautilus first as the extra seat for husband's car in case I can use it for my son without moving his Marathon out of my car every time.

[SDMama]

I went to Babies r us today and tried out both kids in the Nautilus. They totally can be at the same height as far as shoulder straps and when my son sits in it with the head part where it's supposed to be, it doesn't overlap with the belt. The reason why I didn't just buy it right then was because the sales person and I could not figure out how to move the belt straps easily. There is some cage thing over it and some roll bar that the belt has to go over. The sales person also said that I needed one of those metal Graco things to clamp down the seat belt. I'm not sure if she's right or not. I just noticed, coming from a Britax Marathon, that it's hard to accept anything else. It's just so easy to install a Britax with the red clamp down.

[bobandjess99]

NOOOOO
disregard the stupid BRU lady.
you ABSOLUTELY do NOT need a locking clip, unless you have the type of seat belts which require it, and the odds aren't high on that.... What vehicle are you putting the seat in? If it has LATCH, that is probably the easiest install.

the straps are actuall yVERY easy to change, it is really very easy to thread them through the "cage" thing, takes a few seconds, maybe a minute...

Hope you love the seat!

[SDMama]

I found the Nautilus manual at gracobaby.com and totally see how easy it is. It's a shame that the lady assigned to carseats had no idea. She was helping all sorts of people. Thank goodness for this site. I just wish more people knew about it. I've been spreading the word.;)

[SDMama]

Oh, one more thing, not sure if I mentioned it in the thread before but my two kids are on the same strap height. My DD is almost at and my DS is a little below.

[snowbird25ca]

Oh, one more thing, not sure if I mentioned it in the thread before but my two kids are on the same strap height. My DD is almost at and my DS is a little below.

I know you have some other threads and may have mentioned it there, but how much does your dd weigh? Since both kids would need same strap height, if they're both under 65lbs I'd just use the seat harnessed for both of them.

I just honestly would never be comfortable with a 3yr old in a booster. Kids that age need to be in a harness to be protected in a vehicle...

[SDMama]

My DD is 52 lbs and will still be in the harness. My son is 32 and will still be in the harness of course. My question about having one in the harness and the other in the booster and leaving the harness on there is for when she grows out of the harness. I'm guessing she has about a year left in height on the Nautilus. We'll see, I'm waiting to get it in the mail. She'll have a Frontier in my car.

Thanks for your help!