Nautilus Installation

[TriciaM]

I am hoping someone can shed some light on what it is that I am doing wrong. My daughter is 3 years old, over 40 inches tall and around 35 lbs. We moved her from the Britax Roundabout which I loved into a Graco Nautilus. The seat seemed nice and sturdy and I loved the cupholders and other features. But, we seem to have a few issues which is making me rethink the purchase:

1) We cannot use the 5 point harness. The buckle is way too short and when I have tried to secure her in, she is very uncomfortable.

2) I have a Ford Focus and I have noticed that her head slumps forward quite a bit when she falls asleep. We have tried reinstalling, using the tether, recline and nothing seems to help.

Any idea as to what we are doing wrong??

Thanks!

[bobandjess99]

Okay..well...something is VERY wrong. I'm betting the straps are somwhoe not routed correctly and/or "catching" on something...or the very, very slim possibility that you somehow got a shorter harness than everyone else...because that seats should ABSOLUTELY fit your child with the harness.
Did you adjust the harness yourself at all? If so, did you read the manual and pay very close attention to how to route the straps over the red rollers? Are there any "kinks" in the harness or anything like that?

My gramma has a focus...the seats are pretty darn upright, aren't they? The best you can do is to put the seat in recline mode, and install it correctly with seatbelt and top tether or bottom latch strap and the top tether. "head slump" in an older child is generally not a safety issue like in a newborn, where it can cut off teh airway...oit merely looks and sometimes feels uncomfortable. somepeople choose to stop using a particular car seat if the heald slump issue is that big/important to them. Personally, my DD has never complained about her head slump, and LOVES her nautilus, so we don't consider it abig deal. Kids vary though,LOL!


If you can not figure out how/why your harness is so short, pictures would help us, of the back especially showing how the harness is routed, and the front, showing how much strap you have.....also, making sure you are using the correct slots is important, and making sure that the headrest is not pulled down OVER the harness at all...that could artificially shorten the length of the harness.