Question Regent vs. Frontier vs. Nautilus

[vermontmoms]

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I have 5.5yr old twin boys and we are getting new carseats within the month. Currently they are in the Britax Marathons but they have reached the limits. My boys are 46.5in tall, 41lbs and have a seated height of 16.5in. We have no problem with weight restrictions but height wise we are at max and their heads are almost too high for the back of the marathon. That said, I a firm believer in extended harnessing and want them harnessed for as long as possible but I also want a seat that will grow with them (like the frontier or nautilus) and would like this to be the last seat we purchase.

So my questions to you is which seat should we go to next the Britax Frontier , Graco Nautilus or the Britax Regent, and why? I know there is a major price difference but my concerns isn't price but safety, comfort and longevity. Also, my one twin has some sensory issues and gets bothered by his marathon crotch strap; are any of the seats mentioned above better or worse in crotch tightness/adjust-ability?

Our other major concern is the ease of use with and w/out latch system. Right now we don't have a latch system and will need to switch the car seats from car to car on weekends (m-f seats will be in one car; sat and sun seats will be in different car). Right now, we love our marathons and they have been great and super easy to use with a seatbelt and to switch them from car to car easily. What do you suggest we buy? We are planning on getting a new car soon which will have a latch so which one works best on a seatbelt and which one works best in a latch system. We have two SUVs now and will get another SUV or a 3 row crossover by the end of the year.

As far as flying...yes we do fly often but we usually check our seats in the luggage bags and let the boys sit in the regular airplane seat.

Thanks for your help...
Jen

[firemomof3]

Hi Jen and welcome!
The Regent will keep your boys harnessed as long as possible (20" top harness slots vs. the Marathon's 17") and the regent offers much more crotch & shoulder room. It is a very comfortable seat but very heavy & its not the type of seat that your going to want to be switching from vehicle to vehicle

The Nautilus has slightly higher top harness slots (18.5") than the Frontier
(18 and some find that the Nautilus lacks enough shoulder room. But the Nautilus does switch from vehicle to vehicle easily.
The Frontier, as a booster seat, adjusts much higher than the Nautilus. I don't have any experience with the Frontier so I'll someone else tell you their experience with it.
Something else to consider is to buy the Regents for the boys and worry about buying a good dedicated booster seat later, which is what I personally would do.
Are the boys able to sit in a booster seat correctly? If they are you could always buy them 2 Graco turboboosters (on sale now at Target) to use on the weekends.

[horsesitaly]

The biggest downside I see to moving a Frontier is that the "foot" will flip back into booster mode, so you will have to make sure it is in harness mode (wish they would just make it lock into whichever position you want it in). I have not seen a Nautilus in person, so I can't compare anything about them.

Also, most vehicles don't allow the LATCH lower anchors to be used over 40 pounds. Check the owner's manual (or ask the dealer), and if that doesn't say (or they look at you like you have two heads) then someone here can look up info in the latest LATCH manual (mine is still in a box somewhere, and we moved a year ago!).

I used to have a Husky (precursor to the Regent) and I would NOT want to move that back and forth on a regular basis!

We are happy with our Frontier, but the straps are not as thick and un-twisty as other Britax seats, and I miss the little velcro piece on the harness strap that keeps the buckle tongue from slipping down to the end of the harness (and under dd's bum). The crotch strap is not as short/close to the body as on the Marathon, and it is adjustable (3 positions I think).

[ginny4]

ok i read your recent post with measurements on the ivillage.....& since i can't post a link to antoher board on IV i will post it here for you
graco nautilus measurements in this thread
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=32792

i'll keep looking for frontier measurements but in the mean time the britax website has a bunch of #s
http://www.britaxusa.com/products/pr...ail.aspx?ID=15