Nautilus in booster mode

hesgimenez

New member
On Friday I noticed that it appears K's shoulders are above the top slot on his Decathalon in DH's car. Since Target has the Nautilus on sale this week we decided to buy one. DH did question if we would need to buy yet another seat after this one. I told him no this does it all.

So my question is, is the Nautilus a good seat in booster mode? I would think we have at least a solid year before we would need to switch (he's a smidge below the second to top slot). But I really don't want to have this seat and find out it isn't a very good booster seat and then to buy another seat for DH's car.

K is 4y10 1/2m, at least 43" and about 50lbs.

Thank you!
 
ADS

arly1983

New member
I have tried it on 3 kiddos in highback booster mode and was very pleased with the fit.

An eight year old, a big, tall 5.5 yr old and a skinny tall six yr old. They all fit very well. I love this seat as a back to keep for riding kiddo friends. It fits so many different sizes and ages though though it takes practice before taking the harness in and out gets easy.

I haven't used it as a backless booster yet. The target sale is awesome and I have the tan/grey/orange piping version and its nice.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
IME, it doesn't fit the tiniest booster riders well (and a 50# kid is well out of that category), but it's pretty good on most other kids.
 

hesgimenez

New member
I have tried it on 3 kiddos in highback booster mode and was very pleased with the fit.

An eight year old, a big, tall 5.5 yr old and a skinny tall six yr old. They all fit very well. I love this seat as a back to keep for riding kiddo friends. It fits so many different sizes and ages though though it takes practice before taking the harness in and out gets easy.

I haven't used it as a backless booster yet. The target sale is awesome and I have the tan/grey/orange piping version and its nice.

That's good to know that it fits a variety of sizes-as I will use it in my car for extra passengers too.

IME, it doesn't fit the tiniest booster riders well (and a 50# kid is well out of that category), but it's pretty good on most other kids.

No he isn't tiny :p.

Thank you both for your replies!

Off to play with the seat now that I know I am keeping it.
 

firemomof3

New member
I have tried 5 different age/size kids, the smallest being a 5y/o 45lbs. and the biggest being 7.5y/o 60lbs. and the GN provided a great fit with all of them :thumbsup:
I used the GN in my Kia Sedona. Size of the child and vehicle will make a difference.
 

christineka

New member
I tried my kids when they were 5, 7, and 9. I have thin, skinny kids, and it didn't fit them well. The lap belt was too high. I think it is random whether kids fit well in it or not.
 

mlohry

New member
I tried it with my skinny 7 year old and did not like the fit at all, it definitely rode up on his tummy too high for my liking. We ended up using the TB we had and that fit is perfect. I do still have my 6 year old DS in the GN harnessed because he really skinny, but fits well in a TB too.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
I loved the fit of the belt on the Nauti... only reason I didn't use it as one (aside from being able to pass it onto my neice for her kids) was that Ruthie needed something with some better sleep support and where her knees bent over the edge (her legs were too short)... I got her the Recaro Vivo.

What I'd do is have him test the seat in booster mode (don't bother removing the harness) and see how it does in your vehicle with him. If it does well.. keep it... if it doesn't... take it back and get a frontier 85.
 

BABYGIRLLYNDSEY

Well-known member
I have tried 5 different age/size kids, the smallest being a 5y/o 45lbs. and the biggest being 7.5y/o 60lbs. and the GN provided a great fit with all of them :thumbsup:
I used the GN in my Kia Sedona. Size of the child and vehicle will make a difference.

We use a GN in our 09 Kia Sedona. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

I was hoping Arly would want to sell her's since I'm dying for that cover. :evil grin:
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
I think it is not only the size of your child, but the geometry of the belts in teh vehicle you are using. MY dd is a pretty hefty 50 lb 6 yo, and it's AWFUL..like...in an insane crazy emergency scenario, I'd use the harness an inch over top slots or 5 pounds over the weight limit rather than use that seat in booster mode. i can't imagine that it will EVER fit correctly, no matter how big she gets, it still fit horribly on my 100 lb 12 yo 5 ft 2 stepson...the natural geometry of the belts in my car is to ride up HIGH, and since there aren't really any guides/armrests to physically HOLD the belt down for the lap portion, the belt rides way upno the kids stomach.
I am actually surprised to hear so many people saying they find it gives a good fit on their kids, because I know quite a few people who get a bad fit from it.

The nauti is DEFINITELY NOT a seat i can say will probably fit most kids in booster mode..that hasn't been my experience at ALL.
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
The rule of thumb I've oft seen repeated around here is that it fits kids well in booster mode who have grown out of it in harnessed mode. That's exactly what has been the case for me. My 5.5yo 52lb child is halfway between the second-to-last and top slots, and now, the Nautilus gives him an acceptable to good fit. However, when I bought it around his fifth birthday, and with the Nautilus I had before this one that he used at 4.5, the booster fit was unacceptable.

What Jess says about the belt geometry makes a lot of sense, too.
 

hesgimenez

New member
What I'd do is have him test the seat in booster mode (don't bother removing the harness) and see how it does in your vehicle with him. If it does well.. keep it... if it doesn't... take it back and get a frontier 85.


That is a great idea-that I never would have thought of ;) . We'll try that today after school. I did see a PP mention that the seatbelt will factor in too-but at least this way I will be able to get an idea if it will work in booster mode for us at all.

It is installed in my car right now-DH and his car are out of town and I needed to thoroughly check it out and make sure K and I like it before installing in his car. It is amazing how much smaller it is than his Regent. It also seems a little less sturdy-not that it is a bad thing, just an observation. My one thought is his legs already fit the seat completely-bend at the knees. So I'm wondering how it will fit his legs as he gets taller. Will it be uncomfortable?

Thank you all again for all of your replies!
 

DahliaRW

New member
The nauti fit my ds1 fine in booster mode for an emergency car trip when he was 3 1/2 (used it that way only once, had no other option). He is long torsoed, however. I think most older kids would fit boostered in it fine.
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
The NAutilus seatbelt fit is the same on my dd as the Parkway SG - if that helps? The belt fit isn't bad in a "replace this seat" kind of way, but it's just not perfect.

The Monterey is so perfect with my dd that I think I'll end up with a 2nd Monterey, but I think the Nautilus will work fine for a high proportion of people wanting to use it as a booster.
 

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