Nautilus Questions/ was Re: Graco Nautilus Review

Hi. I am also very interesting in the Nautilus and also struggling to decide. It seems to be a great seat but I have read many complaints about two issues: i) the crotch strap being too small for larger kids, making them sitting on it, ii) not recline enough, so kids head hang forward when sleeping.

Could you please tell us a bit more about these two in your experience?

Thank you.

Bumping this up for Nautilus experts.

I am NO expert, but we had 4 nautilus at one point. my kids are tall, and long in the torso not legs, but they aren't big kids (near 49" and both right about 50lbs and 7 and just about 6). my younger daughter, very soon to be 6, outgrew her nautilus by torso height a few months ago. We LOVED the seat and had no issue with the crotch buckle. butttt the head slump was pretty bad. even when my kids were 4 or 5. it wouldn't stop me from buying another (if I had a third, which isn't happening) though.

I've been using them for years and use one now for C. The crotch strap is a bit short but it's designed to be that way and I believe Graco said at one point that it's ok if your child is sitting on the slot where it comes out a bit, as long as it's in the furthest slot away from the bight of the seat. I usually just have kiddo lift his bum up a bit so I can pull it out. As far as head slump, it's going to depend on your car. MOST combination seats don't recline a lot so as combination seats go I actually think it's pretty good. But I have seen some head slump depending on how it sat in my vehicle seat (I've used it in at least four different vehicles). The most important thing to remember with that though is that for older kids, head slump isn't dangerous, and if they're sleeping, they're probably not even uncomfortable - it just looks that way. The Nautilus DOES have a recline feature which is NOT particularly common in combination seats, I just don't think it makes much of a difference honestly whether you use it or not.

I really like it. It's my favorite seat, actually. I'm trying hard right now to figure out how to get three across in my tiny car with a Nautilus in the mix!