Question Which seat best for child who likes to buckle himself in?

I am a long time lurker but this is my first post - LOVE the site!
I have a 4.5 year old (around 43in and 41 lbs) currently in a Britax Decathlon on the highest harness slot. He has a little more room in the seat heightwise, but not much. I want to hand down the seat to his younger brother (10 months, 22lbs, currently in a SS1) and get him a new seat. Of course, I want to harness him and safety is the first priority. I was trying to decide between a Regent and the new Frontier when I saw some info on the Graco Nautilus. Now it is a three way decision!
One thing I read is that the harness straps on the Regent, and especially the Frontier can be problematic. That is a shame because the Decathlon ones are awesome...especially the velcro to hold them to the side. Currently, my son can fasten his harness all by himself with only minor checking from me. This is great when I have to deal with getting the baby in and I think he would be very disappointed if he was not able to do this on a new seat.
My question is this...which seat would be most likely for him to be able to manage the harness by himself?
I also worry a bit about install and space issues in my car. I drive a 2002 Ford Escape and already there is very little room in the back with the seats I have. I know that the Regent is huge.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks - tierra

My 5-yo DS loves to buckle himself into the GN. The release on the buckle is a lot easier for him than the one on my MA. I don't have the Frontier or Regent, so I can't comment on how the GN compares.

My 4.75y/o buckles/unbuckles herself in her GN very easily! Its a great seat; easy to install, comfortable, high harness slots....and it affortable!

The GN is very easy to buckle and unbuckle. My 6 yo does it all herself in a flash. I check it of course.

Kimberly

if space is a concern, the frontier is narrower than the Nautilus, but not by a lot, so either that or the Nautilus should be fine.

My boys never had problems with Regents and Ruthie loves her Nautilus.

I was in the same exact situation as you are as our ds who was 4 and a half a couple of months back and was ourtgrowing his Britax Blvd. He could also do his own harness buckles and I knew he would also want to be able to on his new seat.

I looked at all 3 seats that are on your list and here's what my ds has to say:

1.Nautilus, he complained about the crotch strap and it was in the furthest out position so that was a no go for us. Others have said that their kids have not had this issue but some have posted they have. It depends on your child. I am not sure about him being able to buckle it himself as he never tried. I am guessing that he would have learned to do it.

2. Frontier, we purchased it and decided to return it for the Regent. Here's why, He didn't have much room to grow in the harness before it would have to be switched to booster mode and he complained that it hurt the back of his legs. I will say that I loved this seat but just in the short time he tried it in our car I found that the buckles kept getting twisted and I had to go and fish them out every time for him to buckle. He COULD buckle himself but I had to grab them from under his bottom first. The frontier is a very deep seat which is great in some ways and not so great in others. I think for sleeping the Frontier would have won hands down!

3. Regent, This is the seat we purchased and we love it for the most part. He can buckle himself in and we haven't had a problem with the twisting yet. I will say that the straps are thinner than the BLVD. I the BLVD.
The regent is big but it actually sits lower than the Blvd since there is no base on it. It's wider but if you have room that's no big deal. I do not move this seat around. I leave it installed. The thing that bothers me most is the sleeping. Ds's head sometimes falls to the side but more often it just slumps foward. It never did this in the BLVD. Ds really chose the Regent and he is happy riding in it and that is what counts as he is safer in a harness!

I would go and try these seats and see which one your ds prefers since they all can have issues. It's really finding one you can live with the little quirks in!
I will say that if your ds is used to buckling a Britax seat it may be easier to stick with what is famiiliar. Just a thought. I did like that with the Frontier you hear an audible click after each side is buckled and with the regent only after both are in.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

My dd just moved from her Marathon to the Frontier. She has no problem at all buckling herself in. While there have been some buckle twistin issues with this seat, we have seen it a couple of times. For the most part it's fine. We had a Regent for about a week and she could not unbuckle the chest clip at all. I don't know if it's a Regent thing or just the Regent that we had but I even had a hard time unbuckling the chest clip. She has had no issues at all buckling or unbucklin the Frontier.

Mine are 4.8 y/o and LOVE to buckle themselves in their GNs.

My 5 year old DD and and her 4 1/2 year old friend both have Regents and both of them buckle and unbuckle themselves with no trouble. They both learned on their own and have not had any issues.

My dd is 3.75 yo and can easily buckle and unbuckle herself in the gn, including tightening and loosening the harness.

A buckles the GN no problem She insisted even when we tried it out in the store. Miss Independent

My almost 5 year old has motor delays and poor hand coordination and he easily buckles himself into his Regent. I bought it used from my best friend, so it's over a year old, and we have no problems with twisty straps at all.

DD1 buckles herself in her Regent with no problem.