Graco Nautilus straps

The straps on our Nautilus are digging in to my son's neck. We've tried making sure the chest clip is in the right position; Making sure straps are in right slot; making sure straps aren't too tight in general.

Nothing seems to be helping. The straps never used to fit that way (they rested mid shoulder, not near neck).

My son is 47" tall and 41 lbs.

(I can't take a pic until my camera is recharged but I'll put one up when I can).

Does anyone else have this problem?

My car is narrow (Saturn SW2) so I'm reluctant to putting the car seat to one side (instead of middle).

Thanks!

doesnt it have strap covers? how would it make a difference if the seat was outboard? a pic would help...

What pp said - do you have the harness covers on? My dd goes w/o the covers and doesn't have any trouble (she's 42 lbs), so if you took them off, maybe try them again.

Yes, the harness covers are on.

Oh, when I mentioned putting the carseat to one side, I meant using it as the high back booster in that case. It's not something I want to do with such a narrow car.

I'll try taking pics on Monday. The seat is in my living room at the moment but at least you'll be able to see how the straps look near his neck.
I so wish the car was bigger so I could use the Regent (I used the Regent in my former car which had lots more leg room). Right now, my son has to sit criss cross on the Regent in my car.

The straps started one slot lower. Raising it didn't make a difference and car seat tech that raising it was ok.

The chest clip is in line with his underarms. I did lower the chest clip just to see if it made a difference, and it doesn't. Straps still dig in.
(Car seat tech said if I lowered the chest clip, it could cause injury in an accident.)

With the strap covers on, it's even more uncomfortable.

I've fiddled with it and nothing seems to be helping.
Maybe one of you has an idea that I haven't tried yet.

Thank you!

Hmm.


I'm just guessing here, but bear with me. 47" is pretty much the upper limit of how most kids fit in the Nautilus, and your child apparently has some room to grow. My child is 45.5" and has the same amount of room to grow up, but the straps, while they fit closely, don't impede on his neck that way.

Is it possible that he's got a very short torso for his size? I'm just wondering if he's over all the size of an older, bigger kid with a short torso. Most kids his size would be outgrowing the seat anyway by height. How old is he?

The strap issue is not a safety issue, I don't think, so much as a comfort issue. If he's ready maturity wise, and he can't bear the straps, you could start using it as a booster.

Here is what we do, because we have the same problem. Technically, it goes against the directions, but I personally have no problem making the decision to let my child do this, because I understand the crash mechanics andother iossues involved, and do not believe I am sacrificing safety at all by doing so. While I can not recommend you do the same, I can inform and educate you on the issue, and let you make your own informed choice.

We push the chst clip down several inches. When you do this, it allows the straps to be wider apart, and not cut into the neck as much. And here is why I do not believe it is a safety issue. The chest clip is a pre-crash positioner....it's function is to make sure the straps are correctly positioned at the time of impact so that they may function correctly. A child in a properly use, properly tightened harness, does not even NEED a chest clip, and for example European seats don't even HAVE them. (Just us dumb Americans who cant be trusted to tighten our straps properly...) In the case of the nautilus, when the chest clip is placed at chest level, it causes the straps to be TOO clase together, pulling them in unaturally, as in the pic you provided. Pushing it down a bit allows the straps to fit BETTER over my child, straight down over her shoulders, nice and snug, wityhout being pulled in TOO close to her neck. The straps are in the correct slots, and are properly tightened and buckled, and therefore the chest clip being too low does not reduce the safety at all. In fact, I actually have some belief(although no proof) that it might be safER, because when i push it down, it allows the straps to sit flat, in a straight, tight line, and when it is up higher, exactly like in your pic, it actually curves in..which, in a crash, once the chest clip breaks, that curve in the strap will actually be just extra slack.
so anyway...that is my long-winded explanation of why the chest clip inmy dd's nauti sits just above her belly button (about 2 inches lower than chest level).

I know you said it didn't help, but are you sure? could you try again? and uh...car seat tech was..not exactly wrong...but simply repeating rote facts, without taking into accuont the reasons behind why we do what we do. *shrug* I can think for myself, i'm not an automaton.

I'm going to respectfully disagree with the given advice. I would rather see a parent remove a chest clip entirely than make it a belly clip. Nothing hard should be over the abdomen. While it should break apart in an accident, that chest clip could also do some serious damage, which is why all 'hard' parts of the seat are over bones. The chest clip goes over the rib cage, and the crotch buckle should rest in front of the pelvis.

No belly clips! No belly clips!

it's actually still over her rib cage, just the lower part, versus being up high by her nipples. not over her belly at all. but i suppose how it fits is going to vary by child...her torso, especially her rib cage, is really long.....i suppose in some kids, moving the chest clip down out of position mugh be putting it over soft stomach tissue, and i probably wouldn't be okay with that, i agree.

The chest clip in your pic does look high to me. I like the advice "nipple line" vs. "armpit level" because that gives me more of an exact place to put it. I think even to be right, yous could be moved down a bit.

Thanks! I'll move it down to nipple level and see if that makes a difference.

He's 6 and has low tone. He has trouble keeping himself upright in a no back booster.
He does have a short torso, by the way.

If he has trouble keeping himself up in a booster, you have a medical reason not to booster him. (Is it just in a backless, or is he okay in a high-back? He may have the same problems, which can lead to poor belt fit. You should probably check that.)

However at some point, he is going to outgrow the available seats, and if he still has the problem, you'll need a different seat.

You probably should start looking now at your options for getting a vest or a special-needs harnessed seat; it can be a long process. Speak to his OT/PT team about getting it approved through insurance or the hospital where he has therapy. See if there is a special needs trained tech near you who can help you figure out what you need to write to get the company to play ball with you. Like I said, can be a lengthy process, but if you feel he will still need it in a couple of years, worth starting. And it might end with him being approved for a SN seat that's a more comfortable fit for him.

When adjusting the chest clip what I usually recommend to parents is holding the chest clip so that the index finger of each hand is point out towards the child, and slide the clip up until the finger touches the armpit. This results in the chest clip being high enough without too high. Just having the top edge of the chest clip even with the armpits is enough. :thumbsup:

If he is still technically below the next slots, I would drop the harness height down. While the tech is correct that there's not a big risk from a crash perspective, the headrest will fit him better, and it will be easier to judge harness tightness. I also think in the case of the Nautilus that straps shouldn't be moved up too early because of the headrest adjustment. If it's a case of maybe needs the next ones up and maybe doesn't, then it's fine to leave them up. But if he's definitely below the next ones down, then move the straps back down.