Kat_Momof3
New member
**Disclaimer - all pics are mine - do not use without permission, please
Basics - This is a ff only seat that can be used for children ages 1 and up who weigh 20-65lbs with the harness, for children 3 and up who weigh 30-100lbs as a highback booster, and for children 4 and up who weigh 40-100lbs as a backless booster.
Now, in reality, I would not use it as a booster until the child has outgrown the internal harness, which for most children is going to be about 6-8yrs old. I also wouldn't use it as a backless booster until your child is too tall for the back, unless the seating position does not work with it in highback mode.
Also, I would not use this for a child under 2yrs and 30lbs, as rearfacing is so much safer.
Pros
- This is a steel-reinforced seat that can really grow with your child. It has 18-19" top slots (measures 18.5" and performs as 19.5") for really tall children, a 65lb upper weight limit for ensuring your child can ride in a 5-point harness as long as possible
- It makes a fabulous booster! While my son was at first a little confused as to how to route the belt (he is used to putting it under the armrests), simply pointing to the red guides and telling him that it goes behind the armrests was all that was needed. At age 6.5yrs, he is used to buckling himself and he easily did so in this seat, despite the confusion. For a child who has never been in another booster, they might never have this issue, as the guides are set where the belt would naturally go over the child.
The belt was kept low on his hips and the shoulderbelt went over the center of his chest nicely
it has open guides which are a little trickier to thread, but at least the belt won't easily slip out!
- this is a really wide booster for the widest of booster riders. I did not take the back off to get pics of it in backless mode, but it's very deep. I also like that Graco still includes their belt guide for backless use. I wish all backless boosters came with the guides for tall belts (like in the third row of my van!)
- the cupholder is great... it will actually hold a drink well!
- the armrests actually can work and have cool compartments for little toys or snacks (if you let your kids eat in the car)
- The headrest is adjustable. It gives great sleep support and also has EPS foam for crash protection. My husband loves this feature as my daughter's head doesn't move at all when she falls asleep.
- everything is easy to read an figure out on this seat and the manual is thorough
- while it doesn't have gracopedic foam, my kids find it well padded
- the chest clip and buckle are impossible for my daughter to undo
- my daughter can cross her legs when she rides, which is good, as she likes to have something to do with her legs
- 2 recline positions and 1 upright position allow some variation for fit to the vehicle and comfort for the children who still fall asleep a lot and have floppier necks
- FAA approved with the harnesses being used
- because of the way the back attaches, when you move it from one car to another,the backdoes not fall off
- harness pads and belly pad
- two crotch buckle positions
- easy harness adjuster - this thing is buttery smooth and the lever to lift to loosen them is hidden from children well enough that they cannot loosen their harnesses during the ride
- chest clip is marked as to where it should go
- crotch buckles make positive clicks, but they are very quiet and slide in easily, so they shouldn't wake a sleeping child.
- Latch and tether can be used in highback booster mode (I wish that latch was useable in backless booster mode, but you
can't have everything
Cons
- it does take some assembly
- the harnesses do have to be rethreaded for height
- it's a heavier seat and, while I did find it lighter than the Radian, it is not as light as a typical combination seat.
- the headrest can be hard to adjust - I find it easier to do with the child in the seat and leaning forward and/or with the seat installed (Ironically enough, for booster use, the manual does say to have the child sitting this way when you adjust it!) Maybe I'm just spoiled by the ease of the turbobooster's headrest.
- latch connectors are the basic ones. I dream of alligator-style clips, but I suppose it is one way to keep the price down.
- lifespan - the seat is good for 6yrs as a harnessed seat/highback booster seat - the base alone is good for a total of
9yrs... so 3yrs after you can no longer use the back and headrest, you can keep using the base as a backless booster
Bottom line - I have now installed it with the seatbelt, and then with latch (never together) and it was really easy. One tip I have that I found in the manual AFTER I already thought of it is to undo the cover at the top where it velcros and pull the cover back to access the beltpaths. This makes it so easy and I didn't have to set a single foot in my van (except to fasten the seatbelt as it IS a thick seat to reach around) to install it.
I tightened it just pushing on it with one hand (which I am now used to except with the Britax Regent) while the other tightened the belt.
It got rock solid so easily in my Caravan that I had to keep checking it... thinking it shouldn't be that easy.
Pictures
Harnessed height - Radian vs. Nautilus
Ruthie normally uses the top slots in the Radian. Here, she is using the third slots. She has a good amount of grow room in this seat.
Jeffrey has outgrown the Radian. He has no extra harness at all (I barely got him buckled) and his shoulders are 1" past the top slots. Yet he does have room in the Nautilus (less when it is installed... maybe 1.5" at most... this pic was taken in the house before being installed).
Head room in 2nd row
Even fully raised, in my 2nd row, there are several inches above the headrest for head room.
Head room in 3rd row
Not yet at the highest position and the headrest is TOUCHING the ceiling. It does not tip at all like the turbobooster as the headwings are closer together and it does not touch the side of the van.
Now I found that since the seat is heavy and my van seats are squishy, the seat had more headroom with a child in it, but I wouldn't try having to adjust the headrest down before the child can exit the seat each time.
Height, width, and depth as a booster
Jeffrey has lots of grow room in this booster. He uses the top position (again) in the FPSV booster and turbobooster, but has several inches here. I also like how much body support it gives. His knees are almost at the edge of the booster.
And here is my 4'9.5" tall son who has outgrown every other booster on the market - he is JUST too tall. He is tilting toward the camera a bit, so his right shoulder looks lower than it is and the left a bit higher than it is. He is literally at the top of the bottom section of red guide.
His legs were very comfortable. As a backless, he would have more support, but he's too tall to use it as a backless in my third row and has almost no room for a backless in the 2nd row (he rides in the third row so I can carry his brother if needed due to asthma).
I love this seat for Ruthie and as she's almost 4, it may be the last seat she needs. If not, another booster when shes almost 10 won't exactly hurt the budget.:twocents:
******UPDATE*******
I just wanted to add that I love the seat more now than I did when I first got it. The straps never twist, it's always easy to buckle/unbuckle, adjust, and Ruthie simply adores the seat. She sleeps very comfortably in it (moreso, I would say, than in the Radian). My only negative is still that the cupholder is only on one side. Ruthie is right-handed, so it works, but what about other kids?
But she loves it. Now she doesn't want to go anywhere without a drink of water sitting in her cupholder. She's NEVER had a cupholder in the car before, so it's a BIG deal for her.
And she also loves how comfy it is for her legs.
Just look!
Basics - This is a ff only seat that can be used for children ages 1 and up who weigh 20-65lbs with the harness, for children 3 and up who weigh 30-100lbs as a highback booster, and for children 4 and up who weigh 40-100lbs as a backless booster.
Now, in reality, I would not use it as a booster until the child has outgrown the internal harness, which for most children is going to be about 6-8yrs old. I also wouldn't use it as a backless booster until your child is too tall for the back, unless the seating position does not work with it in highback mode.
Also, I would not use this for a child under 2yrs and 30lbs, as rearfacing is so much safer.
Pros
- This is a steel-reinforced seat that can really grow with your child. It has 18-19" top slots (measures 18.5" and performs as 19.5") for really tall children, a 65lb upper weight limit for ensuring your child can ride in a 5-point harness as long as possible
- It makes a fabulous booster! While my son was at first a little confused as to how to route the belt (he is used to putting it under the armrests), simply pointing to the red guides and telling him that it goes behind the armrests was all that was needed. At age 6.5yrs, he is used to buckling himself and he easily did so in this seat, despite the confusion. For a child who has never been in another booster, they might never have this issue, as the guides are set where the belt would naturally go over the child.
The belt was kept low on his hips and the shoulderbelt went over the center of his chest nicely
it has open guides which are a little trickier to thread, but at least the belt won't easily slip out!
- this is a really wide booster for the widest of booster riders. I did not take the back off to get pics of it in backless mode, but it's very deep. I also like that Graco still includes their belt guide for backless use. I wish all backless boosters came with the guides for tall belts (like in the third row of my van!)
- the cupholder is great... it will actually hold a drink well!
- the armrests actually can work and have cool compartments for little toys or snacks (if you let your kids eat in the car)
- The headrest is adjustable. It gives great sleep support and also has EPS foam for crash protection. My husband loves this feature as my daughter's head doesn't move at all when she falls asleep.
- everything is easy to read an figure out on this seat and the manual is thorough
- while it doesn't have gracopedic foam, my kids find it well padded
- the chest clip and buckle are impossible for my daughter to undo
- my daughter can cross her legs when she rides, which is good, as she likes to have something to do with her legs
- 2 recline positions and 1 upright position allow some variation for fit to the vehicle and comfort for the children who still fall asleep a lot and have floppier necks
- FAA approved with the harnesses being used
- because of the way the back attaches, when you move it from one car to another,the backdoes not fall off
- harness pads and belly pad
- two crotch buckle positions
- easy harness adjuster - this thing is buttery smooth and the lever to lift to loosen them is hidden from children well enough that they cannot loosen their harnesses during the ride
- chest clip is marked as to where it should go
- crotch buckles make positive clicks, but they are very quiet and slide in easily, so they shouldn't wake a sleeping child.
- Latch and tether can be used in highback booster mode (I wish that latch was useable in backless booster mode, but you
can't have everything
Cons
- it does take some assembly
- the harnesses do have to be rethreaded for height
- it's a heavier seat and, while I did find it lighter than the Radian, it is not as light as a typical combination seat.
- the headrest can be hard to adjust - I find it easier to do with the child in the seat and leaning forward and/or with the seat installed (Ironically enough, for booster use, the manual does say to have the child sitting this way when you adjust it!) Maybe I'm just spoiled by the ease of the turbobooster's headrest.
- latch connectors are the basic ones. I dream of alligator-style clips, but I suppose it is one way to keep the price down.
- lifespan - the seat is good for 6yrs as a harnessed seat/highback booster seat - the base alone is good for a total of
9yrs... so 3yrs after you can no longer use the back and headrest, you can keep using the base as a backless booster
Bottom line - I have now installed it with the seatbelt, and then with latch (never together) and it was really easy. One tip I have that I found in the manual AFTER I already thought of it is to undo the cover at the top where it velcros and pull the cover back to access the beltpaths. This makes it so easy and I didn't have to set a single foot in my van (except to fasten the seatbelt as it IS a thick seat to reach around) to install it.
I tightened it just pushing on it with one hand (which I am now used to except with the Britax Regent) while the other tightened the belt.
It got rock solid so easily in my Caravan that I had to keep checking it... thinking it shouldn't be that easy.
Pictures
Harnessed height - Radian vs. Nautilus
Ruthie normally uses the top slots in the Radian. Here, she is using the third slots. She has a good amount of grow room in this seat.
Jeffrey has outgrown the Radian. He has no extra harness at all (I barely got him buckled) and his shoulders are 1" past the top slots. Yet he does have room in the Nautilus (less when it is installed... maybe 1.5" at most... this pic was taken in the house before being installed).
Head room in 2nd row
Even fully raised, in my 2nd row, there are several inches above the headrest for head room.
Head room in 3rd row
Not yet at the highest position and the headrest is TOUCHING the ceiling. It does not tip at all like the turbobooster as the headwings are closer together and it does not touch the side of the van.
Now I found that since the seat is heavy and my van seats are squishy, the seat had more headroom with a child in it, but I wouldn't try having to adjust the headrest down before the child can exit the seat each time.
Height, width, and depth as a booster
Jeffrey has lots of grow room in this booster. He uses the top position (again) in the FPSV booster and turbobooster, but has several inches here. I also like how much body support it gives. His knees are almost at the edge of the booster.
And here is my 4'9.5" tall son who has outgrown every other booster on the market - he is JUST too tall. He is tilting toward the camera a bit, so his right shoulder looks lower than it is and the left a bit higher than it is. He is literally at the top of the bottom section of red guide.
His legs were very comfortable. As a backless, he would have more support, but he's too tall to use it as a backless in my third row and has almost no room for a backless in the 2nd row (he rides in the third row so I can carry his brother if needed due to asthma).
I love this seat for Ruthie and as she's almost 4, it may be the last seat she needs. If not, another booster when shes almost 10 won't exactly hurt the budget.:twocents:
******UPDATE*******
I just wanted to add that I love the seat more now than I did when I first got it. The straps never twist, it's always easy to buckle/unbuckle, adjust, and Ruthie simply adores the seat. She sleeps very comfortably in it (moreso, I would say, than in the Radian). My only negative is still that the cupholder is only on one side. Ruthie is right-handed, so it works, but what about other kids?
But she loves it. Now she doesn't want to go anywhere without a drink of water sitting in her cupholder. She's NEVER had a cupholder in the car before, so it's a BIG deal for her.
And she also loves how comfy it is for her legs.
Just look!
Last edited: