Uncomfortable in Nautilus

[kbud]

So my dd just turned 5 and has been in the Nautilus for about a month. She loved it at first but always complains (actually it's worse than complaining) that it makes her itchy where the straps are. Not on her neck but her chest. It happens nearly every time and she now hates the seat. She cries and screams about how itchy it makes her. She is begging for her Wizard back which I have her 16 month old sister now in.

Loosening the straps helped a tiny bit but any looser and it would be more than an inch of slack. I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to buy another seat (I don't even know of another option except the Regent or Frontier) but she is very uncomfortable.

I could try to sell the Nautilus and recoup some expense and get something else. I'm not sure she is ready for a f/t booster although she's close to being ready. She's 42 inches and 43 pounds.

Ugh! I really thought this was a great seat for us. I don't know what to do now. I keep thinking it's just the shirt she has on but it happens every time.

What would you do?

 

[BW1426]

Does the chest clip leave red marks where it lays?

 

[bobandjess99]

hhhmmm..is she saying it is the actual harness making her itchy, or the pads that cover it? If it is the pads, take them off. My dd hates them so we don't use them.
if it is the actual harness itself.....can you check and feel it..could it be fraying and causing a rough feeling for her? could it have something on it she is allergic/sensitive to?? have you spot-cleaned the straps and maybe their is soap residue...or like a spilled drink that is now making the straps stiff, or something? Could it be the strap is pushing her clothes into her body, and the clothes are actually itchy? Can she verbalize at all what she means other than "itchy? Can you have her expirament in different clothes, maybe a nice soft T-shirt, to see if they are still "itchy"?



*tries to think...**

 

[kbud]

The pads aren't on, she hates those. No red mark from the chest clip. I've tried moving it around a bit to see if that helps but it hasn't. Haven't cleaned it. We haven't cleaned it or spilled anything. It appears to be her clothes being pushed against her but it happens w/everything she wears. These are the same clothes she wore in the Wizard. I'm going to check and see if there is a fray in the straps. That's a good thought. I also just realized that the Wizard had hugs and the Nautilus doesn't. That might make the straps feel different to her because they are more against her w/out the hugs. guess I can't put hugs on the Nautilus though.

 

[Pixels]

Just how much slack is in the harness straps? You mentioned an inch of slack in your first post, which is too much. The harness needs to be tight enough that you can't pinch a horizontal crease in the harness at the shoulder.

I hope you can get the itchies worked out.

 

[kbud]

Just how much slack is in the harness straps? You mentioned an inch of slack in your first post, which is too much. The harness needs to be tight enough that you can't pinch a horizontal crease in the harness at the shoulder.

I hope you can get the itchies worked out.

It's less than an inch. "Loosening the straps helped a tiny bit but any looser and it would be more than an inch of slack."

 

[mish]

We don't really measure how tight the straps are in terms of numbers. As a PP mentioned, you need to pinch the harness at the shoulders. If you can pinch anything, it is too loose. Your fingers should just slide off.

The area where less than 1 inch applies is when installing the actual seat. It is supposed to move less than 1 inch.

 

[kbud]

I actually I've never had any slack in it (my dh always thinks I have it too tight) but I was thinking I could have just a little so I thought I'd try that. I guess now that I think of it it's one finger under not one inch. Either way I'm certain her harness is not too loose. Heck, if it was I'm sure she wouldn't be complaining that it was bothering her.

There are no frays so I'm at a loss. I guess I'll just give it awhile and maybe she'll get used to it. If not I may have a newly new Nautilus for sale!

 

[Kat_Momof3]

since she didn't complain with the hugs on... a britax seat may be the answer.

It sounds like she can be picky about sensory issues (textures, sounds, things like that) sometimes... and she may just hate the feel of straps.

Granted, you'll probably see a similar problem when she moves to a seatbelt booster, but it would at least solve the problem for now.