Advice on Best and Safest Toddler Carseat/booster Combination

I just bought a Graco Nautilus, and so far it seems good. My 3-year-old daughter even says it's comfortable :-)

Britax are expensive, but they are also much better in my experience. They just seem more sturdy and, as a brand, get such great safety reviews. Also, they are actually comfortable for the child because they have a decent amount of padding. Safety is the most important thing to us, and since a 5 pt harness is much safer than a booster, we got our son a Britax Regent (up to 80 lbs in the 5pt harness) when he was 3. We have been very happy with it. Since buying it Britax has come out with the Frontier, which has the harness to 80 lbs and converts to a booster for up to 100. It is also a bit smaller and less bulky than the Regent.

We have a Britax convertible seat that is now the baby's and our 2.5 year old is in a Graco Nautilus. It seems like a nice seat and converts from a roomy 5 pt. harness (with, I think, a 65 lb weight limit) to a backed or backless booster. My DS likes it. The latch connectors aren't as fancy as the clips on the Britax, but they do the job just fine. I'm not sure how the cushiness of the seat compares with other bigger seat/boosters. It comes with an extra layer of padding that you have to remove if using it with a larger toddler.

We've been using our Nautilus for 5 months or so now, and I'd happily get another one if I needed another seat for an older kid.

Graco Nautilus is awesome, and cheaper than Britax. We've always liked the Britax models in the past, but needed something cheaper for our 2nd car. This one is a good "second best" to Britax, and will last you a good long time. Good safety ratings, too. Happy shopping!

T.,
I understand your concerns with cost. I wanted to be the voice of safety as I know of several sad situations with bargain seats. My neighbor is a firefighter and has shared many stories with me including a child not well buckled who flew across the freeway...There may be newer more affordable ones since I purchase mine in 2006 however I selected Britax for safety. It meant more to purchase that over other things (cutting groceries) for us. I also want to encourage you to use a complete car seat for up to 60-80 pounds despite popular decisions to use boosters. This period goes by so fast but whenever I have had to hit the breaks or take a sharp turn or dodge a distracted driver, I am so thankful my two children are buckled completely.

T., I totally understand about not spending too much to get a Britax but remember that Britax is the ONLY carseat that is crash tested to 75 miles an hour. Britax is German made and their standards for carseats are much higher than US, since their speed limit laws are not like ours. Remember that all the US made car seats only have to be crash tested up to 35 miles an hour.

I have a brand new Britax Marathon that I received as a baby shower gift, out of the box but still have the tags on it and never used, that I would sell you for a good price but I noticed you were in San Francisco, I'm in Fresno. I planned on using it but my husbands truck cannot fit three Britax carseat in the back seat so I'll transfer my 4 year old to a smaller seat since that is not our primary car.

If you choose not to go with Britax go with either Graco or Cosco. They have the best crash test ratings for the US brands.
Good luck and God Bless

We bought several of these seats. One was in a car accident (have to replace a car seat if in a car during an accident, law), and one for each car.

It is durable, grows with the child. We bought our first one when we moved our child out of that carrier car seat. The one you lift out of the car and put on the stroller. This is the one we bought after that car seat and she is now 7 years old and using it as a booster, not yet 60 lbs.

Cosco Alpha Omega Elite - Hammer
$159.99

We bought it at Target and they do free shipping on this product if you can't make it to the store. It is usually available in the store. Yes, it is a little pricey, but it's lasted sooooo long.

Stephanei

We love our Graco Nautilus. I got it at Amazon and it was on sale for $120. The 5 point harness goes up to 65 lbs which is the highest weight for the convertible carseat/booster combo. And the booster parts (w/ back and w/o) go up to 100 lbs so this is the last car seat we'll need to get for him. Good luck!

If it'a a budget crunch, maybe find a good used Britax? That's what I did for my kids. Britax is still top of the line for both comfort and safety. Safety is, of course, a big thing with me, but I want my kids to have a seat that is going to be comfortable if they're in it for a couple hours on a trip, too--and a lot of the seats, especially the carrier-type ones, are just awful in this regard! We live 45 minutes from almost everywhere, because we live up top of a mountain, and my babies (2 months & 19 months) love their seats--one is in a Roundabout, & one is in a Wizard.

We have 2 girls, 17 months apart and my youngest is about to turn 1. We also didn't want to buy another Britax, so we gave the Britax Marathon, that my 2 year old is using, to the little one and bought the 2 year old a Graco Nautilus. It is a 3-in-one as it is a forward facing w/ a 5-point harness, a booster, and a backless booster. It was $165 at Target. It seems to be working so far. We have taken a 2 hour car ride and she has fallen asleep in it too. It has a 3 position recline too.

Hi T.,

I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but I just wanted to let you know what I thought. I completely understand about the money crunch, but I would definitely "splurge" on a Britax. My first son is 3 1/2 yrs and very big (both tall and weight), but he still fits in his Britax and will do so until he's outgrown carseats all together. This is a one-time purchase that will last and it's for the most important thing for your child's safety.

My advise...try not to cut back on this purchase. It's so worth it.

Many blessings,
N.

You can look at the recall list and check to see what problems each have had.You can also look at the various retail websites and view the customer ratings. I am looking at the Alpha Omega as a good long term option for my grand-daughter.

we have the graco nautilus. no complaints. there are several colors.

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Nautilus-Car-Seat-Matrix/dp/B...

We absolutely love the compass foldable booster. They're available at target.com or at the greatland target stores. We ordered one when my daughter was ready for a booster and it's so comfy, she loves it and the back adjusts. It's wide enough (my kids are tall and fit fine) and the wings on the side are not so large that it impedes their looking out the window (which they love). The seatbelt has a holder thingy at the shoulder that adjusts with the headrest of the booster and really keeps their seatbelts comfortable. We ordered another when my son was ready for one and actually got two so they have matching ones, gave the old one to Grandma, who was thrilled to pitch her graco bottom booster. She hated it and always felt like the kids were constantly holding their seatbelt instead of letting it fall over their shoulder. They move from car to car easily, so we didn't need 2 for each car. We've folded them and taken them to GA in the airplane as checked baggage (not good for airline seats) and they've done fine. They're awesome. I've seen people say that the britax is really narrow at the hips and that the wings don't let the kids see out of the car and the graco backed booster separates from the bottom all the time (HOW can that be safe?????) and I'm sooo happy with our compasses! Plus, they're only about $70, I think, no where near the britax price!
Good luck!!!