Wish my car seat was like this

Our toddler turned 1 year and it was getting increasingly difficult to get her to fit into a rear facing seat - it was time to change the car seat.

And here is our story of how we ended up with car seat and why we like it so much :) and why you might want to consider the evenflo triumph depending on your child's height and weight

Even though the government allows a child above 20 lbs to be placed front facing - it is always better to sit the child rear facing - even if your baby and you do no like it - safety comes first. With this point in mind - we started looking for a bigger rear facing seat, unfortunately this seat (Graco Nautilus) cannot be rear faced, so we went with the evenflo triumph.

Evenflo triumph is a great seat, it supports up to 65 lbs, can be rear faced or front faced, comes with a harness adjustment ... + it feels like a very safe seat, but we had a problem : our baby girl is one of the tall ones - she is at a 97 percentile height (only 3 percent of girls at her age are taller than her) - which means we could not sit her rear faced in the evenflow triumph without making it extremely uncomfortable for her - a bit of discomfort is ok, but having to fold legs and and struggle through a long journey is not worth it.

So we had an option - to either keep the evenflo triumph and make it front faced and use it until she is 65 lbs or buy a new car seat like the Graco Nautilus which we can use till she gets to 100 lbs. We went with the Graco Nautilus and cannot be any more happier.

Good:
+ Solid build quality - Aluminium backing, feels heavy and sturdy
+ Very comfortable - Been on a 6 hr drive and our baby just slept through it
+ Cup holder is nice thing to have - use it to keep water, small toys ... whatever it takes to keep the baby through the journey
+ Easy to install (i have a 07 Camry)
+ Easy to adjust harness, fasten the child and unfasten
+ Lasts from 22 lbs to 100 lbs - so the only thing you will have to buy after the infant seat

Bad:
- Nothing particular I found, except that if I wish if could also use this rear faced.

And remember - if you can fit your baby rear faced - try to keep him/her rear faced for as much longer as you can

More Reviews : Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat, Matrix

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Graco Nautilus Car Seat

This car seat is wonderful! It was relatively easy to adjust and very easy to install. My son loves the cup holder, and I love that the straps have a place to stay off to the side while I get him into it. The reclining feature is a bit of a laugh - the change is almost imperceptible - but in spite of being barely reclined he was able to fall asleep in it on a long trip recently without too much difficulty (and no head slung forward).

In short, I love this car seat and for that I'm glad, because with how much weight it can sustain I think it'll be in our family for a very long time.

By jacquesnic

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Great buy!

This product is everything it says it is. It converts to the child's growth. It is very durable and seems that it will last for a
long time. The cup holder is a great idea. My grandson, age 3, loves his new car seat.

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So far so good

We have a 3.5yr old and a 12mo old. The older one needed a new seat because the straps of her old one was getting twisted and also would come undone. The younger one is creeping up on 20lbs. This meant 2 new car seats at the same time. We ended up buying 2 of these hoping they will be the last ones we buy for them. My initial reaction to it is that I love it. It was easy to put together. I love how the slip covers come off, just some elastic loops hooked around plastic hooks. This means I'll be able to fix it myself if one of the elastic loops breaks. The older ones car seat slip cover started coming off and a plastic piece broke. The drink holder location is exactly what I wanted - again the old one had it on the side and having two car seats side by side (one front and one rear facing) we had to remove the drink holder. The older one said it was more comfortable. It's very easy to buckle and unbuckle and it was pretty easy to install. One note is that it's heavy! We've done a lot of traveling this year and I'm so glad we weren't lugging this thing around with us! If you are transferring the car seat make a note of the weight of it. We have this next to a rear facing Peg Perego right now and they worked fine together. The younger one sat in it after we put it together and I can tell she's going to fit well in in. Very happy with the choice we made. And the price was right!

Update after a couple of weeks: still like the car seat. The only thing I didn't like was the liner that sits inside the seat. If you have to adjust the straps to a higher notch the liner doesn't fit well and makes it hard to tighten/loosen straps. I removed the liner and problem solved. So the black part you see inside the seat comes out leaving the silver liner.

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WONDERFUL Car Seat

Third child got this one and only wish they had made this great seat a long time ago, so all my girls could have enjoyed it! Great DEEP cup holder, (could use another one on the other side) VERY nice and heavy/sturdy, beautiful color! AND $30. difference between my two local stores.....Paid $50. less on line. Glad I shopped around!

By flossnmom , Illinois

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Great seat except for a few things

I gave this 4 stars because it is NOT easy to remove the pad if you have to wash it. The seat is also very heavy, however I realize it's because it's a steel frame. Also, there is not a one-handed harness adjustment on this so you have to remove the seat from the car when you have to raise up the harness when your child grows. The comfy seat pad you see in the photo- the instructions say you are not supposed to use this past the bottom harness slots, so the picture is very misleading. Underneath, it's not so comfy. I like the fact that this can be used as a belt positioning booster once the child is older, and the harness to 65 lbs, so you definitely get your money's worth out of this seat.

By ClothAddict , NJ

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Love this carseat!

I bought this seat two weeks ago for my six-year-old and we both love it. She's pretty close to 40 pounds and was about to outgrow her current seat. I'd like her harnessed a little longer in one of our vehicles that has "backseat issues". I was thrilled when this seat came out. I really like Graco products and since this was more of a want than a need, I couldn't justify $300 for some of the other higher-weight-harnessing seats.
Putting it together was a little weird. It was difficult to pop the arm rests in. It's supposed to make a click, but it was a very quiet sound. They must be in right, though, because she puts her weight on them getting in and out and they haven't wiggled.
The strap adjuster took some time to get used to. It has a shield over the release so a child can't loosen the straps. But this also means you can't see it, so you have to feel around for it.
The cupholder is great. It actually holds a real bottle of water rather than just a sippy cup. Big kids use water bottles!
I've installed it in my Camry with the lap/shoulder seatbelt and it went in like a dream. It will eventually be in the Jeep Cherokee. Although I haven't tried it in there, I don't anticipate any problems.
The headrest sticks when you raise and lower it, but it should loosen up and that won't need to be done all that often, anyway.
Be sure to pay attention to the specifics. Children must be one year old and weigh 20 pounds (both, not either/or) to use this seat and it's forward-facing only. Even though you can use it at 20 pounds, I'd recommend leaving your child rear-facing until 30-35 pounds (depending on the seat) in a convertible seat. Not only will your child be much safer, you'll get more use out of the Nautilus. Since the Nautilus expires after six years, if you get it for your one-year-old it'll expire when he's seven and you'll still need another booster. If you get it when he's two or three, it'll expire when he's eight or nine and can go straight into a seatbelt.

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