I agree this is the best seat ever and wish it had been available years ago!

Thanks for the great review. I agree that this is a fabulous seat. We have one for my large 4 year old. This is not a “baby seat”, this is a big kid seat. It’s extremely similar in size and shape to the Turbobooster; they’ve added the ability to harness and made it adjust smaller so little kids can use it too. The buckles are designed so that a child can “be a big kid” and buckle themselves even sooner than they could buckle a seatbelt. In addition to the safety advantages, it is much easier to buckle a harness in front of a child than to reach in between carseats for the seatbelt when you have multiple children.

Wow… I can’t believe how off-topic the comments have gotten!!

I just bought this car seat for my daughter to replace the Cosco Alpha-Omega that she inherited from her brother. The reason we replaced it had nothing to do with the harness limit of the A-O.

I. LOVE. This. Seat. She is 36” long and 27 pounds, and it fits her great. It comes with a pad for younger babies that can be removed and washed (which is why we got rid of the last one).

Another thing we love that wasn’t mentioned in the review was the cupholder on the arm, and the storage areas inside the arms.

Someone mentioned the straps and I wanted to repeat because I LOVE how the straps don’t get twisted. That was another big problem with the A-O.

I love these seats! I just bought 2 for my boys. I was able to buy 2 of these seats for less than one of the Britax seats. These are awesome seats, highly recommended by car seat techs and have received many wonderful ratings. They were easy to put together, easy to fit to my sons and easy to install in my car. We will eventually buy two more for my husband’s car as well. They will last my 3.5 y/o until he no longer needs a seat as well as his soon to be 2 y/o brother. They will also still be usable when we have our next child as well. I am so pleased with the Nautilus. Excellent seat that did not cost me more than a mortgage payment to purchase for both children! Safe, long lasting seats should not cost parents several hundred dollars! I’ve had several fellow teachers at work stop me and ask about the seats in my car and I start rambling on about how much the boys love their seats and how I am so happy I purchased this seat!

I had my 3 yr old in his harness still because he didn’t meet the weight requirements for my carseat to move to a booster. My 5 1/2 year old moved to a booster when he hit 40 pounds. After doing some research (a very striking video which showed the differences between a 5 pt harness and a belt positioned booster) I went and found a 5 pt harness carseat that would safely hold my 5 yr old. I am a single mother and yes I had to put a few months worth of activities and fun on hold but it is worth it. He was not thrilled to go back into a 5 pt harness but guess what? I’m the MOM! I explained that it’s the safest seat and it’s why race car drivers and pilots wear them. I also said I wished I had them in my seat. He has noooo problem with this seat. While he may be able to sit properly most of the time in a belt positioned booster, he sometimes falls asleep or reaches for stuff for his brother, etc. Now he’s over 6 and I’m happy to say we will not be moving him until absolutely necessary (likely by height and not weight lol he is TALL). I have not regretted my decision to do this for one moment. I encourage everyone who wants to say that they are too old to be in a 5 pt harness, to look on you tube for “5 pt harness”.
Side note, for the LATCH system, it depends on where your vehicle was made for (canada and US have different laws).

Thanks for this great review. I transitioned my (now almost 5 year old) into a harnessed booster two years ago. Wanted to provide another option: http://www.elitecarseats.com/SafeGuard-Go.pro
We love it! It’s light weight and folds for easy portability (flights).

I am concerned about my children growing up with good self-esteem but I want them to be able to feel good about themselves regardless of what their peers think and to learn that they can make good choices about their own safety even if it means being different. The way I look at it is that if my child isn’t secure enough at five or six to ignore comments from their friends about being in a different but safer carseat, how will they possibly have enough self-esteem to make good, safe choices as preteens and teenagers about things like drinking when I’m not there to make those decisions for them?

Did I honestly just read a comment that compared putting your child in a five-point harness longer… to sending them to kindergarten in diapers!?!? I mean seriously. It would be no wonder that poor child would be embarassed to sit in a harnessed carseat… I’d be embarassed too at that age if my mother reinforced the idea that it’s embarassing!

I teach at a child development center that goes up to the age of 5… 90+ percent of the children are still in five-point harnesses. Your child has no reason to be or feel embarassed when they are just like the majority of the other children out there.

Not wearing a diaper is not comparable… not wearing a diaper cannot KILL you!

What’s embarassing is the idea that there are parents out there who don’t put their kids in the safest carseats because they’re afraid it will make them look like “babies”… gag.

Shauna – Oh, ok. I was just thinking (typing) out loud

“Shauna-my son has lots more growing room in the Regent, he just above the 3nd to top slots in it, while he is just above the 2nd to top in the Nautilus. What about trading the EFTA for the Nautilus? ”

Because my 10 month old still uses it occasionally.