[Nick n Nate's Mom]

Hi Ladies!

I am having a really hard time choosing a car seat for my preschooler. He is currently in a True Fit Premier and fits fine in there as he is on the smaller side. I also have a very LARGE 5 month old who is RF'ing in a Britax Decathalon.(originally my 3 year olds)

We are having issues with remembering to leave car seats at daycare at drop off when whoever takes the kids to daycare so we are thinking of investing in a combination high back booster with a 5 pt harness for my almost 4 year old and then he can ride in either car seat in each car and we'd only have to remember 2. We want to get a booster/harness combo b/c he will be 4 soon and can grow into it.

I know that the Britax Frontier 85 is probably the safest and most highly recommended but I can't afford that!

I am going to do the BRU trade in and will have 25% off to use but only on select brands.

Soooo what might you suggest?

[Boo]

The Graco Nautilus is recommended quite often and there are several members who have one (or more than one lol). My kids aren't old enough for a Nautilus so I can't share first-hand experience but I will tell you that the price of a car seat doesn't mean it's safer or better than the more economical models. All car seats have to pass the same safety testing. Hopefully a Nautilus owner will chime in here, too.

[MamaToARockStar]

id go with the nautilus or the evenlo maestro,the maestro is much cheaper but is also a good seat,it has high top slots and makes a decent booster

[amylynne01]

Price does not equal safety. Being educated about car seat safety equals safety! So if you can't afford the Britax Frontier 85, don't fret! There are safe seats in every price range.

Some great combination seats are:

Britax Frontier 85 (you already knew that - FFs to 85lbs, boosters to 120lbs, around $225)
Graco Nautilus (FFs to 65lbs, boosters to 100lbs, around $150)
Evenflo Maestro (FFs to 50lbs, boosters to 100lbs, around $80)
Safety 1st Apex 65 (FFs to 65lbs, boosters to 100lbs, around $100)

ETA: BRU does not carry the Maestro and Apex 65. If you wanted the Nauti from BRU, it would be 135 after the 25% off plus tax and gas to drive to the store. You can get it at Amazon for 139 with free shipping and no tax. The Frontier 85 would be 210 at BRU after 25% off plus tax and gas. It is 210 from Amazon with free shipping and no tax. BRU is almost never the best deal even with the 25% coupon.

[:::Dan!elle:::]

Michelle, we have the Nautilus and I LOVE it! Matthew still has a little room to grow in it (he is 5, 48 pounds and 44 inches tall) but we have recently moved him to a booster so Evan could take over the Nautilus.

[Kacie23]

We have four Nautiluses (two in each car) for my 6 year old and 4 year old and they are both harnessed. We HIGHLY recommend the seat!

Lurking on this board but just wanted to add... I also have a Nautilus for my DD and I love it. I bought ours when they first came out 2 years ago and I plan to buy another one for my DS when he out grows his Chicco keyfit 30. We travel a lot and I have used this car seat on the plane with 4 different airlines, and taken a 15 hour road trip. My DD is comfortable. Plus the seat had great saftey ratings. Also, my DD is 2 1/2 (36" tall) and the back of the seat is still on the lowest setting. So there is plenty of room to grow.

[Taramomof3]

I have the Nautilus for my 4 year old (still harnessed) and love it!!!

[Nick n Nate's Mom]

Thank you guys so much! Esp. for AmyLYnne01 for pricing things out for me! I think we will go with the Nautilus! Thanks again!

[cjdj3]

If you haven't already chosen a combination car seat, then I suggest the Britax Frontier 85. This car seat is, in my opinion, the best combination car seat at it's price. See this review for reference:

Britax Frontier 85 Review

My cousin has this car seat for his son and he loves it! It is very simple to use and it is very comfortable for the baby. It is also very good quality and it gets very good feedback from all the reviews around the internet. Plus, it is on sale, if I do recall.

[KMH]

Holy random thread revival, Batman!