Johnson babies: Our review: Graco Nautilus Elite Child Seat

We were really pleased to be selected by Graco Baby UK to review their Nautilus Elite Child Seat.

The Nautilus Elite is a 3-2-1 seat, with the in-built harness it’s suitable for 9 to 18kg; by using the car’s seat belt rather than the harness it can be used from 15 to 36kg. In my world, it means the seat is suitable from the time they come out of their rear facing seats (9months plus) to around 12 years old (135cm).

This means it’s a car seat that could last you a really long time. I have to admit I’m not sure on this one, I’m not sure I want a seat that’s been around that long. However, there are two rebounds to that- the first benefit is it means any child travelling in your car from 9 to 36kg has a safe, secure seat. No need for multiple seats depending on who you are travelling with; the second truth, unlike your car seats the covers are removable and can be washed; so bearing in mind we’re trusting our choice of car to look after our family it goes hand in hand to invest in a good child seat.

I’ll be honest, I prefer Isofix car seats, I prefer the fitting being hooked by the metal bars. But Isofix isn’t always an option. We have a Volkswagan Sharan which doesn’t have Isofix, and we want to know we’re getting a car seat which can stand up to the mark on safety.

With the Graco Nautilus Elite I think we’ve achieved this. And I think we’ve got a bit more in the mix. The side impact support and the adjustable head support means from a comfort and safety perspective it’s got a lot more going for it than a lot of Isofix seats.

And ultimately the thing with Isofix is it tends to be more expensive and whilst you can’t compromise on safety, if your seat is fitted correctly then value for money can be factored into the equation.

With the Nautilus Elite the seat grows with your child, the head support can be adjusted, and you can move from the five point safety harness to using a standard seat belt within the guides.

For us, I think the outstanding feature was the added safety features and the comfort of the seat. I really liked how easy it was to adapt the seat depending on whether Squeaks or one of the boys was using it, and how much more comfortable they seemed it in than their other seats. I liked the fact it looks like a chair, with its arm rests and head support, and the children seem to treat it in this manner, and whilst it is early days they are competing as to who gets to sit in it!

We found the seat straightforward to fit, once we had it figured out we’ve found it easy to transfer across my car, his car, and my mum’s car. We think it will be housed in the people carrier long term.

I think these photos speak for themselves. We’ve taken them in the house as it’s a lot lighter and easier to see the features.