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graco car seat nautilus
Does anyone own a Graco Nautilus 3 in 1 multiuse car seat?

My daughter is 10 months old. She has outgrown her infant car seat and I’m thinking about purchasing Graco Nautilus 3-1 car seat, however, I’m wondering if it’s only used in a forward facing position or can it be used rear facing as well?

I don’t own one, but I wouldn’t buy one. There’s no reason to get a 3-in-1 car seat right now. The IIHS tested a bunch of boosters and found that the boosters that failed most often were the 3-in-1 booster seats. I’m very sure this is going to lead to actual regulations on boosters (something that is lacking right now.) The Nautilus did fail… in some cars and didn’t fail in other cars. So in some cars it will protect your child, but not all cars. And honestly, if I buy a car seat I want it to protect my child whether they’re in Grandma’s, my car, daddy’s car, or even a rental.

Since the Graco Nautilus goes from 20-100lbs, it’s meant to be used as a forward facing car seat only. Also, think of this. After 5-6 years a car seat has to be retired. That means your daughter would need to hit 100lbs by the time she was 7 years old in order to use this car seat to the full extent. According to growth charts for girls, the girls who are in the 95% will reach 100lbs by 9 years old, 50% by 12 1/2 years old. The car seat would need to be retired before you fully used it. There’s just no reason to get one that goes to 100lbs.

Have you looked at the Graco My-Ride? It runs from $129 at Wal-mart to $159 at other stores, rear-faces from 5-40lbs, forward to 65lbs. 65lbs will last most children to 5-9 years old (6 years old 95%, 9 1/2 for 50%…), at which point the car seat should be retired and getting a booster shouldn’t be an issue because there should be more tests and more regulations by that time. Also, one of the best bets booster seats that the IIHS tested ran for $20… so it’s not like a cheap booster that will be a great booster won’t be available.