Nautilus 3-in-1: The Ultimate in Graco Car Seats

Graco car seats are the number one name in child car seats and have been for many years for good reason. They’re durable, they’re reliable, and they’re versatile. However, even when it comes to Graco, some car seats represent a better value than others. The Nautilus 3-in-1 car seat from the Graco Snugride line is the most comprehensive one of its kind yet. Capable of accommodating a child that weighs up to 100 pounds, it’s something you and your child can grow with over the years and any parent knows that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Introducing a Quality Car Seat Your Child Can Grow With

As a mother, I naturally want only the very best for my baby daughter – the most nutritious food, the most durable clothes, and the best medical care money can buy. I also want only baby accessories that I can really trust and any mother can tell you that one of the most important accessories you’ll ever buy is a car seat. The right car seat will not only be safe, but comfortable for your child to ride in and durable to boot. Graco car seats are without a doubt the best money can buy, but up until now, even Graco hasn’t produced a car seat that’s as flexible as most parents would really like.

Enter the Nautilus 3-in-1 from Graco Snugride! It’s actually a convertible car seat that your child can grow with over the years. That means not having to spend a fortune on a series of car seats instead of just one. With a harness capable of accommodating children up to 65 pounds in weight and a backless booster seat that can hold children up to 100 pounds, this is truly a car seat that earns the right to be referred to as “versatile”.

What Features Do You Get With This Product?

  • This car seat meets or exceeds all US safety standards. These include Compliance Standard FMVSS 213. It actually meets double the standard in regards to the New Car Assessment Program’s crash force program.
  • Plenty of features for your child’s comfort including adjustable head support, cushioned seat, and generous armrests.
  • Convenient cup holder and side storage compartment for a cup, snacks, toys, or anything else your child may want to keep close.
  • Extended 5-point harness that can accommodate a child over 1 year of age ranging in weight from 20-65 pounds.
  • Convertible feature that transitions to a high-back booster and a backless booster as your child continues to grow.
  • System is capable of accommodating a child up to 100 pounds in weight.

Why Buy Several Graco Car Seats When You Can Buy Just One?

When I had my son years ago, I had to spend a fortune on car seats as he grew. It seemed as if everything on the market then was built to accommodate a very small size and weight range, making it necessary to buy a new car seat every time Billy grew a little more. What a relief it was to find the Nautilus 3-in-1 for my daughter! This car seat isn’t just something she can use now as a toddler. This car seat will actually convert and grow with her, eliminating the need to buy a whole new system every couple of years. Not only does that save me money, but it’s better for her as well. She gets attached to her things, so it will be nice for her not to have to get used to a completely new seat every time she gets a little bigger.

Comfort and Safety: The Best of Both Worlds!

One of the things I’ve always liked best about Graco car seats is the way they don’t cut corners in any category and the Nautilus 3-in-1 is no exception. My daughter is extremely picky about things like car seats and chairs, so it’s imperative that a seat for her be comfortable enough. She loves the Graco Nautilus to the point where she even tolerates long car trips with ease. You’ve got to love the side compartment as well. I can use it to store crackers for her, toys, or anything else she’d like to have nearby.

Then there’s how safe these car seats are. This particular one doesn’t just meet American safety standards. It exceeds them in many cases. Like any good parent, I honestly feel like there’s no such thing as “too safe” when it comes to my children, so I appreciate the fact that Graco and I are on the same page. I feel totally comfortable trusting my daughter’s life to the Nautilus and I don’t make statements like that lightly at all.

What I Love About This Product

  • The flexibility was really the selling point here. The convertible feature that allows a child’s car seat to grow with them is simply a godsend.
  • The safety factor is off the charts. Graco goes above and beyond here to offer parents a safe, reliable car seat they can trust.
  • Incredible construction and a tough steel frame make this car seat durable enough to actually stand the test of time.
  • It’s easy to adjust and install. Believe me, I’m terrible with things like that, so if I can get this car seat ready to go, anyone can!

What I Didn’t Like as Much

  • I personally would have preferred a wider range of colors to choose from, but really. I’m hardly complaining. The neutral color this comes in is plenty attractive. It just would have been nice to select something with a little more flare.
  • The trigger release for the harness sometimes sticks, but this is a minor issue. It could certainly be an anomaly in the particular car seat I wound up with.
  • I would personally have liked a tad more adjustability when it came to the crotch strap, but overall the straps fit great and were very adjustable.

My Overall Assessment

Generally speaking, this is an excellent car seat and I honestly can find little to complain about with it. It’s safe, it’s durable, and it’s convenient. I love knowing that I will be able to use this seat for my daughter until she’s 10 years old or so and will never have to buy another one. Plus, she loves it and if it’s comfortable enough to suit her, I honestly believe that any child would love it. Really, I have no qualms about whole-heartedly recommending this product to any parent, no matter how discriminating. It’s a terrific value and is truly the ultimate in Graco car seats… period.

Where Can You Buy the Nautilus 3-in-1 Graco Car Seats?

You can buy this Nautilus 3-in-1 Graco Car Seats from Amazon. At the moment they include free shipping and from what I can tell when comparing prices with other online merchants, Amazon do currently have the best deal especially with the free shipping option. Click here to view on Amazon.

Where Can You Read More Reviews for the Nautilus 3-in-1 Graco Car Seats?

The best place for reviews from people who actually use the product is Amazon. Click here to read more.

The Best Baby Strollers Under the Sun


Good baby strollers have to cover all the bases, because today’s moms have the highest of standards when it comes to their little ones. They want something functional and durable, yet they want to make sure the stroller they pick is comprehensive and attractive as well. Graco strollers have been the number one choice for mothers everywhere for a while now and with good reason. They have it all in the bag and within an incredibly reasonable price range. How can you beat that?

Baby Strollers That Really Break the Mold

The right baby strollers are certainly hard to find. That’s something no mother really needs to be told. However, knowing you need a stellar travel system for your little one and actually finding one that has everything you’re looking for at a reasonable price are two completely different animals. You want something useful and flexible. You want it to be lightweight and durable. However, you didn’t lose your sense of style just because you had a baby either, so naturally you want it to have a little flare as well. It’s tough finding all of those things in one line of baby equipment and most of us have no idea where to look!

At least that was the predicament I was in when I first had my son. His first stroller was a hand-me-down from one of my friends who had had a baby a few years prior and it really just didn’t get the job done. It was old, it was heavy, it didn’t really fit with the other accessories I had been given for my son at my baby shower, and… well… it really wasn’t that attractive, to be honest. Then I received the Graco Alano Snugride Travel System as a birthday gift from my mother and I found out how handy the right stroller system can really be! It was everything my son and I needed and then some.

What Features Do You Get With This Product?

What I honestly liked the most about this stroller is the same thing I really enjoy about Graco baby products in general. It’s packed with features designed to make traveling with a baby as easy and simple as possible.

  • Durable elliptical tubing that really stands up to rough handling, which – let’s face it – sometimes can’t be avoided when we’re talking about getting around with a baby in tow.
  • Folding mechanism designed to be operated not only one-handed, but also from a standing position.
  • Handy drop-down storage basket for holding baby accessories or anything else you need to find a convenient place for.
  • Parent’s tray complete with cup holders.
  • Lockable front swivel wheels with a suspension feature for a smoother ride at all times.
  • Three separate pieces that compliment and are compatible with one another – stroller, car seat, and a stay-in-car base.

Everything You Need in One Convenient Package

What I really loved about the Graco baby strollers in this line is the way they’re really more than just strollers. They’re complete convertible travel systems that really make getting around with my son a lot easier and each piece is of a terrific quality level for the price. I didn’t just get a stroller with this set. I got a stroller, a deluxe car seat, and a sturdy car seat base. All the pieces coordinate and are compatible with one another, which was just terrific. There was honestly nothing else I needed to buy to go with this. Very convenient not to have to go hunting around for the car seat and accessories after I’d managed to get the baby stroller.

Tons of Convenient Features I Never Knew I Needed

The people behind these baby strollers really do know what parents need and will appreciate… possibly even better than the parents themselves do! I love the parent’s tray with the cup holders, for instance. Before I got pregnant, I had this little morning ritual with one of my girlfriends where we’d meet for Starbucks and then take a walk together in the park while we enjoyed our coffee. Now we have gotten back in the habit of doing that again! We just pop our Starbucks into the cup holders and go for our walks with my son now.

I love the drop-down storage basket as well. It’s come in very handy when I’m at the mall with this stroller and need a convenient place to stow a shopping bag while I steer. Graco even thought of the way we mothers are always in a hurry and short at least one hand when it comes time to fold our baby strollers up. I can easily collapse this one one-handed and standing, which has come in handy more than once so far. This travel set is really built to last, too. It’s sure taken its share of dings and mishaps since I got it and it’s still as good as new.

And Don’t Forget That It’s Stylish!

I worked in the fashion industry before I became a mom, so I’ve always known that I’d never be the kind of mother who doesn’t care about style. A staggering number of the baby strollers I see on the streets are so lackluster and boring, but not the Graco strollers! They’re not just durable. They’re streamlined and smooth-looking. They come in eye-catching colors and patterns that I feel really suit my style and get lots of attention. In fact, it’s rare that I take my son anywhere in this stroller and don’t get a million compliments on it!

What I Liked About This Stroller

  • It was easy to set up – much easier than I ever would have anticipated in my wildest dreams, actually. It only took me about 15 minutes or so before it was ready for action.
  • It’s durable. I’ll admit that my son and I can really abuse his baby equipment, but this travel set is none the worse for wear for that.
  • The convenient features, especially the drop-down basket and parent’s tray.
  • It’s good-looking – something a stylish new mother can feel proud to be seen with.

What I Didn’t Like As Well

  • The carrier is useful only up to 22 pounds. I would have liked a higher weight limit, to be totally honest.
  • I thought the adjustable straps could have been a little easier to work with. These aren’t impossible by any means, but they took a little more fiddling and figuring out than I would have preferred.
  • I didn’t feel the sun visor gave as much protection from the sun as it should have, but that could just be my perception.

My Overall Impression of This Product

While there were certainly a couple of features with these baby strollers that I felt could use a touch of improvement, I really don’t feel I have much cause for complaint. Over all, I am very happy with this travel set and recommend it to any mother who is looking for durable, attractive baby travel gear that won’t break the bank and is functional to boot. The reviews I read about this product and this company are really right on. Graco strollers are the number one baby strollers for a reason!

Where Can You Buy the Graco Dynamo Lite Travel System?

You can buy this Graco Dynamo Lite Travel System from Amazon. At the moment they include free shipping and from what I can tell when comparing prices with other online merchants, Amazon do currently have the best deal especially with the free shipping option. Click here to view on Amazon.

Where Can You Read More Reviews for the Graco Dynamo Lite Travel System?

The best place for reviews from people who actually use the product is Amazon. Click here to read more.

KidCo Hearth Gate: Get Serious About Baby Gate Safety


baby_gates

Children Change Your Life

When you have a child, baby gates become the main piece of furniture in your house. Oh sure, when you bring them home from the hospital, they are all cute and, well… noisy and demanding. BUT they stay where you put them. Once they learn to scooch or roll or crawl or (oh, darn) walk, it’s all over. You need baby gates. Lots of them. Everywhere. If you have a fireplace with a raised hearth, you are in deep trouble. Trust me on this. We have the stitches scar on my niece’s forehead to prove it.

What Are the Options?

My sister in law has a hearth around her fireplace. It’s gorgeous brick, raised up about a brick and a half from the floor. It matches the fireplace, which they never use, it is strictly decorative for them. They decided, after discovering that babies eventually get bored with staying where you put them and can, quite ingeniously, escape those bouncy seats and other contraptions, to protect their daughter from the sharp edges of the hearth…. with bumpers. They bought these foam-like bumper things that were supposed to connect to the brick with Velcro. They put them on, feeling very proud and superior at their foresight in this extra level of protection added to their arsenal of baby proofing equipment that included, but was not limited to, electrical outlet covers, baby gates for doorways, baby gates for stairs, cupboard locks for which you needed a special magnet key that kept getting lost, a monitor that allowed you to watch every breath your baby took when not in your presence, and some other expensive stuff.

Anyway, my sister in law Velcro’d the padding in place, a little smugly, I have to say. And smirked at me as her child crawled directly toward the new challenged. At first she just poked it. Then she bent over and rubbed her face on it. Then she experimentally bit it. That’s when it started to get ugly. Velcro is no match for a baby who wants to chew on something. Little Emma literally pulled a section of that padding off with her bare gums!!!! It was like Super Baby! She gnawed on it, despite my sis in law’s chorus of “no no no no!” and seemed to be enjoying it immensely.

It was promptly reapplied. It was again removed. Hoping there would be some kind of a short-term memory loss on Emma’s part, she was taken up for a nap where she undoubted dreamed of the lovely new toy around the hearth. Or kittens. Anyway, after her nap and her nasty mash of baby gruel and mashed carrots, she was again set loose. Guess where she went?

Yeah. She had it out for those hearth bumpers. She was chewing and pulling and laughing and my sister in law was “no no no” which made me laugh – probably a bad choice considering what came next. Between yanking the bumper off and turning to look at her mother, Emma tipped over. She hit her forehead on the bumperless portion of the hearth and the rest of the day was consumed with the emergency room.

The Better Choice

I felt guilty for laughing just before Emma took her tumble, so I did some research on safety for around hearths. Unsurprisingly, I discovered that gates are effective. We use so many gates when our kids are young, you’d think we’d go there first when considering safety equipment. One gate in particular from KidCo caught my eye. It was specifically designed to provide safety around fireplace hearths. Bingo.

Details

The Kidco Hearth Gate measures

  • 6 x 27.5 x 31.8 inches and weighs just over 30 pounds
  • Made to fit hearths that are a standard 6 feet wide and 2 feet deep
  • Includes five 24 inch sections
  • One section contains a gate with one-hand release for access to the fireplace.
  • Extension sections for larger hearths may be purchased separately.
  • Made of tubular steel

Other Uses

This gate can also be used to surround a grill, wood burning stove, or other areas that require a flexible gate solution. I suppose that’s why we never thought about a gate in the first place. Gates are straight. They are used for doorways or stairways for the most part. A gate that comes in sections for easy adaptation to multiple shapes and areas is a fantastic idea.

Research

The Kidco baby gate go 4.6 out of 5 stars and reviewers seemed to like it. I always check reviews before purchase so I can be sure that real people who have used an item actually liked it… or not. So I saw that out of 57 reviews, 43 were 5 star and 10 were 4 star. The few negative reviews had to do with the swivel hinge not working appropriately and even breaking on the portion of the gate that should open. Even though it was only 3 reviews, I was concerned so I visited the KidCo website. Their site clearly states, “KidCo will either repair, or at our option replace, free of charge, any parts necessary to correct defects in material or workmanship during the warranty period.  This warranty is complete and exclusive.” The warranty is good for one year and items in need of repair can be shipped to KidCo for repair after contacting customer service. Sounds good to me.

Guilty Gift

By the time I got over my freaking out over Emma and researching solutions and removing the Velcro from the fireplace hearth and finding this gate and ordering it and receiving it, Emma was getting her stitches out and I was installing the new Kidco baby gate. Sure, it was a little expensive, but WOW. This thing is great. It was easy to put up and there’s no way little Emma or any other kids can get through it. Sure, she could bump her head on the tubes, but the damage will be a bruise, not a cut.

When they got back from the doctor, the gate was up. I got hugs from my sister in law and Emma. Thank you, Kidco Hearth Gate, for keeping Emma safe from now on.

Where Can You Buy the KidCo Hearth Gate?

You can buy this KidCo Hearth Gate from Amazon. At the moment they include free shipping and from what I can tell when comparing prices with other online merchants, Amazon do currently have the best deal especially with the free shipping option. Click here to view on Amazon.

Where Can You Read More Reviews for the KidCo Hearth Gate?

The best place for reviews from people who actually use the product is Amazon. Click here to read more.