RF bracing on the front seats?

[jdchic3]

I thought you were supposed to have rebound room between the RF seat and the front seats of the vehicle? Can someone please explain what is correct and why? Thanks!

[Jeanum]

Rebound is the term for a rear facing carseat's movement toward the rear of the vehicle during a crash (aka cocooning) while over rotation is the term for a RF seat's movement or tilting toward the front of the vehicle during a collision. Some carseat manufacturers allow their RF seats to touch or be braced against the vehicle's front seatbacks, and this can help reduce over rotation during a crash. Some carseat models/manufacturers do not allow touching or bracing - Evenflo infant seats are one example as they require a certain minimum amount of clearance behind the front seat. Even in the case of carseats that do allow bracing, like Britax, however, the vehicle manual also needs to be carefully consulted about whether touching/bracing against the front seatbacks is allowable. Some vehicles with advanced airbags do not allow a child restraint to be braced or touch the front seatbacks because doing so could interfere with the sensors for the front airbags. The warning against touching/bracing the front seatbacks might be in the child restraint section of the vehicle manual, and/or it might be in the airbag-related section (which is the only place the warning appears in the manual for my '05 Sienna- you'd think it would be in the child restraint section, too).

Hope this helps clarify. :)

[jdchic3]

Do not think it says it in my child restraint section. We have an 01 Jeep Grand Cherokee though if anyone has one and has any advice? (Will check the manual when I get a chance later)

[SamPacey&Joshua]

What carseat do you have?

[jdchic3]

LOL! I forgot that's important too. We have a Marathon

[SamPacey&Joshua]

My manual doesn't say anything about carseats being braced into the front seats. We don't have the advanced sensors or anything and the airbags can't be turned off. So it's possible that your manual may not say anything about it...but I would definitely check one more time to be sure.

Britax convertibles can be braced...so as long as your vehicle allows it, they can push into the front seats. Britax actually encourage bracing because it prevents over rotation (toward the floorboard). You can also use the rear-facing tether to prevent rebound (toward the seatback).

Ideally, you want the carseat to be one with the car, so to speak. The more tightly the carseat is coupled with the car, the better job it's going to do of protecting the child.

Oh and rebound isn't something that's "supposed" to happen. That's just what happens with a rear-facing seat and it's perfectly fine. Only Britax convertibles and the SunShine Kids Radian can be tethered rear-facing, which prevents that rebound. A rear-facing tether does improve the stability of the restraint and is especially beneficial in side-impacts and rollovers and even more-so for older/heavier rear-facing kiddos.

[jdchic3]

So, I checked my manual and it doesn't say anything about bracing a RF seat against the vehicle seat! I checked the sections about child restraints, air bags, and the section on the seats. Looks like I can keep my DD RF in her MA!

[Jeanum]

You're probably fine to touch/brace, then. :) I think a 2001 model pre-dates the advanced airbags and sensors which started to turn up more recently, like around 2004/2005 in some vehicles.