Recaro Signo Rear Facing...no tether?

[burnetta]

Hi, I've narrowed my daughters 2nd vehicle seat down to either a Britax Boulevard or Recaro Signo.

I wanted to confirm that you don't use a tether with the Recaro Signo (when rear facing)- should this be a concern, or is the seat A-ok without using it? Unfortunately I don't know enough to know how much this should influence my decision.

Thank you!!!

Amy :)

[crunchierthanthou]

no, no rf tether with the recaro convertibles. All seats pass testing without it. You'll have to decide for yourself how important it is.

There is some debate as to the effectiveness of rf tethers, though there aren't a whole lot of studies either way. Some data suggest that it increases the neck load on small infants. Other info indicates that the increase is minimal and is outweighed by the improvement in side impact performance. Personally, I'm a fan, as are most of the techs here. Rf tethers have been used for a long time in Sweden- where erf is common to age 4 or more and the vehicle crash mortality rate for children is among the lowest in the world.

That being said, it's not a deal breaker for me. Is there somewhere that sells the seats locally? I would try your child in both and see how they install in your car before making a decision.

Also, you may want to look at this thread on Signo DOMs (http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=58317).