Snugride doesn't fit securely in a 2003 Honda Accord

atcrosby · Feb 8, 2004

Our Graco Snugride does not securely fit into any of the 2003 Honda Accord rear seats using LATCH or LATCH + 3 pt seat belt. It's plenty tight and the guy who checked it agreed, but the end for the baby's head can bounce up 3 - 4 inches which seems unrealistic. This is my first baby and I'm not sure what is normal.

If you have any suggestions on how to prevent this, please advise.

Thanks.

murphydog77 · Feb 8, 2004

Hi. What do you mean by "bounce?" If you mean that the top of the seat can be pushed toward the back of the car, that's normal movement called cocooning. We check for snugness right at the belt path; you want 1" or less of movement there. The further away from the belt path you get, the more movement there will be.

atcrosby · Feb 9, 2004

bounce response

Interesting feedback, thanks. The guy at Babies R Us indicated that if the head can move up several inches that it was not acceptable even if the belt portion was plenty snug. He pushed the head portion up and said it could automatically bounce up if the brakes were slammed on to prevent a collision and hurt her neck. Is this correct? Where can I find more info or a video clip on "cocooning"?

SafeDad · Feb 9, 2004

From SafetyBeltSafe USA: http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_update.htm

The first U.S. infant restraint, which is the model for subsequent ones, did not use a tether in either direction nor a shoulder belt, but it worked very well. During development, the engineers observed that it turned over toward the vehicle seatback after a crash test and, largely in order to justify what happened anyway, they called this the "cocoon effect." There was also some justifiable concern that the small infant's neck might be injured on rebound or rear-impact unless the restraint were allowed to freely rotate in this direction. Justified or not, this concept has remained and seems to make intuitive sense. The counter-argument that the infant's head will "slam" into the seatback and be injured on rebound has not been validated in over 30 years of crash experience.

Tethered or not, rebound or not, rear-facing infant and convertible seats are extremely safe. Also-

http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

Robert · Feb 15, 2004

In regards to your seat belt system or LATCH, you only need to use the seat belt or LATCH. It is not recommended to use both for there is no need to.

Snugride doesn't fit securely in a 2003 Honda Accord

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