zactayaus
Well-known member
Something interesting from my special needs car seat class today with Joe Colella. He told us that it is not true that all car seats, at the correct infant angle, are at 45 degrees. He said that all RF car seats must not be able to rotate backward more than 70 degrees in a crash (that's how they are crash tested) and therefore the indicators/lines to indicate correct angle are all at different degrees to accommodate this. He demonstrated this with a Comfy Carry (very reclined at proper angle) and an Embrace (very upright at proper angle). He also said that's why a lot of seats are coming out with dual level indicators, because a smaller lighter baby is going to rotate the seat back less than a bigger heavier baby. He also said that if a car seat and a car manufacturer allow for light touching/bracing that that is actually safer than having a space between the car seat and the vehicle seat. He said that in a crash the car seat is going to hit the vehicle seat regardless of the space in between the two (he said you'd need 12-18 inches of space for this not to happen). Therefore if there is a space then a "second" collision happens for the baby (1st being the actual crash, 2nd being the collision with the vehicle seat). If the seat is already touching then that 2nd collision doesn't happen or happens at less forces. Hope that all made sense!
ETA: And he also said that Australian RF tethering tested better than the Swedish (most commonly used) method. I did not know this.
ETA: And he also said that Australian RF tethering tested better than the Swedish (most commonly used) method. I did not know this.
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