How important is Anti-Rebound

How important is an Anti-Rebound device on an infant car seat. I am expecting a baby in 2 months and can't decide. I was set on the safe seat unitl I read a review by a car seat technition saying that the seat was sub-par becasue it was lacking a anti-rebound device and that the seat would rebound into the back seat of the vehicle. What is the technical proffessionals take on this issue and what is the best seat I could buy for the new baby in our family. thank you

Hi, I am not a tech but I would think the rebound bar would be important. I used a Britax Companion for my daughter. It was great. The seat holds up to 22 pounds and 30 inches. When she got longer it was a little harder to get the seat out of the base because her toes would catch on the rebound bar but I hardly took the seat out at that point because she was older. It also hooks into the car very easy. Hope this helps.

Where did you read this article? Do you know who the technician was?

I'm not the original poster, but I was curious so I did some google searching and found this:

http://www.elitecarseats.com/catalog/product_review.jsp?productId=4737

Kind of dubious, a carelessly edited dashed-out "review" from an anonymous person who says he's a certified car seat tech.

I don't think it's very important. It's not dangerous for an infant seat to cocoon. They're made to do that. And it would be a pretty extreme crash to make the happen.
The SafeSeat 1 is an awesome seat and I would highly recommend it over any other infant seat out there. I got one for a kid that was already 8 months old because I loved it so much!
RF convertible seats can rebound too. Not a safety issue. Although the Britax seats can be tethered RF to lessen this. Some seats perform WORSE in crash tests if not allowed to rebound.

If you are truly concerned about rebound, I would get a britax convertible and tether it. But the SafeSeat, installed properly, will be a very safe seat and you will not have a reason to worry about rebound (because, if it happens, it will be because it was meant to happen)

There was some rather extensive, although somewhat confusing discussion about anti-rebound & RF tethering here recently (I never received some of the imformation I was supposed to be getting to put together an update) -- we don't have any solid comparison evidence to say just how much safer this might be than letting the infant seat flip to cocoon baby as most are deisgned.... In Sweden it's a standard & they pretty much have the safest child passenger safety in the world -- I personally would feel my infant is very safe either way, but would prefer the Britax Companion, for example, if I could afford it ... otherwise, my oppinion is that RF tethering is more important for older toddlers who still fit the RF limits of their convertible seat.

Remember that the BEST seat: fits the child, fits the vehicle & will be used correctly every ride

Hello I am the original poster and that is exactly where I found the review (from elite car seats website). Thank you for the information.

Papooses: What do you mean is standard in Sweden?

"Cocoon" is an unfortunate choice of words as it implies some increased protection. Rear-facing seats are not designed to do this for any safety purpose, that's just how they perform in a crash and someone attached that name to it.

Anti-rebound features (tether, bar, foot, etc) on a rear-facing seat will reduce head excursion and help keep the child from striking part of the interior on a rebound (or in a rear impact and rollover). It is the same purpose that a standard top tether serves on a front facing seat.

The difference is that rear-facing is so safe, the addition of the tether is not nearly as important of an improvement as it is for a front facing seat. The energy in a rebound is less than the initial forward energy in a frontal crash. That is one reason why most manufacturers opt to save the costs for additional design and testing and do not allow rear-facing tethers.

The important thing is to keep your child rear-facing to at least 20 pounds AND 1 year at an absolute minimum, longer if at all possible. Keep them correctly restrained in the back seat and make sure the child seat is installed correctly. If you've done that, your child will be very safe. An anti-rebound feature in a rear-facing seat is icing on the cake; nice to have, but not nearly as important as these other factors.

Sorry, I've been in a such a rush for days -- that wasn't very clearly stated -- I meant that in Scandinavia (Sweden & Norway, etc.) I think all RF seats are designed with a ~50+ pound weight limit & my Danish friend says all the RF seats she's ever seen are tethered (many with 2 top tethers, not just 1).... If this is incorrect, I would love to have clarifiation!

papooses said:

Sorry, I've been in a such a rush for days -- that wasn't very clearly stated -- I meant that in Scandinavia (Sweden & Norway, etc.) I think all RF seats are designed with a ~50+ pound weight limit & my Danish friend says all the RF seats she's ever seen are tethered (many with 2 top tethers, not just 1).... If this is incorrect, I would love to have clarifiation!

Click to expand...

The babyseats, up to 13kg, use only the seatbelt to be fastened. Either directly or with a base, like the Graco Snugrider. RF carseats for bigger children (up to 18kg or 25kg) use two straps from the bottom back of the seat to something on the floor or under the front seat. Is this what you mean by tethers?