Question about rebound...

twinsmom

New member
I've read many places that rebound of infant seats was thought to be important so as not to put too much load on an infant's neck. With the seats that tether RF, and the new TF with the anti-rebound bar, is it generally thought now that it is safer NOT to allow rebound?
 
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An Aurora

Senior Community Member
I've read many places that rebound of infant seats was thought to be important so as not to put too much load on an infant's neck. With the seats that tether RF, and the new TF with the anti-rebound bar, is it generally thought now that it is safer NOT to allow rebound?

From the CPST encyclopedia:
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.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
:yeahthat:

Also, my understanding is that with the anti-rebound bar or rear tether, the seat will still rebound, just not as much.

Honestly, it's one of those things we don't know a whole lot about.
 

Pixels

New member
The research that I did regarding to RF tether or not, I found that not tethering allows rebound and reduces neck strain. Tethering improves side-impact protection. The breakeven point is about 9 months of age - at that point, the neck is developed enough to handle the rebound forces better, and the SIP becomes more important than avoiding neck strain.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
I'd always use a seat that tethers, tethered RF, even for a newborn. I don't think there's enough information to prove Britax and Sunshine Kids wrong on this point, personally, and if they recommend it, I trust them. Yet I will use a seat that doesn't tether, too...I used Leah's SS1 till she was 18 months old and 23 pounds almost exclusively :twocents::)

And note that while the neck forces may have been greater in tethered seats, they were still we below the NHTSA maximum-allowed levels :)
 

Maedze

New member
Rebound is a not a 'good' thing, or really a 'bad' one, per se. It's just something that happens. It's not part of the design in terms of crash safety.
 

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