You've heard all the buzz about the anti-rebound bar. Some seats have them, some don't. But have you ever wondered what exactly they are for?

Rebound is kind of like dribbling a basketball: When you drop a basketball, first it hits the ground and then it “rebounds” back up toward your hand. The same thing happens in a crash! First, people in the car move to the point of impact, then they “rebound” back to where they started. Rear facing car seats rebound back toward the vehicle seat on which they are installed. 

An anti-rebound bar does just what its name suggests: it stops the car seat from moving as much during a crash - focusing on stopping that rebound movement.

You’ll only find anti-rebound bars on rear facing car seats, but they can look different from seat to seat. You might see an anti-rebound panel on an infant car seat base, an anti-rebound bar on a rear facing convertible/all-in-one car seat, or an anti-rebound carry handle position on an infant bucket seat! All types of anti-rebound bars do the same thing - help the car seat move less during a crash.

If your car seat doesn’t have an anti-rebound bar, don’t panic! All car seats on the US market must pass federal crash tests WITHOUT an anti-rebound bar. Rebound related injuries are also not very common. So, while anti-rebound bars can help improve how car seats work in a crash, all car seats on the US market can and do pass these tests without them.

Guest Post by Britney Schroeder, CPST (@buckleandlatch)