ISO fix moves too much?

[matt216]

Hiya. New parent-to-be here. Just got our car seat and fitted as per instructions. Got green indicators all round, but there is an unexpected amount of up/down movement in the seat. Is this normal? Doesn't seem the most sturdy in case of the worst...
Can others move their child seats up towards the back of the car seat this much?

Thanks,
Matt

Hi Matt, that's totally normal movement don't worry. All infant seat bases do this. It needs to hinge up and down like that to allow good contact with any vehicle seat as they are all different angles.

If you had an accident, the forces from that would push the contents of the car forward and down. That's why there's a supporting leg on the car seat, it stops the seat from rotating too much in that initial impact, and therefore prevents too much rebound. You can see how the leg works in this video. (It's an American video but that's because there isn't a UK version; all UK infant car seat bases have this leg so there's no comparison with/without).

As an additional protection against rebound, most infant car seats will have a reinforced handle and the handle itself acts as a "roll cage" to stop the seat moving too far back upwards. Therefore it's really important to double check your car seat manual and check what position they want you to put the handle in for travel. Most of the time it's up like you have it here, but brands vary. Check the manual to make sure.

Thanks. Ickle Bubba replied to my email confirming the same.
Feel better :)