The real source of the issue is the nav bar itself, regardless of which element follows it. Absolute positioning doesn't push subsequent elements down, but it d

The real source of the issue is the nav bar itself, regardless of which element follows it. Absolute positioning doesn't push subsequent elements down, but it does allow you to use z-index. Earlier today I made a demo of one possible way to get "the best of both worlds": http://cdpn.io/wyuBg http://cdpn.io/wyuBg Like a fellow commenter said, this may be a deliberate design choice, so the point could be moot.