Bringing a baby home from the hospital can be a joyous event, but a growing number of counterfeit car seats on the market poses a life-threatening risk to vulnerable newborns.
LeeAnn Brown, a nurse and certified car seat technician at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center, said in the past few months, at least five unsafe car seats were brought in by parents getting ready to bring their babies home.
In the U.S., child restraint systems are regulated at the federal level by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Brown said approximately 60 car seat manufacturers meet the minimum safety standards.
Yet, a growing number of counterfeit, poorly made seats are being sold through social media marketplaces, primarily on TikTok and Temu, said Brown.
“You have the risk of ejection and for preemies, you have a risk of asphyxiation. And in a rollover crash, that’s not going to keep a baby in one spot,” said Brown.
How do you spot a counterfeit car seat?
“First, pick it up. If it’s markedly lighter than an approved car seat, that’s probably because it doesn’t have any steel in it,” said Brown. “Approved car seats have steel along the base, (which attaches to latches on the car seat), along the seat area, and along the length of the torso.”
Next, Brown looks at the harness system straps.
“Is the harness at least your thumb’s width,” asks Brown. “If not, it’s too thin, it won’t hold the baby in place.”
Another must-have is a chest plate, as part of a five-point system.
“When we say a five-point system, we’re talking about over the shoulders and through the chest plate, that’s two. Then the main buckle through the legs is three. Then around both hips, that’s four and five,” said Brown.
‘It is not meant for an infant’
While labels on car seats that indicate it meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards contain minimum and maximum height and weights for a child’s usage, they also include an expiration date, at which point a car seat should be disposed.
During a webinar with nurse colleague Teresa Baltuano-Post, Brown pointed to a label and said, “Look at this one, this is the kicker. It says ‘Doll baby children product.’ It’s a doll seat. It’s not meant for an infant.”
Baltuano-Post said in Prince William County, in some cases, the language barrier may confuse parents seeking an affordable child safety seat.
While it is not illegal for an individual to sell a car seat, Brown and Baltuano-Post discouraged purchasing a secondhand seat, because it may have been involved in a crash.
“It’s like wearing a bike helmet 鈥� if you hit your head, you should be getting a new bike helmet,” Brown said. “If a car seat was in an accident, you should be getting that replaced 鈥� and a lot of people don’t realize is your insurance will cover the cost of that car seat.”
Brown said parents should bring their car seat when they check into the hospital, rather than on the day the newborn is expected to go home. She said that’s especially important with premature babies.
“We have a practice in the NICU to encourage parents to please bring their car seats early, a few days before they’re going home, because we may need to do a car seat test, which tells us whether or not the baby’s going to be able to tolerate the position,” she said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics offers for parents, and a car seat product list is available at .
“I’m old enough to remember when my mother’s arm was my car seat,” said Brown, recalling it was 1971 when NHSTS adopted the first federal manufacturing standards for car seats, requiring harnesses and seat belt anchors. “We’ve come a long way.”
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