How to Spot Fake or Unsafe Child Car Seats

Beware: Some Child Car Seats Sold Online Don’t Meet Safety Standards

Child car seats are an essential safety item, but did you know there are counterfeit car seats? Disreputable suppliers cut corners and use cheap materials to slash costs, tricking parents into thinking they’re getting a deal when they’re actually compromising their children’s safety.

Counterfeit child car seats are sold across many different sites, including Amazon, Shein, Temu, and TikTok. Notice that even if you purchase a car seat on an ecommerce site you trust, you could still wind up with a product that doesn’t protect your child in a car accident.

Here are some of the telltale signs you’ve got a counterfeit child car seat:

• It doesn’t have a safety inspection sticker. Your child car seat should have an inspection sticker (usually yellow with red or black lettering) indicating that it complies with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS). If yours doesn’t have that sticker, there’s no way to know it’s equipped with basic safety features – and there’s a good chance it isn’t.
• There’s no user manual. All child car seats sold in the United States are required to have a user manual, describing each of the products’ components, including safety features, and how to properly use them. If your car seat didn’t come with a user manual, you may have a fraudulent product on your hands.
• It lacks proper labeling. Legitimate child car seats have labels that list important product information like name, model number, manufacture date and expiration date. There should also be labels with safety information like height and weight guidelines, which can help you know how to use the product safely.
• It doesn’t have a five-point harness. Five-point harnesses are the most secure restraint mechanism. Thick, durable straps fasten around your child’s hips, both shoulders and between the legs, ensuring they are properly positioned in the car seat. This helps to redistribute the impact force in an accident, putting them out of harm’s way.
• There isn’t a chest clip. Without a chest clip, your car seat’s shoulder straps may not restrain your child the way they were designed to. Positioned near your child’s sternum, the chest clip keeps those shoulder straps securely in place, preventing them from slipping through the harness.

Car seats that don’t have the above safety features are ill-equipped to protect your child in an accident and you should stop using them immediately. If you have any concerns about your car seat, you can check the NHTSA database for any recalls, investigations or complaints.