Parents need to take a close look at their infant car seats before driving away from the hospital with their newborns, health care officials are warning.
Across the country, there’s been an increase in recent years of parents who think they are buying safe car seats online when, in fact, they’re getting products that are endangering their newborns, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics’ article. One Chicago area hospital has already caught at least three of these car seats in the past year.
Health care workers at Advocate Children’s Hospital noticed car seat brands they had never seen before, said Kim Vuckovich, the neonatal outcomes coordinator at the northwest suburban Park Ridge hospital. A closer inspection revealed that at least three first-time parents had unwittingly purchased knockoff products that failed to meet national safety regulations.
“Everyone’s looking for a deal so they say, ‘Oh, I got this … and it was so cheap,’” Vuckovich said. “And then when you really look at it, it’s just not what it’s supposed to be. … The United States has certain regulations for car seats … [and] if they aren’t made in the United States, they may not meet those requirements.”
Hospital workers want parents to research a car seat before buying it online if the deal seems too good to be true, Vuckovich said. Parents should also be wary of getting second-hand car seats because the products have expiration dates and they could become less effective even if involved in minor car accidents, she said.
The Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois had not received any reports about fraudulent car seats so far.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement the federal agency “does not have any data that reflects an increase in the sale of non-compliant car seats.” But the federal agency said a global marketplace can make it easier for retailers to sell products that aren’t necessarily complying with U.S. safety requirements.
The agency also recommended conducting your own research on car seat options, especially if you are buying from a website with third-party sellers.
The federal safety standards for car seats cover the buckles used to place a child in the seat, the type of straps used, the labeling and the seat installation.
The agency said manufacturers that meet U.S. regulations have to include a statement on the product that reads, “This child restraint system conforms to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards.”
Parents should also make sure the car seat meets the weight and height limits for their child, according to the agency’s website. And they should double check the expiration date.
Parents should also look for a car seat that has a five-point harness strap, side-impact protection and a paper manual, Vuckovich of Advocate Children’s Hospital said. If the car seat is missing any of those things, that could indicate it’s a knockoff.
“In all three of the cases, [the parents] just had no idea that they needed the side protection or even the chest plate if it was their first baby,” Vuckovich said. “They just didn’t know.”
In addition to protecting a child during a crash, making sure a car seat meets regulations is important to prevent other injuries while on the road, she said.
“There’s even strangulation issues if the actual seat belts aren’t correct and you don’t have that chest plate in place,” Vuckovich said.
Vuckovich said the hospital asks parents to bring in the car seat for inspection about a week before the expected delivery date. The hospital has a car seat technician who helps parents, even if they aren’t patients of Advocate, check if the seat fits properly in a car and meets federal guidelines.
Parents can report a car seat safety issue with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index.
