How to Make Sure Your Child’s Car Seat Is Not a Fake

In other news, “Third-party sellers are disrupting online shopping and jeopardizing our safety”, your child’s car seat may be fake.

The federal government requires car seat manufacturers to prove their products can pass rigorous crash tests. After passing the tests, retailers like Target or Buy Buy Baby will decide which seats they want to sell to customers. The process went very well; if we bought a place that was advertised as a quality brand name product, we were pretty sure we were providing the security we paid for.

This continued until online shopping exploded and sales to third parties became an important part of the business and were difficult to regulate. Now, the places sold on sites like Ebay, Amazon, or Walmart.com might look like the specific place you’re looking for – and wow, what a great deal! – but it could be a fake brand sold by a third party. salesman.

The Washington Post reports:

“As these devices become more widely available, mainly online, there are legitimate safety concerns,” said Joseph Colella, director of child passenger safety at the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association. “Caregivers want to protect their children and think they are doing it by buying these products.” He notes that solving the problem is difficult. This should involve the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates and monitors safety seat compliance, as well as the US Customs and Border Protection, which primarily works to prevent imports from entering the country.

So how do you make sure your place is really profitable? Our best advice:

Buy in person

Shopping online is a convenient and great way to compare prices and find the best deals, especially when considering all purchases related to the birth of babies and young children. In this case, resist the urge. Go to a regular convenience store, where the goods were purchased directly from the manufacturer, and the boxes contain exactly what they say they contain.

Until third party seller sites can figure out how to prevent unverified and unsafe products from being sold, this is your best bet.

If you need to buy online

I know these online offers are tempting, or maybe your circumstances or location make it difficult to access a regular store. If you buy online, Mail invites you to ask yourself the following questions:

  • Does the manufacturer have a website that is easy to find?
  • Is the car seat listed on the American Academy of Pediatrics ? It only lists seats that meet federal motor vehicle safety standards and are approved for use in the United States.
  • Does the deal seem too good to be true? If so, chances are good that you are looking at a fake.
  • Is it sold directly from a trusted seller? Stores such as Target, Buy Buy Baby, and Nordstrom only sell certified seats directly from the manufacturer. When dealing with other online sites like Amazon and Walmart, make sure the seller is not a third party and the sites are sold directly by the manufacturer or by the site itself.

If you want to check a place you already own

If I now worry you that the place you already own may be a fake, it’s time to check.

You can just call the manufacturer of the seat – they will explain to you how to check if the seat belongs to the one they made. But if it’s not a fake, the real brand name should be stamped somewhere on the seat, along with the model number, customer service number, and date of manufacture.

It also needed to have clear installation instructions and a registration card that you could send back to the manufacturer. (If you did not register a seat when you purchased, you can do so here – scroll down for instructions. Registering a seat ensures you receive recall information or other safety warnings.)

According to the Post, approved seats will also bear the following label: “The child restraint system meets all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards.”

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