Think twice before buying a child car seat online.

Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital safety advocates are warning parents about an increase in the number of counterfeit car seats being sold online. These fakes can put a child at a higher risk of serious injury, or worse, in case of a traffic accident.

The fraudulent car seats are typically bought online because of their cheaper price, and perhaps the convenience of shopping from home, and it can be confusing for parents to see the car seats on websites of major national retailers through third-party sellers.

“It’s hard to tell a car seat is counterfeit from a small picture online,” said Michelle Jamison, community health program manager at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, during a press conference Aug. 27. “And many parents think they found a great deal from a major retailer. Once they realize there’s a problem and try to return it, the site they got it from has already been taken down.”

The hospital has, for years, offered both in-person and virtual car seat checks to help parents choose, properly install and correctly use car seats.

Jamison said that’s one way caregivers started noticing more counterfeit seats, or those that don’t meet U.S. safety standards.

Utah mother Jillian Davis received a car seat during her pregnancy from a family member who purchased it online from a major retailer. Her baby spent two weeks in the newborn intensive care unit at Intermountain Primary Children’s and Intermountain LDS Hospital. Before leaving the hospital, a car seat expert discovered Davis had a counterfeit.

“It’s completely shocking because this is my fourth child and I’ve never heard of this being an issue,” she said. “It’s scary to think I could have been driving around with my child in a car seat that’s dangerous.”

All car seats in the U.S. must meet strict federal safety standards and include warning labels written in both English and Spanish. The labels are located on the back of the car seat and in the area near where the baby’s head rests at the top of the seat. Car seats are also required to have a manufacturer’s label that includes the name of the car seat, date of manufacturer, branding, model number and expiration date. This information is used to help register a car seat, which allows manufacturers to notify customers of any recalls. Counterfeit car seats don’t have a registration number.

If these labels are missing, written in another language or have grammatical errors, that’s a big red flag. If the car seat is missing a chest clip, that also indicates it’s not legitimate.

“If you determine that you have a counterfeit car seat, stop using it immediately and contact the retailer to notify them that they sold a counterfeit car seat,” Jamison said. “You may be able to recover the cost of the seat if you used a credit card or purchased through a major retailer.”

Jamison said parents might think in-store purchases are more expensive, but what they’re really getting is the peace of mind that their child’s car seat is safe.

“While some models are pricey, there are less expensive ones that are still crash tested and safe,” she said.

Anyone who suspects they have a counterfeit car seat can report it at STOPfakes.gov, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

For help installing a car seat or having it evaluated, contact Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital at 801-662-CARS to book an in-person or virtual car seat check.

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