Buying a car seat is one of the first - and most important - purchases new parents make.
But safety experts at UVA Health say some families are unknowingly buying seats that were never designed to protect a child.
“It says, ‘doll, baby, children’s product.’ So it’s a doll seat. It is not made for an infant,” UVA Health nurse Lee Ann Brown said.
UVA Health nurses and certified car seat technicians Teresa Baltuano-Post and Lee Ann Brown say this isn’t an isolated case.
After finding several counterfeit car seats in Prince William County, they say similar seats are now turning up in other communities across the Commonwealth.
“We’re seeing more and more of them, even for the very small babies, which is very concerning,” Brown said.
At first glance, the seats can look like the real thing. But experts say it’s what’s missing that makes them so dangerous.
“One of the first things we notice upon looking at these car seats is the lack of structure. Approved car seats have steel along the base, along the seat area, and along the length of the torso,” Brown said.
Brown says many of the counterfeit seats are also missing a chest clip, which helps keep the harness in the correct position during a crash.
“The straps are thinner, and there’s no chest plate here. So, there’s no plate that goes across the chest to hold the baby securely,” she said.
One of the easiest ways to spot a counterfeit seat is by checking the manufacturer’s label. Approved car seats should list the manufacturing date, expiration date, and the child’s height and weight limits - information experts say was missing from some of the counterfeit seats they examined.
They say parents should also be cautious about where they buy their car seats.
“These car seats are being found on TikTok. They are selling on Amazon,” Baltuano-Post said.
The best place to buy? Major retailers like Target and Walmart.
And if you’re not sure whether your car seat is legitimate, they say, bring it to the hospital. A certified car seat technician can check that it’s safe before you take your baby home.