We do our best to protect our babies, and when it comes to car safety, an indisputable must have is a car seat. Certified car seats are the best protection a child has against a crash, and although each make and model has recommendations for installation and when to "turn them around," it is unequivocally the safest option when traveling with a child.
That is why even the idea of "knockoff car seats" is stomach turning.
The Washington Post recently reported that knockoff car seats were popping up all over the Internet.
Laurel Schamber, a certified child-passenger safety technician, told the Washington Post she encountered a knockoff car seat when doing one of her routine installations. The parent handed her the "car seat" she bought on Groupon (which she previously saw on Walmart.com) for a "cheaper" price.
“It looked like a deconstructed backpack,” Schamber told the Washington Post. “It’s made of backpack material, no manufacturer name, no labeling, nothing. There was no chest clip. There was nothing to hold the child into the seat of the vehicle.”
Turns out similar seats were available on eBay, AliExpress, and even Amazon (though they have since been removed from the sites).
When packaged, they look pretty similar to the certified car seats, but in reality they offer little to no protection. Popular brands such as Doona stroller systems, which is a stroller and car seat that regularly retails for about $500, are copied and sold for half the price. The problem is, they aren't crash tested or certified in any way.
Doona, who is aware of the problem, put them through a series of their tests, and the knockoffs failed miserably in each category.
The worst aspect? It's almost impossible to detect a knockoff just by looking online.
The Washington Post provided a series of questions to ask while shopping online, but all in all, these are the major takeaways:
If the site uses third party sellers such as Walmart or Amazon, that is reason enough to pause. But buying in person at stores such as Buy Buy Baby and Target are trustworthy as they only sell from certified manufacturers. Always double check the product on the manufacturer's website, and make sure it is on the American Academy of Pediatrics list of safe seats.
Most importantly ...
If it seems too good to be true, then likely it is. Deals are one thing, but if the price is so low it makes you do a double take, it's worth it in the end to pay full price.
