Fox Cities NICU Nurse finds Counterfeit Carseat

Fox Cities nurse recently caught a counterfeit car seat; avoid buying one

“It’s so scary,” Dassler said. “It looks exactly like a Doona, just cheaper.”

The child’s parents were notified the next day and were aided in finding a safe car seat.

Here’s why foreign counterfeit car seats are dangerous

As Jane Howard, Chil- dren’s Safety Center manager and certified child passenger safety technician instructor, ex- plained,

Foreign counterfeit seats like the one Dassler found are dangerous be- cause they don’t meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which are required to legally sell

car seats on the open market. Such seats have been reported as being sold on Amazon.com, Kmart.com, Walmart- .com, Sears.com and more, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administra- tion’s complaint logs.

“We’ve been hearing about these coming into the United States for a while,” said Jane Howard, the Safety Center man- ager at Children’s Wis- consin and a certified child passenger safety technician instructor.

“It was just a matter of time” before Children’s Wisconsin saw one first- hand, she said.

Samm Nelson, a certi- fied passenger safety technician who works with families online and in-person in the Neenah area, said sometimes those who buy fake car

seats online never actual- ly get a car seat.

She echoed that, just because a car seat is deemed safe for use abroad, it doesn’t mean it’s safe by U.S. standards or legally usable in the U.S. Those car seats don’t undergo the same testing and many don’t have a chest clip, which she said is essential to keep the shoulder strap in place.

Here’s how to
avoid buying a counterfeit car seat

Here are some steps parents and caregivers can take to ensure they’re buying a legitimate car seat:

• Shop in-person: Between Dassler’s story and those in the NHTSA complaint database, a common theme emerged: the suspected counterfeit seats were bought online. “One thing you can do is make sure that you’re going to a reputable, real store – not shopping online,” Howard said. “It’s hard to distinguish online what is reputable and what is not. When they advertise them online, they look like a (legitimate car seat).” If shopping in-person isn’t an option, Nelson said to ensure it’s coming directly from the brand or the actual retail store, not a third-party seller.

• Check for required features and information: In Dassler’s case, not being able to find information such as a level feature, manufacturer, instructions and manual were major red flags. There should also be a registration/recall card, a sticker stating the seat passed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, an expiration date, a clearly listed model number, and a U.S.-based manufacturer. If a seat is counterfeit, important information may also be in odd places. For example, the safety labels were sewn into the harness strap on the fake Doona seen at Children’s.

• Register your car seat using the registration form included: Nelson said the card can be mailed or the car seat can be registered online using the link on the card. “If the serial number was fake or already registered, they would let you know right away,” Nelson said. “It’ll tell you right away if that seat number has al- ready been registered, and if it has been, then more likely than not, you’ve made an error or there’s an issue with the seat.”