Fake Car Seats Are on the Rise—Here’s How to Avoid Them

Beckie Dart-Frohock, a neonatal nurse practitioner and a Child Passenger Safety Technician, has been around babies and car seats for over 30 years. As a CPST—a car seat expert and educator—she began encountering counterfeit car seats about a decade ago. But now, they’re a regular occurrence—her nursing staff nabbed three over the last few weeks alone.

Cathy Pedrayes, a content creator, safety advocate and CPST, has even been fooled, sharing her story about purchasing a counterfeit airplane safety harness on her popular TikTok channel. “Amazon promoted the listing to my feed as a Black Friday deal. On the surface, it all looked the same…the only reason I realized it was [fake] was because someone posted that listing in a car seat blog and the comments said it was fake. I then asked local moms if anyone had a genuine version, and a mom let me borrow hers so I could do the comparisons,” she explains. “I got duped. Fortunately, I caught it before it was too late.”

With the decline of brick-and-mortar stores and the rise of online marketplaces, counterfeit car seats have become increasingly problematic over the last few years. These seats are untested, unregulated and dangerous. And as counterfeiters become more skilled, it's getting tougher and tougher to spot a dupe from the real thing. Here’s what you need to know to keep you and your child safe.

Why Fake Car Seats Are Dangerous

Before you can understand why counterfeit car seats are so dangerous, it’s good to have a basic idea of how car seat safety works in the United States.

All car seats sold in the US must comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213, or FMVSS 213. This federal regulation establishes the safety requirements for child restraint systems (car seats, such as infant seats, convertible car seats and boosters) used in motor vehicles and aircraft. 

FMVSS 213 requires that manufacturers—brands you may be familiar with, like Graco or Nuna, for example—test child restraint systems to ensure they meet certain safety standards for kids up to 80 pounds. The standards include things like impact protection, structural integrity and labeling, and are tested via crash testing, seat belt and harness strength tests and other means. (There are separate federal safety standards in place for seat belts and frontal airbags, LATCH and other motor vehicle equipment.) All car seats and booster seats manufactured for use in the US must meet FMVSS 213 standards and, if used properly, are safe regardless of brand or price point.

Fake car seats, however, don’t meet these federally mandated safety standards. In fact, they may not meet any safety standards at all—there’s simply no way of knowing. They’re often made with cheap materials and are missing crucial safety features. And they’re not crash-tested. Using these unregulated car seats jeopardizes a child’s safety, especially in the event of a crash. 

“FMVSS requires stringent performance testing for car seats to ensure that children are well protected in different types of crashes,” explains Britney Lombard, CPST-I and the injury prevention manager at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “A counterfeit car seat has not gone through the same crash testing process. They are often made from less durable materials that can break or fail to absorb crash forces,” she says. 

“These seats also do not often have owner’s manuals so there is no direction on correctly installing the seat in the car or the child into the seat,” adds Dart-Frohock. 

Maja Martin, Head of Marketing at Doona—makers of one of the most commonly knocked-off car seats—underscores these dangers. While using any sort of dupe comes with risks, the results of using a fake car seat can be "catastrophic,” she says.

“[Car seats] are made of special materials and include very sophisticated engineering mechanisms which enable the car seat to absorb tremendous levels of energy. They also go through rigorous certification processes,” she explains. When using a fake, ”the main concern is that in case of an accident, the fake car seat will simply not perform and not protect the child.”

She points to a CNN story about fake kids' products, in which the team conducted several car seat crash tests. “Time after time, these fake car seats fail the tests,” she emphasizes. Car seat dupes also often contain high levels of banned pollutants, such as chemicals in textiles and plastics, which may negatively impact a child’s health. 

Bottom line: It’s never safe to use a counterfeit car seat, whether it’s installed in a vehicle or used with a stroller.

How are fake car seats being sold?

The retail landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade and even more so over the last few years. Eight years ago, a parent shopping for a car seat would have had a number of brick-and-mortar stores to choose from; now, those options are extremely limited. Fewer brick-and-mortar stores mean more digital sales, and more digital sales mean fewer regulations and more counterfeit car seats—even on popular sites like Amazon.

“We are working tirelessly, and on multiple fronts, to fight these products,” assures Martin, Doona’s Head of Marketing, including suing counterfeit manufacturers and working with brand protection agencies to take down thousands of web pages offering fake products for sale. The brand is also working with retailers and consumers to educate them on the risks of using fake car seats.

How to Spot a Fake Car Seat

As counterfeiters get more sophisticated, distinguishing authentic car seats from imitations is becoming increasingly challenging. 

One of the simplest things you can do is to stick with brand names. Ask yourself: Is this a brand you have heard of before? “If the manufacturer’s name looks new to you, do some investigation to see what their digital footprint looks like. Avoid brands that don’t have a large online presence,” explains Lombard. “Compliant car seat brands often have their own website, as well as being sold through other large retailers.”

You should also be aware of some specific red flags to help you tell a fake from the real thing.

🚩 Look for labels

A safe, legal car seat will have very specific informational labels. “Counterfeit seats do not have the needed federal safety labels on both sides of the seat,” explains Dart-Frohock. You may be able to see some of these labels from an online listing, but for the most thorough check you’ll want the car seat in hand. Look for a manufacturing label label with the following:

• Car seat name and model number

• Manufacturer name, address and phone number

• Date of manufacture and/or expiration date and place of manufacture (city, state or country)

• A label that reads: “This child restraint system conforms to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards.” If the seat is approved for use in an aircraft, you’ll also see a sentence stating that. (If not, look for “This restraint is not certified for use in an aircraft.”)

• Minimum and maximum weight and height requirements in both the imperial system (pounds and inches) and the metric system (kilograms and centimeters) 

• The statement: “For recall information, call the U.S. Government’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.NHTSA.gov.”

You’ll also want to pay attention to spelling and grammar, both on a car seat’s labels and packaging and in the online listing. Misspellings and/or grammatical errors are often tip-offs to counterfeit seats.

🚩 Look for parts

In order to comply with FMVSS 213, all car seats in the US must have the following parts:

• Five-point harness with straps that go over the hips and shoulders

• A splitter plate on the back of the seat

Also, pay attention to whether or not the car seat has a chest clip. While seats sold in the US aren’t legally required to have one, every single one on the market currently does, so if yours does not, there’s a good reason to believe it’s a fake.

🚩 Be sure there’s a registration card and manual

A good way to be sure the car seat you’re using is the real deal is to check for a user manual and a registration card. Many fake car seats won’t come with either of these, whereas a legitimate car seat always will.

If you’re worried you already own a fake seat, try registering it on the manufacturer’s website. “If you cannot register the seat, it is probably a fake,” says Dart-Frohock.

(CPST tip: Always register your car seat. It’s the best way to stay up to date on what’s happening with your seat and to get notified in the event of a recall.)

🚩 Shop from a reputable, trusted retailer

Car seats are expensive, and it’s okay to shop around for the best price. But always buy your car seat from a major, trusted retailer, either online or at a brick-and-mortar store. That doesn’t mean you have to purchase an UPPAbaby car seat only from the UPPAbaby website, but it does mean you should stick to well-known, major retailers and stores.

Never buy a car seat from sites like Temu, AliExpress or Wish.com or from TikTok Shop. Many of these seats come directly from China and don’t conform to US federal standards. 

Also, be wary of third-party sellers. Some stores, like Nordstrom and the Babylist Shop, only sell car seats directly from manufacturers. Others like Walmart and Amazon allow third-party sellers (independent sellers who sell a variety of products). Be very careful of these, as many are not trusted retailers. The Car Seat Lady’s Knock-Off Car Seats post has a detailed rundown of what to know about third-party sellers if you choose to purchase your seat through one.

You can also check the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Car Seat Product Listing. Updated regularly, this comprehensive list includes all car seats and boosters approved for use in the US. Just keep in mind that if you’re considering a very new-to-market seat, it may not be on the list yet, so check the manufacturer’s website instead.

🚩 Pay attention to price

If the price of a car seat you’re eying seems too good to be true, it probably is. A dubiously low price is a huge red flag that the car seat is usually a fake.  

Common Car Seat Dupes

It’s possible to knock off any car seat, but a few seats seem to be leading the counterfeit charge. Infant car seats are commonly knocked off, especially the Doona, a car seat + stroller hybrid, as noted above. Counterfeit Doonas cycle in and out of places like the TikTok shop and sites like Temu—and they’re almost always fakes.

Another counterfeit car seat—and a completely unsafe child safety restraint system on its own—is a style of harness seat like the one shown below. You’ll find these seats across many retail sites (this photo was pulled from a listing on AliExpress) advertised as “child safety seats” or even booster seats. They’re none of those things, and they’re also illegal, dangerous and should never be used.

A rising number of counterfeit CARES harnesses—a child restraint system for older children for use on airplanes—are also appearing across online marketplaces. According to the manufacturer, the only way to ensure you’re purchasing a new, certified CARES is to buy directly from the brand’s Kids Fly Safe website. Avoid buying this restraint from other sites like eBay or Amazon.

How to Report a Counterfeit Car Seat

If you spot a counterfeit car seat, there are a few things you can do. First, contact the seller immediately so they can remove the listing and prevent others from purchasing a fake seat.

• Report the seat to STOPfakes.gov

• File a report with SaferProducts.gov, part of the CPSC 

• Report the seat to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) by clicking on “report a safety problem” on the top right of their website

If you believe you may already own a counterfeit car seat, you can contact the retailer to speak to the brand’s customer service team. You can also find a CPST near you to schedule an in-person car seat check.