The handle on your infant car seat carrier could release without warning and drop your baby to the ground — and it has happened hundreds of times. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued multiple major recalls of infant car seat carriers due to handle failures that cause the seat to flip forward or drop, sending restrained infants falling to the ground and suffering skull fractures, concussions, broken bones, and other serious injuries.
How Handle Failures Happen
Infant car seat carriers are designed to be carried by a handle that locks in position. When the locking mechanism on the handle fails — whether through a design defect, stress fracture, or material failure — the handle can release unexpectedly and the entire seat, with the infant inside, flips or falls. CPSC investigations have found that these failures can happen even when the handle appears locked and even when the infant is properly restrained inside the seat. The restraint only protects the infant inside the vehicle — it cannot prevent injury when the seat itself is dropped from carrying height.
Major Recalled Car Seat Carriers
- Cosco Arriva and Turnabout infant car seat carriers — the handle locks on each side of the seat can unexpectedly release, causing the seat to flip forward and the infant to fall. About 670,000 units were recalled. There were 151 reports of handle release, resulting in 29 injuries including skull fractures, a broken arm, black eyes, and bruises.
- Century infant car seat carriers — handles broke, cracked, or failed to lock properly, causing the seat to drop. Over 2,700 reports of handle-related problems were received, including over 200 injury reports including concussions, skull fractures, lacerations, and broken bones.
What You Should Do
- Check SaferProducts.gov to verify whether your infant car seat carrier has been recalled.
- Before picking up an infant car seat carrier by its handle, always visually confirm that the handle is fully locked in the carry position. Both lock points should be engaged.
- Never carry an infant car seat by its handle if there is any doubt about whether it is locked.
- If a handle has ever bent, cracked, or behaved unexpectedly, stop using the carrier and contact the manufacturer.
- Never use the carrying handle of a recalled car seat carrier.
- Keep your car seat’s product registration up to date so you receive recall notifications directly from the manufacturer.
To report a dangerous car seat carrier or a product-related injury, visit SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC’s Hotline at 800-638-2772.
Source: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/1999/cpsc-nhtsa-and-cosco-announce-recall-of-infant-car-seatscarriers
