Please do not use the “Baby Car Seat Carrier Safety Belts” to restrain your child in a vehicle.

In Canada, you are required by law to properly restrain your child in a car seat that meets (or exceedes) the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS).  Only seats that meet CMVSS are legal for use in Canada.  These seats will have a CMVSS label on them.

The “Baby Car Seat Carrier Safety Belts” are not approved seats!

Health Canada has put out an advisory to stop the use of these devices (link):

Health Canada is warning Canadians about the dangers of Baby Car Seat Carrier Safety Belts, urging consumers not to buy the product. If the product has been purchased, consumers are urged to immediately stop using the product and dispose of it.
Based on marketplace investigations, the Baby Car Seat Carrier Safety Belts are not believed to be available in retail stores in Canada, but can be purchased online through DinoDirect.com, an online shopping site.

The Baby Car Seat Carrier Safety Belts do not contain Transport Canada’s National Safety Mark and therefore have not been certified to meet the safety requirements of the Motor Vehicle Restraint Systems and Booster Seats Safety Regulations (RSSR). Under Canada’s Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA), Health Canada prohibits or restricts the advertising, sale and importation of hazardous products in Canada.

What Health Canada is doing:

Health Canada has contacted DinoDirect.com and requested an immediate stop sale and distribution of the item. Health Canada has not received a response from the company. Health Canada is also working with the Canada Border Services Agency to prevent importation of these products.

Products recalled/affected:

Baby Car Seat Carrier Safety Belts

For more informations: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/_2011/2011_126-eng.php

I’m currently researching to see if the United States have issued any advisories about this device.

This is not a new statement. This should be common knowledge. Many of the people reading my blog have probably always known that it is illegal to ride in a vehicle without a seat belt.

Before the law was put into effect, only 17% of people wore seatbelts.  And today, nearly 93% of Ontarian buckle up.*

The fact that there are people who still don’t wear a seltbelt is beyond me. I’ve been using a seltbelt for so long, that it’s instinctual to get in a car and put it on.

Annual Seatbelt Campaign

Starting Wednesday, April 13, 2011, the OPP and municipal police services, will be stepping up their seat belt enforcement, with a focus on child restraints (car seats).

The OPP will be focusing their efforts on child restraints during this campaign to raise awareness about the need to properly restrain children in a vehicle. A properly used child seat reduces a child’s risk of injury in a crash by as much as 75 per cent, yet many child car seats are incorrectly used or improperly installed.

When used correctly, a booster seat provides 60 per cent more protection than a seatbelt alone. In a collision, children using seatbelts instead of booster seats are three and a half times more likely to suffer significant injury, and four times more likely to suffer head injury. **

And to help make sure that care givers are using their car seats properly, OPP, Ontario Police Services, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, and other road safety partners (including me) will be holding a

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For more information about:

• Seat Belt Laws, go to:
  • Ontario Law on Seatbelt Compliance
• OPP information on Driver Safety tips go to:
  • OPP.CA/ Driver Safety Tips
• proper child restraints, go to:
  • Ontario.ca Smart Love or ask me!

Please keep your kids safe!  I’m always open to questions about car seats, so please ask away!

* Source: CTVNews: Ontario’s seatbelt law to celebrate 35th anniversary
** Source: newswire.ca

Dorel, a major child restraint manufacturer, has issued a huge recall affecting almost 800,000 seats in Canada and the USA!

** Let me take a moment and remind all parents to register their car seats — this will allow the manufacturers to contact you if there is ever a recall of the seat **

The affected seats were manufactured between May 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009

Models affected:

Maxi-Cosi Mico
22371CMJR, 22371CPHT, 22371CLYP, 22371CPNG

Safety 1st Enspira
22453COGI, 22458CNYC

Cosco Alpha Omega
22153CBNG, 22163CMSN, 22163CSGT, 22192CJOL, 22192CSNP, 22C15TUX, 22C26BNG

Eddie Bauer 3-in-1
22C75EBN, 22C76SHL

Safety 1st Alpha Omega
22470CTTN, 22471CPHO, 22551CBLA

Cosco Alpha Omega Elite
22168CHTR, 22168CRGO, 22C51HMR

Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1
22715CMTT, 22754CHPN, 22756CFMT, 22756CLRS, 22757CLNG, 22758CFRK, 22768CBYT, 22768CPST, 22768CSNW, 22790CCGT, 22790CCHL, 22790CSNW, 22C71BGL

Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite
22411CBLL, 22455CJTT, 22456CTTN, 22465CBMT, 22748CRDH, 22749CCAO

Schwinn All Terrain
22181CUGO

Safety 1st Vantage
22564CNTR3

Eddie Bauer Comfort
22868CSNW

Eddie Bauer SureFit
22-659CMTT

Issue:

The centre front adjuster mechanism on the above mentioned restraint systems may not allow the adjustment webbing to lock in place which can result in potential loosening of the harness system. The locking clamp of the adjuster may not rotate freely and the adjuster strap may pull through the adjuster in the lock direction. If the harness system loosens, the resulting slack may reduce the effectiveness of the restraint system in a motor vehicle collision. To date, there have been no reported injuries associated with this issue in Canada.

What to do:

Updated on December 9, 2010:

Since writing the original post below, Transport Canada changed how the new car seat regulations are going to be implemented.

Car seat manufacturers will have until December 31, 2011 to fully comply with the new regulations.

This extension will “[allow] a further twelve months for the manufacturers to complete the testing, research, design and certification of their child seats. Until December 31, 2011, manufacturers will have the option of producing products that meet either the new or the old regulatory requirements. The old requirements have provided a high level of safety for children for many years and will continue to provide protection throughout the useful life of the restraints.”

The above quote is from Transport Canada’s website and you can see all the information on their site.

Originally posted November 30, 2010:

There have been a few “deal of the day” sites, selling car seat checks to see if your seat complies with the new regulations that come into effect in January 2011.

This is very confusing for many parents.  But here is what it comes down to:

* YES, car seats do expire. The date is usually embossed on the plastic on the back or bottom of the car seat

If you do buy a new seat and it’s made after January 1, 2011, it will have met the new standards set by Transport Canada.

What are these new standards?

(from Transport Canada)

• introducing a unique Canadian requirement to conduct child car seat tests by using a three-point lap/shoulder belt that has been commonly found in most vehicles for several years
• aligning Canadian standards with current testing methods to maximize the safety of kids at each stage of development
• increasing the weight limits of car seats to allow larger, heavier children to be better protected
• requiring the use of improved child-sized dummies, adopting new performance criteria and testing a new standard seat assembly
• introducing simulated crash requirements for booster cushions, similar to those currently being used to test infant and child restraint systems.

Compliance with these regulations will be optional until January 1, 2011, at which time they become mandatory for all manufacturers.

Why does there seem to be a panic and use of the word “shortage”?

Due to the fact that there is only one crash testing facility in Canada and all car seat manufacturers will need to get their current and new seats tested, there might not be enough time. Therefore, there might not be as many seats on the shelves when you go shopping for new seats in January 2011.  There are several manufacturers who’s seats already fit the new standards, so those will be on the shelves already.

Please don’t panic

If you are concerned, please comment below and I will help you or get you in touch with someone who can help you make sure you are using your child restraint system (aka car seat) properly.

** Car seats MUST be replaced if it has been in a collision.