GREENSBORO, N.C. — Nearly 60,000 child car seats are being recalled. The car seat base may detach from the vehicle seat. There are six styles of seats impacted, all sold under the names Safety 1st or Maxi-Cosi.
RECALLED SEATS
Safety 1st onBoard 35 SecureTech IC351 rear-facing infant seats manufactured between May 1, 2022, and Feb. 28, 2023
Maxi-Cosi Coral XP IC313 seats manufactured between May 1, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2023
Maxi-Cosi Mico XP Max IC337 seats manufactured between Jan. 1, 2021, and Feb. 28, 2023
Maxi-Cosi Mico XP IC336 and IC338 seats manufactured between Sept. 1, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2023
Maxi-Cosi Micro Luxe+ IC370 seats manufactured between Jan. 1, 2022, and Feb. 28, 2023
Maxi-Cosi Infant Base IC335 seat bases manufactured between Jan. 1, 2021, and Feb. 28, 2023
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A RECALLED SEAT?
The manufacturer will send replacement bases to the owners of these seats, free of charge. Here's the catch, you have to have registered the seat for the manufacturer to know you have one.
REGISTER YOUR SEAT NOW
You can register the car seat now so you can get a free replacement. Without registering your seat, the manufacturer has no way to get a free replacement for you.
WHAT TO DO WHILE YOU WAIT FOR YOUR REPLACEMENT
Until you get the replacement, you can use the seat with the base or with the carrier only. In either case, you're going to secure it with the vehicle's own seat belt. You can look in your vehicle's owner's manual for directions.
LOAD LEG TECHNOLOGY
Load legs are a feature originally from Europe that gives car seats extra support by extending a “leg” from the car seat base to the car floor.
"It allows for crash forces to be absorbed more so by the car seat and load leg and less crash energy to be transferred to your child occupant," said Emily Thomas, Ph.D. of Consumer Reports.
CR's crash testing shows the added safety benefit of a load leg as it limits both the car seat and the child's motion.
"We found that when using infant-sized dummies, there was an average 46 percent reduction in head injury risk for seats that have a load leg vs. those that don’t have a load leg," said Thomas.
You can expect to pay more for that extra margin of safety. For example, CR’s top-rated infant seat from Clek offers excellent crash protection with its load leg. A more reasonably priced seat that also scored “Best” for crash protection is the Evenflo LiteMax DLX.
Before shopping for a seat with a load leg, check your car’s manual for compatibility.