Ashley Tolin, CPST

03/19/2025

Some customers recently received a misleading recall communication from Amazon regarding non-compliant registration cards.

There is no safety risk and you may continue using your car seat. The products meet U.S. safety standards with respect to performance.

It was discovered that some U.S. customers were able to accidentally purchase Canadian products online, meaning they received a Canadian registration card instead of a U.S. compliant one.

If Evenflo has contact information, we will automatically send a corrected registration card. Those unsure if they are affected can check the model number on their product. Any Canadian model will have a model number that ends in C and labels in French and English. If this is discovered, customers can visit evenflo.com/pages/product-registration to share their contact information with Evenflo for potential recalls.

05/17/2024

Listen, I get it. You think it's ridiculous that kids are in car seats/ boosters so much longer now, or it's inconvenient in your plans to have to help them buckle with the added car seat/ booster. The thing is, the reason that children are recommended to be in these seats longer, is because it's been proven to help them survive motor vehicle crashes, and I think that's pretty important, isn't it? Properly used child restraints can reduce a child's risk of dying by up to 71%. That's significant. Wouldn't you rather err on the side of caution, than have a lifetime of regret?

01/20/2022

A good reminder as the weather is cold!

(From January 2017)

Here's a good example of why children should not wear puffy coats or other bulky clothing in their car seat!

Lucy has an adorable outfit that comes with a puffy vest. It's not super thick, but it does add some bulk.
I was curious as to whether it would be acceptable for the car seat, so I did the test.

I placed her in the car seat with the vest on, and I buckled her into the seat. I removed all slack from the harness and it passed the pinch test. Nice and snug.
Then, I unbuckled her without loosening the harness, and removed the vest.
When I fastened the buckle and chest clip, there was a ton of slack! A harness that loose would put her at great risk for ejection in the event of an accident.

The thing is, the harness may have been snug to her vest, but it wasn't truly snug to her body. To minimize injury, you want the harness snug to the child and the seat snug to the vehicle. Any slack in either of those things allows too much movement of the child's body and therefore a higher chance of injury.

So, how can one keep their child warm AND safe?

Use layers. Use a non bulky jacket such as performance fleece.
Use blankets or a jacket placed backwards *over* the harness once the child is buckled.

A couple of links with some tips will be in the comments.

10/19/2021

A good reminder as the weather gets cooler!

(From January 2017)

Here's a good example of why children should not wear puffy coats or other bulky clothing in their car seat!

Lucy has an adorable outfit that comes with a puffy vest. It's not super thick, but it does add some bulk.
I was curious as to whether it would be acceptable for the car seat, so I did the test.

I placed her in the car seat with the vest on, and I buckled her into the seat. I removed all slack from the harness and it passed the pinch test. Nice and snug.
Then, I unbuckled her without loosening the harness, and removed the vest.
When I fastened the buckle and chest clip, there was a ton of slack! A harness that loose would put her at great risk for ejection in the event of an accident.

The thing is, the harness may have been snug to her vest, but it wasn't truly snug to her body. To minimize injury, you want the harness snug to the child and the seat snug to the vehicle. Any slack in either of those things allows too much movement of the child's body and therefore a higher chance of injury.

So, how can one keep their child warm AND safe?

Use layers. Use a non bulky jacket such as performance fleece.
Use blankets or a jacket placed backwards *over* the harness once the child is buckled.

A couple of links with some tips will be in the comments.

09/02/2021

Today, NHTSA announced our voluntary recall for certain Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 convertible car seats. A forward-facing child over 65 lbs. using this restraint with a lap belt attachment ONLY and no top tether connected has a heightened risk of head contact with the vehicle interior during a crash, resulting in potential head injuries. There have been no injuries or incidents reported for this condition.

Using this car seat in rear-facing mode as well as forward-facing mode for children up to 65 lbs. REMAINS CERTIFIED for use for all labeled installation methods. This notice does NOT apply to the Pria Max All-in-One (3-in-1) or Pria All-in-One (3-in-1).

We are continuing to work with NHTSA to determine the scope of the recall and will communicate the impacted SKUs, manufacture dates, and the remedy to consumers in the coming days.

Please send us a private message with any questions, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. More information: https://bit.ly/3kz3YPg

08/30/2021

It’s coming back! Target

https://www.target.com/c/car-seat-trade-in-event/-/N-v41nu?clkid=7be71ecfN093a11ec9b3e5380e3dc8748&lnm=81938&afid=ShopStyle%20Inc.&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002

10/27/2020

Fact Check Friday!

Someone said: the seat belt is uncomfortable, so I'll just tuck it under my arm or behind my back. It's still buckled, so I'm still safe!

Fact Check: Whether we're talking about a child in a booster, or a teen or adult in a seat belt, this isn't safe! Lap-shoulder belts are designed to be worn with the lap belt low on the hips and the shoulder belt snug across the chest and collar bone. This keeps the whole torso restrained and fully protected in a crash. These crash stills from UVA compiled by the Car Seat Lady show what can happen. This type of seat belt misuse can cause severe or even fatal head, neck, spine, and abdominal injuries. Always buckle the seat belt correctly, snug across the chest, every ride!

10/16/2020

As the weather gets colder

(From January 2017)

Here's a good example of why children should not wear puffy coats or other bulky clothing in their car seat!

Lucy has an adorable outfit that comes with a puffy vest. It's not super thick, but it does add some bulk.
I was curious as to whether it would be acceptable for the car seat, so I did the test.

I placed her in the car seat with the vest on, and I buckled her into the seat. I removed all slack from the harness and it passed the pinch test. Nice and snug.
Then, I unbuckled her without loosening the harness, and removed the vest.
When I fastened the buckle and chest clip, there was a ton of slack! A harness that loose would put her at great risk for ejection in the event of an accident.

The thing is, the harness may have been snug to her vest, but it wasn't truly snug to her body. To minimize injury, you want the harness snug to the child and the seat snug to the vehicle. Any slack in either of those things allows too much movement of the child's body and therefore a higher chance of injury.

So, how can one keep their child warm AND safe?

Use layers. Use a non bulky jacket such as performance fleece.
Use blankets or a jacket placed backwards *over* the harness once the child is buckled.

A couple of links with some tips will be in the comments.

10/06/2020