The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the product recall of over 71,000 Britax infant car seats. The notice said the infant car seat's carry handle could "crack and break" and cause the seat to unexpectedly fall leading to injuries.
The affected Britax products include B-Safe 35 and B-Safe 35 Elite models that were produced from Oct.1, 2014 to July 1, 2015. The recalled products can be used as both rear-facing only baby car seat and as a carrier.
The Britax logo can be found on the carry handle grip and on both sides of the shell. It has a black shell and base and an awning. The car seat/carrier are sold in several color options.
The product's model number and manufacturing date can be found on the back of the carrier shell. If you are unsure if your product is affected, head to the Britax website and log in the model number. See affected models below:
- B-Safe 35: E9LU65M, E9LU65P, E9LU63F, E9LU66R, E9LS63F, EXLU65M
- B-Safe 35 Elite: E9LS55T, E9LS56P, E9LS55U, E9LS66C, E9LS65U
- B-Safe 35 Travel System: S914900, S915400, S915200, S921900, S01635200
The Britax products were sold at various retailers including buybuy BABY, Target, Babies R Us, Diapers.com and Amazon.com. Prices range from $210 to $250.
According to CPSC, Britax received 74 reports where handles on the said products developed cracks and fractures during use. In one case, the carrier fell and the infant onboard received a bump on the head.
"It is safe for consumers to continue to use their car seat when secured in a vehicle or on a stroller. The car seat should not be lifted or carried by the carry handle until the remedy kit has been installed," wrote Britax on the company website, stressing that car seat/carrier should not be carried by the handle grip until the "remedy kit" can be installed.
But that's not all. The company is also recalling several stroller models due to a choking hazard. The arm bar's foam padding can crumble into small fragments when bitten by an infant. The CPSC said there are already 117 documented reports of infants biting into the foam padding, which includes five incidents of gagging and choking on the foam fragments.
Affected products include B-Ready replacement top seats and B-Ready strollers which are separately sold. These affected items were produced between April 2010 and December 2012. An estimated 49,000 and 11,000 products were sold in the U.S. and Canada.
