A recall of infant car seats was recently issued by Thorley Industries, doing business as 4Moms. The issue behind the recall is a tight rivet that’s causing problems with the coupling hook. The coupling hook in the affected units may not properly connect the infant carrier portion of the infant car seats to the coupling pin in the seat base. If the unit doesn’t connect properly, the carrier may come lose from the base in a crash, leading to injuries.The company worked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue the voluntary recall once the defect was discovered. Roughly 1,622 infant car seats, 2% of those manufactured from July 1, 2016 to October 31, 2016, are affected by the recall.4Moms conducted an internal investigation after a customer reported the issue in December 2016 and found that the coupling hooks in the affected units were not attached properly. The rivet holding the hooks in place may cause them to stick and not safely connect to the seat bases. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported; the issue was only seen following extended testing and use of the infant car seats.In a statement about the recall, the company said, “At 4moms, the safety of our consumers and their children is our top priority. We take safety very seriously, and when we recently learned of a potential issue with our self-installing car seat, we took immediate steps to investigate.”The company provided customers a means of finding out if they have a recalled seat on its website. Click here to go to that page and enter the unit’s nine-digit serial number. Serial numbers are located on a sticker on the bottom of the carrier. In addition, 4Moms is contacting affected owners who have registered their infant car seats. Registration is the only way the company will have customer contact information.

Serial number location; image courtesy of www.4moms.com.

If you discover that you have one of the recalled infant car seats, 4Moms will replace the carrier portion at no charge. The seat base portion does not need to be replaced; affected customers will receive the carrier portion only. Typical replacement time is five to ten days and 4Moms will work to get the replacements out as soon as possible.In the meantime, you can use the infant car seats safely by manually checking to ensure that the carrier is locked into the base. This is done by lifting the carrier by its handle after it’s been connected to the base. 4Moms has also provided a YouTube video showing how to perform the check.Customers can also use the recalled infant car seats by installing the carrier portion only while waiting for a replacement. Again, 4Moms has provided an instructional YouTube video on how to install the carrier portion only.Proper Disposal of Recalled Infant Car Seats4Moms doesn’t want affected customers to incur shipping costs and so the company is asking that affected carriers be disposed of after the replacements arrive. However, this doesn’t mean simply tossing it in the trash or recycling!There are well-meaning individuals who may see the disposed of carrier and, thinking it was merely outgrown, retrieve it for use. 4Moms doesn’t want that to happen. The company has provided another YouTube video showing the proper way to disable the defective carrier. Even then, the company suggests “placing the old carrier inside a trash bag so that it is not visible to well-meaning pickers, and if it fits, place it inside a trash can.”Alternatively, customers can visit http://recycleyourcarseat.org/ to find information about local car seat recycling programs.Customers can contact 4Moms either by visiting www.4moms.com/recalls or calling the Customer Care Team at 1-888-614-6667 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) between 9am and 5pm, Monday through Friday. Customers can also contact NHTSA’s Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or visit www.safercar.gov.4Moms also provided more information via the links below:

• Check to see if your car seat is affected

• FAQs

• Press Release

Sources:

Infant Carrier may not Secure to Base

2017 4moms self-installing car seat Voluntary Recall