How to check if your baby gear is recalled

Two agencies, two kinds of recall

In the United States, recalls of children's products come from two federal agencies.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) covers almost everything in a nursery: cribs, bassinets, play yards, strollers, high chairs, baby gates, carriers and slings, bath seats, toys, children's clothing and sleepwear, helmets, and furniture that can tip over. CPSC publishes each recall as a notice on cpsc.gov and through a public data feed. ^1,2

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) covers car seats and booster seats, which are motor-vehicle equipment under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213. NHTSA's recall lookup lets you search by the seat's maker and model. ^3,6

The difference matters when you check. NHTSA's car-seat recalls list the exact make and model of every affected seat, along with the range of manufacture dates. CPSC notices describe the product in words and photos; the model numbers are in the description text rather than in a separate field. In CPSC's data feed, the model field was empty on every one of the 471 recalls published from January 1 to October 1, 2026 (our count of the feed, retrieved October 5, 2026). ² That is why a search by brand alone can only tell you a recall might apply: you still need to compare the model number.

Step 1: find the label

Every product covered by a federal children's-product rule has a permanent label with the maker, the model and the date of manufacture. Where to look:

• Car seats and boosters: on the sides or underneath the seat shell, and on the base of an infant seat. The label also gives the date of manufacture, and many seats print an expiration date. ⁴
• Cribs, bassinets and play yards: on a rail, the headboard or the underside of the mattress support.
• Strollers: on the frame, often near the rear axle or under the seat.
• High chairs, gates and bath seats: on the underside or the back.

Take a photo of the label when you buy or receive something. If the label is missing or unreadable, contact the maker with a photo of the product before you use it.

Step 2: search the recall lists

For a car seat, search NHTSA's recall lookup by the maker and the model name exactly as printed. Check the manufacture-date range on the notice against your label. ³

For everything else, search CPSC's recall list by the brand and the type of product, then open each notice that looks close. Read the "description" section for the model numbers, the date codes and how to tell whether your product is included. Many notices include photos of the label. ¹

A few habits make this faster:

• Search with the brand on the label, which is sometimes different from the store brand or the seller's name online.
• Check accessories and replacement parts too. Recalls cover car-seat adapters, stroller inserts and replacement mattresses as well as the main product.
• For anything secondhand, check before it comes home. Ask for the model number and manufacture date up front. Cribs made before June 28, 2011, when the current federal crib standards took effect, do not meet them. ⁸

On childow, the recalls pages bring CPSC and NHTSA notices for children's products together by category, newest first, with the hazard and the remedy on each row and a link to the official notice.

Step 3: register the product

Registering with the maker is the most reliable way to hear about a recall, because the maker contacts registered owners directly.

Under federal rules, makers of durable infant and toddler products (cribs, bassinets, play yards, strollers, high chairs, gates, carriers, bath seats and more) must attach a postage-paid registration card to the product and offer online registration. The information you give may be used only to contact you about safety, not for marketing. ⁵ Car-seat makers are required to include an owner registration card as well. ⁶

If you've lost the card, register on the maker's website using the model number and date of manufacture from the label.

Step 4: if your product is recalled

1. Stop using it, unless the notice says a specific workaround is safe in the meantime.
2. Follow the remedy on the notice: a refund, a repair kit or a replacement. The notice says how to contact the company, and remedies are free. ¹
3. Don't sell, donate or give it away. Selling a product that is subject to a recall is a prohibited act under federal law. ⁷
4. Report problems. If something went wrong with a product, recalled or not, you can report it to CPSC at SaferProducts.gov. ⁹

How Recall Watch fits in

Recall Watch is a free tool in your childow record. You register a product once by brand and model; every night we load new CPSC and NHTSA recalls and compare them with what you registered, and email you on a match.

We are deliberately plain about what a match means. For a car seat, NHTSA publishes the make and model, so a matching make and model is labelled Exact. For everything else, CPSC's feed has no model field, so we can only match the brand and the type of product, and every hit is labelled "possible match: check the model number on the notice". A possible match is a prompt to look at the label, not a verdict.

Recall Watch doesn't replace registering with the maker. Do both.

A ten-minute checklist

• Photograph the label of every car seat, crib, bassinet, play yard, stroller, high chair, gate and carrier you own.
• Register each one with its maker.
• Search NHTSA for each car seat and CPSC for everything else.
• Add the products to Recall Watch so new recalls are checked for you every night.
• For hand-me-downs, check the model, the manufacture date and, for car seats, the expiration date first.

Recall notices are written by the agencies and the companies involved. When anything here differs from an official notice, the notice is right.