Almost 60,000 Car Seats Recalled After Tests Find Defect That Could Leave Riders Vulnerable To Injury: NHTSA

LONG ISLAND, NY — Almost 60,000 car seats are set for recall after a manufacturer said their head rests could shift in certain conditions, the company announced this month.

In a recall notice, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 59,661 car seats from Miamisburg, OH-based manufacturer Evenflo had defective head rests that could shift if the car seats were in certain rear-or forward-facing positions. Those defective head rests, the NHTSA said, leave passengers at heightened risk for injury during a crash.

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According to the company, the defect was identified during post-production lab testing.

"During testing in the forward-facing configuration, we determined that when the headrest is adjusted to its two highest positions (positions 10 and 11 in forward-facing mode and position 11 in rear-facing mode), the headrest may change position under certain conditions," Evenflo said. "This condition does not affect the safety of the car seat when the headrest is adjusted to positions 1 through 9 in forward-facing mode and positions 1 through 10 in rear-facing mode. No injuries have been reported related to this condition."

In the recall filings, the NHTSA said Evenflo is "in the process of developing and validating a repair kit to address the non-compliance." That remedy, the NHTSA said, would involve reinforcing the headrests to prevent them from shifting.

"Evenflo will reimburse any consumers who incurred out of pocket costs to repare [sic] the recall condition during the period covered by the reimbursement plan," the NHTSA said.

Those reimbursement claims, the government agency said, can be sent to Evenflo ParentLink, 1801 Commerce Drive, Piqua OH, 45356.

"Until the remedy is available, parents and caregivers may continue using affected REO™ car seats when the headrest is adjusted to positions 1 through 10 in rear-facing mode or positions 1 through 9 in forward-facing mode," Evenflo said in its recall announcement. "We will notify registered owners as soon as the free remedy is available and provide instructions for obtaining it."

To find out if a car seat is among the recalled models, Evenflo said owners can check a product label on the back of the car seat shell by raising the headrest and rotating the car seat to a side-facing position, which should reveal a white label with the date of manufacture and the car seat model number.

"Affected models begin with model number CS26021 and were sold in the United States and Canada between March 2025 and the present," Evenflo said. "This recall does NOT affect any other Evenflo car seat, including the Revolve180™, Revolve360™, Revolve360™ Extend, or Revolve360™ Slim models."

The full list of recalled models is available here, along with instructions for owners of recalled models to register for repair kits once they become available.