Britax B-Safe Recall: 114,660 Infant Seats Recalled Over Loose Handle Screw (2027)

If you own a Britax B-Safe or Endeavours infant car seat, check the label on it today. Britax has recalled 114,660 of these seats in the United States under NHTSA campaign 26C006 because a screw in the carrying handle can work loose over time. If that screw loosens, part of the handle can detach while you carry the seat, and your baby could fall. Britax says no serious injuries have been reported, and the seat is still safe to use in your car. The risk appears only when you carry the seat by its handle. Until Britax releases its fix, carry the seat by the shell, keep your baby buckled in and out of the car, and register your seat so the remedy reaches you.

Key Takeaways

• Britax recalled 114,660 B-Safe and Endeavours infant seats in the US (NHTSA campaign 26C006).
• A screw in the carrying handle can come loose, and the handle can partially detach while you carry the seat.
• Britax reports no serious injuries. This is a voluntary, precautionary recall.
• The seat is still safe to use in the car. Carry it by the shell, not by the handle.
• The remedy is still in development. Register your seat so Britax can reach you when the fix is ready.
• Every affected seat is discontinued. The last ones were built in May 2023.

Which Britax Seats Are Recalled?

The recall covers six discontinued infant seat models. A seat is only included if it was built inside the manufacture date range for its model, so the date on your label matters as much as the model name.

Britax stopped making all six models years ago, and the very last affected seats left the factory on May 16, 2023. That means you cannot buy one of these seats new today. It also means most affected seats now sit in a second, third, or even fourth home, passed down between siblings, cousins, and neighbors. If your B-Safe came to you secondhand, nobody has your address, and no recall letter will ever find you. The check below is the only way to know.

Seats built outside these windows are not part of this recall, and neither are Britax convertible seats, booster seats, or strollers. This recall is only about these six rear-facing infant carriers.

Why Britax Recalled These Seats

The problem sits inside the carrying handle. One screw, listed in the NHTSA record as a handle shell screw, can slowly come loose after extended use and wear. The handle takes stress every single day. Parents lift a loaded carrier by it dozens of times a week, click it up and down, bump it through doorways, and hang diaper bags from it. Over years of that treatment, the screw can back out.

When the screw loosens far enough, one side of the handle can partially detach while the seat is being carried. A carrier that tips or drops from carrying height puts a newborn at real risk of a head injury, even from a short fall onto a hard floor. That is the exact scenario NHTSA describes in campaign 26C006: a child may fall after a partial detachment, which increases the risk of injury.

Two facts should keep this in perspective. First, Britax found this problem itself and reported it. The recall is voluntary and precautionary, which means the company acted before a pattern of injuries forced its hand. Second, Britax states there have been no reports of serious injury linked to this condition. This is a fix-it-before-someone-gets-hurt recall, not a response to a tragedy.

Britax filed the recall with NHTSA on August 20, 2026, and the public announcement followed on August 28, 2026. The remedy is still under development, so there is no repair kit to order yet. The sections below explain what to do while you wait.

How to Check If Your Seat Is Recalled

The whole check takes about two minutes, and you only need the white manufacturer label on your seat. That label lists the model name, the model number, and the date of manufacture. On Britax infant carriers, look for the label on the back or underside of the shell. If you are not sure where to look, our guide on where the dates hide on a car seat walks you through the usual spots, brand by brand.

Step 1: Find the model name. Match it against the six names in the table above. If your seat is a different model, you are done. It is not recalled.

Step 2: Find the manufacture date. Compare it with the date range for your model. Inside the range means your seat is recalled. Outside the range means it is not, even if the model name matches.

Step 3: Confirm with NHTSA. You can search the recall on the NHTSA recall database using campaign number 26C006, or call Britax customer service at 1-888-427-4829 in the US and 1-800-683-2045 in Canada. Britax can confirm your exact seat from its model number.

Write down or photograph the label while you are there. You will need the model number and manufacture date when you register the seat, and having a photo saves you from flipping the carrier over twice.

Is a Recalled B-Safe Still Safe to Use?

Yes, with one change in how you carry it. Britax and safety advocates agree that these seats remain safe to use for travel in the car. The defect lives in the carry handle, not in the shell, the harness, or the base. In a crash, the seat protects your baby the same way it always has. Nothing about this recall weakens the seat’s crash performance.

The danger window is the walk from the car to the house, the trip through the grocery store parking lot, and every other moment the carrier hangs from its handle with your baby inside. So change one habit starting today:

• Carry the seat by the shell. Put both hands under or around the body of the carrier, the way you would carry a heavy box.
• Keep your baby buckled at all times, in the car and out of it. A snug harness is what keeps a baby safely inside the carrier if it ever does tip.
• Do not hang bags on the handle. Extra weight speeds up the wear that loosens the screw.
• Check the handle weekly. Wiggle it gently. Any new looseness, clicking, or uneven movement is a reason to stop carrying by the handle completely and call Britax.

If the handle already feels loose on your seat, switch to shell carrying right away and contact Britax rather than waiting for the remedy announcement.

What to Do If Your Seat Is on the List

Here is the full action list, in order. Most of it takes less than ten minutes.

1. Confirm your seat. Use the model and manufacture date check above. Do not rely on a letter arriving, because letters only go to registered owners.

2. Register your seat with Britax. Go to us.britax.com/registration and enter your model number, manufacture date, and contact details. Registration is how Britax will notify you the moment the remedy kit is ready. If you bought the seat new and never registered it, do it now. If you got the seat from someone else, register it under your own name today.

3. Change how you carry it. Carry by the shell from now on, keep your baby buckled in and out of the car, and keep weight off the handle, as described in the section above.

4. Watch for the remedy. Britax says the fix is still in development. Based on how the company handled a similar handle problem a decade ago, the likely remedy is a free reinforcement or repair kit that owners install at home. That is an expectation, not a promise. Britax will confirm the real remedy when it announces it.

5. Ask Britax if anything is unclear. US owners can call 1-888-427-4829. Canadian owners can call 1-800-683-2045.

According to the NHTSA record, Britax began mailing owner notification letters on September 30, 2026. A letter is helpful, but it is the weakest safety net in this process. Registration records are years old for many families, people move, and secondhand seats change hands without any paperwork. Checking your own label is faster and far more reliable than waiting on the mail. We walked through the same register-and-check routine for the Evenflo Revolve360 Slim recall, and the habit matters more than any single recall: register every seat you own, on the day you get it.

Do Not Forget the Expiration Date

Here is the part of this story most coverage is missing. Every recalled seat was built between August 2020 and May 2023, which makes the youngest affected seats more than three years old, and the oldest ones over six. Infant carriers do not last forever. Each one carries an expiration date, printed on the same label family as the manufacture date, and plastic, harness webbing, and foam all age whether the seat is used daily or stored in a garage.

That creates a real trap in 2027. A family can do everything right on this recall, register the seat, wait for the fix, install the kit, and still be riding around with a carrier that has quietly passed its expiration date. A remedy kit fixes a loose screw. It does not extend the life of an expired seat, and Britax will be the first to tell you an expired seat should be retired, recall or no recall.

So while you have the carrier flipped over for the recall check, read the expiration date too. If you are unsure how expiry works or why seats expire at all, our full guide on whether car seats expire explains the reasons, and our car seat expiration checker gives you the date for your exact brand and model in seconds. If your B-Safe is both recalled and expired, the answer is simple: stop using it and replace it. No repair kit changes that.

This Is Not Britax’s First Handle Recall

Longtime Britax owners may feel a sense of deja vu, and they would be right. In January 2016, Britax recalled about 71,000 B-Safe 35 and B-Safe 35 Elite infant seats in the US, plus more in Canada and Mexico, after 74 reports of carry handles cracking or breaking while the seats were being carried. One injury was reported in that case. Transport Canada ran a parallel action for earlier B-Safe 35 seats built in 2014 and 2015.

The fix back then is worth remembering. Britax sent registered owners a free remedy kit with a bracket that reinforced the carry handle, along with printed instructions and an installation video. Owners fitted it at home in minutes. Nobody had to ship a seat anywhere or buy a replacement.

Two lessons come out of that history. First, handle problems on this product line are a known weak point, which is exactly why the weekly handle check in this guide is worth your thirty seconds. Second, Britax has a track record of solving handle recalls with a free home kit, and owners who were registered got theirs first. History does not guarantee the 2026 remedy will look the same, but it is a reasonable guide to what is coming.

What If You Bought the Seat Secondhand?

Secondhand seats are where recalls go to be forgotten. All six recalled models are discontinued, cheap on resale platforms, and popular hand-me-downs, because they were premium seats when new. If you bought or were given one of these carriers, assume the recall paperwork knows nothing about you.

Do these three things. First, run the model and manufacture date check in this article. Second, register the seat with Britax under your own contact details so the remedy reaches you. Third, be honest about the seat’s history. A used seat with an unknown crash history, missing parts, or a passed expiration date should not carry a baby at all, and a recall fix does not rescue it.

If you are shopping for a used infant seat right now, add this recall to your checklist before money changes hands. Ask the seller for a photo of the manufacturer label, and walk away from any seat whose dates fall inside the table above unless the price reflects the wait for a remedy, and never buy an expired seat at any price.

FAQs

Q.1 Is my Britax B-Safe Gen 2 recalled?

Only if it was built between February 12, 2021 and December 14, 2022. Check the manufacture date on the label on the back or underside of the shell. A B-Safe Gen 2 built outside that window is not part of recall 26C006.

Q.2 Can I still use a recalled Britax seat in my car?

Yes. Britax says the seat remains safe for travel in the car, because the defect affects the carrying handle, not crash protection. Carry the seat by the shell instead of the handle, and keep your baby buckled snugly in and out of the car.

Q.3 When will the Britax remedy be ready?

Britax has not announced a date yet. The remedy is listed as under development in the NHTSA record. Registered owners will be notified when the fix is available, which is why registering your seat is the single most important step you can take today.

Q.4 Will Britax refund or replace my seat?

No refund or replacement program has been announced. Recalls like this one normally end with a free repair or reinforcement kit, which is how Britax handled its 2016 handle recall. If your seat is expired, though, replace it rather than waiting for a kit.

Q.5 What if I never received a recall letter?

Letters only go to owners Britax can identify, mostly through registration records. According to NHTSA, letters began going out on September 30, 2026. If you bought the seat secondhand, moved house, or never registered, no letter may come. Check your label against the table in this article and register the seat yourself.

Q.6 Does the recall apply in Canada?

The NHTSA action covers the United States. Canadian owners of these models can call Britax Canada at 1-800-683-2045 for guidance on their seat. If you own one of the six models built in the listed date ranges, run the same label check wherever you live.

The Bottom Line

The Britax B-Safe recall is large, with 114,660 seats across six popular models, but it is also manageable. The defect is real yet narrow: a handle screw that can loosen with years of wear. No serious injuries have been reported, the seat still protects your baby in the car, and the only behavior change is carrying the carrier by its shell until the fix arrives. Check your label today, register the seat, glance at the expiration date while you are there, and you have done everything this recall asks of you. Then pass this article to any parent you know with a hand-me-down B-Safe in the garage. They are the owners this recall is most likely to miss.

Aiden

Aiden is the founder and editor of CarSeatHaven. He researches NHTSA safety standards, AAP guidance, manufacturer manuals, and recall notices, and turns them into plain-language car seat guides for parents.