Note: This article is for informational purposes and not intended as legal advice. Although the BCIA is deeply knowledgeable about global standards and considered experts on baby carrier compliance, it is always a good idea to consult your local enforcement agency and/or a compliance attorney if you have questions or concerns about whether your product meets the regulations in the regions into which you are selling your product.
The BCIA receives many questions about standards for hip seats and “carrying-assist” baby carriers. Companies who produce these products and are conscientious about ethical product design wish to test their carriers to ensure the products are safe for both children and caregivers. Sometimes, third-party sellers request verification of compliance.
The difficulty these manufactures face is that, depending on product design, existing standards for baby carriers may not be applicable to their product and, in fact, the product design may not even be able to be tested using existing methodology for physical/mechanical testing.
This article will offer options and information about testing and certification for these products.
Children’s products general regulations
Even if a baby carrier is not covered by the scope of any baby carrier standard, it will still be covered by laws that regulate children’s products in general. You should review any laws such as the Consumer Product Safety Act in the US or the General Product Safety Regulation in the EU as well as other relevant laws and regulations that apply to your children’s product.
In many countries, you will be required to issue a certificate or declaration that verifies your adherence to all relevant regulations and standards. You will want to be clear about whether your carrier exists outside the scope of existing carrier standards before issuing that certificate.
This means that hip seats must meet requirements for things like small parts, choking hazards, lead and other chemicals, etc. even if the product doesn’t require testing to a specific baby carrier standard.
Existing baby carrier standards
While ASTM standards and CEN standards are not the only standards in the world that cover baby carriers, they are the ones that most commonly impact BCIA members, so those are the standards we will address here.
Both ASTM and CEN standards are international standards. Generally, EU law references CEN standards (and their related technical reports), while US law references ASTM standards. Countries like Australia and Canada generally consider both types of standards to be acceptable measures of product safety.
Existing standards for baby carriers only include products in which it’s possible to carry a child hands-free. Some hip carriers are designed in a way that the product supports the child’s back, allowing the parents to take their arm away from the child’s back while the child continues to sit in the carrier. This style of hip-carrier likely falls into one of the existing baby carrier standards.
Other designs more closely resemble a waist bag, with a platform for the child to sit on but no fabric or other means of supporting the child’s back. These styles of carriers are not required to meet any carrier-specific standard. There are no mandated warning labels, and no physical/mechanical testing is required to test the durability of buckles, straps, etc.
Do hip seats need to be tested, and how can I test them if there are no standards for hip seats?
Remember: this is an incomplete list of requirements and potential modifications. You should work with your compliance team and lab to determine what, if any, testing you will complete on your hip carrier and what modifications may be appropriate.
You can learn more about regulatory compliance for baby carriers on our resources page.