This mama has a hot safety tip.
Emily Perna, a married mother of two, is warning fellow parents about the fiery dangers of baby mirrors and car seats in extreme heat.
“I was unloading Luca out of his car seat today for Bible Study,” said Perna of West Virginia in her trending Facebook bulletin. “And I noticed that the sun reflected off of his infant car mirror and his car seat started smoking.”
Fearful the kiddie chair might catch fire, Perna pulled her 21-month-old son out of the hardware posthaste.
“I was shocked and I have never heard of these mirrors doing this before,” admitted the shaken mom. “PLEASE be aware that they can do this!”
And she’s right to sound the alarm.
Experts from First Choice Safety Training & Consultancy of the UK said, “the sun’s rays are very powerful and can focus through a mirror to create a hot spot that can ignite flammable materials,” in a June 2023 report on the dangers of sunlight and reflective glass.
“The hotter the day, the more likely it is that a mirror will focus the sun’s rays and cause a fire,” continued the pros.
“Remember to keep mirrors away from flammable materials,” they added, citing curtains, furniture and bedding — much like the cushy padding found in most car seats.
And while parents are required to abide by federal car- and booster-seat regulations via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, official mandates for infant rearview mirrors have not been instituted.
“Federal safety standards for baby car mirrors simply don’t exist,” said insiders of online pregnancy and parenting hub, TheBump. Although their findings didn’t specifically reference potential car seat fires due to mirrors and sunlight, the baby whispers urged moms and dads to use “caution” with the risky devices.
Like Perna, mom Natausha Furlong took to social media, issuing a public word-to-the-wise after her daughter’s car seat also started smoking due to rays on a baby mirror.
“I instantly started to search for the source of the smoke with the help of my 9-year-old son,” Furlong, from Canada, previously told The Post. “We quickly realized that the smoke was coming from the car seat.”
“So many kids fall asleep in their car seats…they could be injured if the light reflected by a mirror is bright enough or hot enough,” she said, adding her relief that her little girl wasn’t in the car at the time of the incident.
“Could you imagine if she was sitting in her seat?,” said Furlong.
