A car seat keeps changing after it's installed.
For every birthday the seat sees.
New recalls keep getting filed. Your child keeps growing toward the next limit. Holophote is being built to watch both, so the manual doesn't have to live in your head.
It takes about two minutes, and it's open today.
Get on the list for alertsWhere things stand
Check a seat against recalls
Enter the model and the date on its label. It compares them with our copy of NHTSA's recall file, and says so when it can't tell.
In progress
Recall watch and outgrow alerts
Add your seat once. Holophote will check every new recall against it, and tell you when your child crosses one of its limits.
You check once. Recalls keep coming.
NHTSA files a recall against a model and a range of manufacture dates, then leaves the matching to you. A seat that was clear in March can be covered in June, and nobody calls to say so.
In a typical car seat recall, fewer than 1 in 5 recalled seats ever get fixed.[1] A recall only works if it reaches the family.
Add your seat once, with the model and the date from its label. When a new recall is filed, Holophote will check it against your seat's date, not just its model, and tell you only if your seat falls inside the range. When a new recall covers a different model, or a date range your seat falls outside, you won't hear from us.
[1] Median across 62 car seat recalls, computed from NHTSA quarterly recall reports, 2015 to 2026.
An all-in-one seat is four seats and a schedule.
Rear-facing, forward-facing with a harness, booster, then the seat belt. Each mode has its own height and weight limits, spread across a manual that can run well past a hundred pages. The seat grows with your child only if someone moves it at the right time. Here is one seat's schedule, as its manual states it.
| Mode | Weight | Height | Other limits in the manual | Limits | Pagep. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rear-facing | 4 to 40 lb | Under 43.3 in | Head 1 in or more below the top of the shell or headrest, whichever is higher | 10 | |
| Forward-facing | 26.5 to 65 lb | 33 to 49.2 in | Top of ears below the top of the headrest. At least 1 year old | 11 | |
| Booster | 40 to 120 lb | 44 to 57 in | Top of ears below the top of the headrest. 4 years or older | 12 |
Cybex Callisto G 360 owner's manual, CY_171_9371_D0325, 162 pages (English and Spanish).
After the booster comes the seat belt alone, when your seat's manual and your vehicle's manual say the belt fits.
Your state's law can be stricter than the manual.
Most days, the answer will be: not yet.
Moving a child up too soon is the more common mistake. So Holophote won't nudge you forward. It will tell you when a limit is crossed, and stay quiet until then.
Anything sold as "grows with your child", from convertible car seats to high chairs, comes with a schedule like this. Holophote is starting with the one where the schedule matters most.
What Holophote won't do
Tell you a seat is safe. Nobody can, from a label. A certified technician can hold the actual seat and see what a record can't.
Replace your manual or a car seat check. Free in-person checks run all year. Find one in the Bay Area.
Sell or share your email. One email at launch. Delete on request.
Holophote is coming.
Add your seat once. It will watch for recalls, and say when your child crosses a limit.
You are on the list.
Write back and tell us what worries you most about your seat. We read every reply, and it is how we decide what to build next.
For organizations
A recall only works if the seat gets fixed. In a typical car seat recall, fewer than 1 in 5 recalled seats ever get fixed.[2] Car seats have no VIN and no owner registry, so the gap sits between the recall file and the family. Holophote is being built to close that gap and report the result.
[2] Median across 62 car seat recalls, computed from NHTSA quarterly recall reports, 2015 to 2026.
- In progressFixes reported per recall campaign, with how each fix was confirmed. Counts only, never a household.
- In progressSeat watch and alerts that reach families through programs they already use.
- Per-seat recall matching against NHTSA's file, by manufacture date.