A mother from Vancouver, Canada, has issued an urgent PSA about using reflective mirrors inside the car after a pretty scary incident happened. According to Natausha Furlong (@morethanjustamother), she opened the back door of her car last week only to see smoke rising from her child’s car seat. Upon further investigation, she says the reflective car seat mirror she had bought to keep an eye on her daughter was to blame for the near-fire. Now she’s trying to warn as many parents as she can.
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Furlong posted about the incident soon after it happened
In a TikTok video that has since gone viral, the mother explained what exactly occurred and how terrifying it was, and even included some footage she took while the car seat was still smoking.
@morethanjustamother to all the parents out there, just be aware of how quickly this can happen. I’m so glad it didn’t happen while my daughter was strapped in. #diono #carseat #parents #parentsoftiktok #momsoftiktok ♬ original sound – ℎ
“Are you a parent?” Furlong asks in the video. “If so, this is seriously something you have to watch.”
“I didn’t even know this was a thing until it literally just happened,” she added, noting that it “could have been so much worse” had she not caught it sooner.
Furlong was about to load her daughter into her car seat when she saw the smoke
In another clip taken in real time, the mother filmed the side of the car seat that was starting to smoke and looked as though it could go up in flames at any moment.
“Just opened my door to put my daughter in her seat and her car seat is ON FIRE from the heat,” the mother says in the video, while zooming in on an area of the fabric that is clearly starting to burn.
“OMG, is this even real life?” she asks while starting to panic.
Moments later, one of her older children identified the source
“So, my 9-year-old figured it out,” Furlong says, before explaining that the reflective mirror she had mounted to the back of one of the front seats was clearly the culprit.
As she films, Furlong shows how the sunlight streaming into the car had bounced off the mirror and aimed itself at the fabric on the car seat. As time passed and temperatures increased, that tiny reflective light started to burn — something she apparently caught just in time.
“I wanted to share it with you guys because the weather’s getting nice, it’s getting hot, and … you need to know,” the mother said before posting the clip online.
In the past week, the mother's TikTok has earned more than 1.1 million views
It’s also drawn a ton of comments from people all over the internet.
“WOW, that is terrifying,” one person wrote. “Could have been her.”
“Definitely a win for mama!” added someone else. “Big brother was there helping make sure his sister is safe!”
But while many people have thanked Furlong for bringing this to their attention, not everyone has seen it as a valuable PSA. In fact, a lot of people flooded the comments section with rude comments and accusations.
“But it’s just common sense when a light hits like a mirror it burns!” one person wrote.
“The fact a 9-year-old can figure this out but not you …,” another added.
Others accused Furlong of overreacting since car seats are designed with nonflammable fabric, which can prevent a full-on fire.
Furlong has tried to ignore the judgy comments as best she can
In several follow-up videos, she’s also tried to shrug them off with a bit of humor.
@morethanjustamother Replying to @parole.baby ♬ original sound – Steph
@morethanjustamotherJust a little fun ☺️
Needless to say, the Canadian mom immediately ditched her car seat mirror and reached out to the manufacturer, which has promised to send her a new cover. She’s also tried to reiterate that her whole reason for posting the video in the first place was just to raise awareness that something like this could happen.
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Though still extremely rare, incidents like these have been known to happen
In 2018, another mom posted on Facebook about a similar incident she had with her Britax car seat.
In that case, Britax responded with an official statement:
“Direct sunlight reflecting off shiny objects in a car can be dangerous. The federal government requires all car seats and the interior of vehicles to meet flame retardant standards. In this incident, the flame retardants in the car seat did their job. As always, parents and caregivers should exercise caution when using any after-market car seat accessories, including back seat mirrors. All back seat mirrors should be installed correctly, securely attached and mounted to the vehicle head restraint. Incorrect installation can result in injury if the mirror becomes a projectile in a crash.”
Reflective mirrors are intended to be a safety measure — not a safety risk
They’re commonly used when children are still riding in rear-facing car seat positions and parents want to keep a watchful eye on them from the front seat by glancing in their rear-view mirror.
That said, some parents who responded to Furlong’s TikTok did offer some alternative suggestions — like covering the mirrors with a swaddle blanket in between use or even removing them entirely when you’re not in the car.
Other parents are also turning to alternative products, like in-car baby monitors such as the Tiny Traveler. With these, a tiny camera is placed in the backseat and a small iPhone-sized screen is attached to the front windshield. This way, parents can keep an eye on their littles without using any mirrors or taking their eyes off the road at all.
