With parents facing hefty fines beginning on January 1, retailers are quickly selling out of what may prove to be the holiday?s hot ticket item ? car seats for babies and small children.

The rise in demand comes with the approaching January 1 deadline when parents will be forced to outfit their cars with child seat or else face hefty fines.

?The demand for the booster seats has absolutely increased this Christmas,? said Toys ?N? Stuff owner Carol Bromby. ?One of our walls use to be piled high with baby seats, but recently we haven?t been able to keep them in the store. People call asking for the seats, but we are actually waiting for another shipment in a week and a half. We just have to tell them to keep calling.?

Echoing Mrs. Bromby was Adrienne Defilla, owner and manager of Hamilton store Bears Repeating Too.

?The demand is far outweighing the supply right now. We have have seen an increase in requests all year long but absolutely in the past month,? said Mrs. Defilla.

?Since the beginning of the year we?ve had at least five people a week come in looking for booster seats, but we need at least 100 more to meet the demand.?

Facing fines of up to $2,100 per offence, many parents of larger families have approached TCD with concerns that cars can only fit two baby seats. Parents of three or more small children are worried they will face harsh penalties after January 1.

Director Kevin Monkman said yesterday that TCD is making efforts to increase the size of Bermuda?s cars, allowing for more car seats to be fitted.

?We?re going to put forward legislation to make dimensions larger for private cars.?

Mr. Monkman said TCD was doing its best to help parents.

If cars are too small to accommodate seats for every child, Mr. Monkman encouraged parents to strap their youngest children in first because they are most at risk. He also said TCD will be lenient to larger families who cannot afford a new, larger car.

?Families can write a letter to TCD that will be reviewed on the basis of their situation,? he said. TCD will then issue forms which will exempt the parents from excessive fines.

The legislation requires that all children weighing under 80 pounds must be secured in one of two types of booster seats.

Infants under the age of one will be expected to be seated into rear facing infant or convertible seats, whereas children over the age of one and weighing more than 20 pounds must be seated in a forward facing seats.

The legislation also states that children falling between 40 and 80 pounds will have size appropriate booster seats to ensure that seat belts fit them correctly.