Car Seat Use

I'm not totally sold on the whole car seat expiration idea. However, I did buy a new seat for this baby (#4) merely because my old one (6.5 yrs old) went through three kids and was worn out.
Target has clearance cycles on their baby merchandise. It is in January and July. I was able to find a Graco travel system (stroller, car seat, and base) for $60 on clearance. It was originally $200. They are starting to mark their clearance now, but it will be gradual- 15%, then 30%, then 50% and finally, 70% off. You kind of have to stalk the store weekly, but you can find great deals that way. I had gotten rid of everything baby because we were "done", but by clearance shopping at Target, I replaced almost everything at a fraction of the price.
I would rather be safe than sorry and I would just go ahead and get a new one.

Get. A. New. One!
why are you even questioning this relatively minor expense?
the plastic breaks down over time even if not in the heat - micro cracks that you can't see will compromise the strength of the plastic.
this is such a small expense but absolutely crucial - you cannot control the other idiots on the road.

It is not a racket or conspiracy to force you to make an unnecessary purchase. The bottom line is threefold - safety criteria and designs change (improvements are made, errors are corrected), materials break down (plastics, foams, Styrofoams, fabrics)(also not just from sun damage or heat or cold but from age) and companies do not have test data for older make car seats. In other words a manufacturer cannot tell you how to anticipate how your now almost 8 year old car seat will perform in an accident. Whatever risk you are taking with that car seat will be entirely on you. I say infant car seats can be found relatively cheap so in the scheme of things buy an inexpensive new one and move along. Remember places like Babies R Us will take your old seat and provide you with a coupon for buying a new one. They destroy the items you turn in for the reasons I stated above. Good luck.

The plastic degrades over time. Faster in heat and sun, but it still degrades.

My son is 9. His oldest car seat (top of the line) is 8 years old. It's been kept inside in a temp regulated environment. I dropped it 3 feet onto wood and it cracked in I don't know how many places, and some large ones broke off this past fall.

So it was younger, or about the same age as yours... And it's toast. I don't know if it would have survived a sudden break... Much less a crash.

Think about it this way: gunman says 'Pay me 300 or I'll shoot your baby'. Would you pay? In a heartbeat, right? Is that likely to ever happen? Nope. Nor an accident. But if an accident DID happen, is your baby worth shelling out 300? Yep.

plastic get brittle over time, and can get stress fractures etc...not worth the 100 or so dollars you will save to reuse again

Find a car seat clinic in your area and take it in. Likely they will say no way due to the reasons most of the Mama's said. The plastic breaks down and becomes brittle. The padding breaks down and is not the same as new to withstand a crash and do the job it was intended for to protect your child. Plus the safety standards have changed considerably in the last 7-8 years.

I do a Transportation Safety course for my state at least every 5 years for a daycare licensing class, even though I do not transport my daycare kids . It's good info to pass to parents, and usually a free class for my training hours and given by the state patrol.

Get a new one. It's just not worth your child's safety.

Just curious... did you not use a car seat with your kids at all after about a year? Most states have laws requiring children under a certain age to be secured in a car seat.

ETA: Ok, thanks for the clarification.... that makes sense... kids can grow out of them pretty easily. I'm glad to hear you are still using appropriate car seats!

There are different types of car seats.... there are the infant carriers that you just put the child in, and carry the carrier around.....

After children outgrow that type, there is the one with the 5 point harness...

After that, there are different types of boosters that put the seat belt across the child's chest at the proper level, helping reduce injury in case of an accident.

Personally, I wouldn't want to risk it... how you you feel if your child were injured because of the failure of something designed to protect your child? You have the potential to avoid this kind of heartbreak by simply buying a new one......

Yes, the plastic seats break down over time. The foam padding and stuffing compacts over time, which is a major reason. Also car seats are updated and safety-standards improved over time, and 8 years is a really long time.

Even if this doesn't bother you, insurance often won't cover issues that arise in an accident if your car-seat is expired. You should check your insurance policy, because everything from what damage they will fix to what injuries they will cover should be in there

Please go out an buy a new car seat. In the grand scheme of things, it's very worth the money, and you know your baby is worth every penny.

P.S. Alexis makes a really good point. Take it in to Babies R Us for a coupon for 25% off your next car seat.

P.P.S. I do not recommend buying a used car seat unless you know and trust the previous owner. A seat that has been in an accident is not safe anymore, and you never know that the person is being honest.

I agree with I love My Boys contact the Fire Department. They should be able to tell you. Or the Police department. I used the same one on my oldest that my sister in law used for her two oldest kids. I didn't even think anything of it.

the plastic breaks down. You don't have to spend a ton of money. I got my infant car seat for $25 at Big Lots because they didn't have a box (it had been a display) and weren't carrying it anymore. My son's 5 point harness seat that we got when he turned one was $30 on sale at Target. He will be in that for another couple years before we get a booster seat. Here the law is that a kid must be in a booster intill they are 8 or 5ft.

You can contact your local Fire Department and they can give you more information about car seats.

In my opinion, it's not worth the risk. I'd get a new one.

The plastic breaks down and gets brittle. For what it's worth I am a car seat technician and a fellow tech friend got an expired seat at a check and parents if she could try to destroy it. She simply stepped on it and the plastic cracked and the seat broke. There is also a video on YouTube of an expired seat in a crash test and the harness rips through the plastic and does not restrain the dummy. I would always recommend replacing an expired seat.

Get a new seat. People who say it's fine have no idea what they are talking about, even though they *think* they are making a convincing argument. Sheesh! :)

I totally understand not wanting to spend a lot of money, but you are absolutely right about wanting your lil' one to be safe! We worried about the same thing, but once the money is spent and baby is safely tucked in her new seat, you won't even feel the money pinch. I promise! :)

They expire because plastic breaks down over time due to heat, sun, the pressure applied by being strapped into a car, and just the passage of time. Garage's and cars are environments of extreme temperature fluctuations that can accelerate the plastic parts becoming brittle. Car seats don't have to be expensive, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Why do they expire? So the manufacturer can sell more car seats. Think about it. They build a car seat to make it through a crash. They have to be built sturdy so they will survive a crash. By building it sturdy, it will last a LONG, LONG, TIME ! ! ! The company can't stay in business if it doesn't make more car seats, so they put an expiration date on them. Then paranoid parents will throw them away and they can sell another one, and stay in business.

GM, Ford, and all of the other car comapnies had the capability to make a long lived engine. Before 1965, they had no incentive to make the engine running parts (cylinders, pistons, crankshafts, cam shafts, etc.) harder so they would not wear out and they would last longer. (Its called tempering.) Before 1965, it was a rare engine that would last longer than 50,000 miles. There was an entire industry in the US that rebuilt engines. Then Congress passed the emissions laws. The end result was that to clean up emissions the manufacturers had to increase the combustion temperatures of engines. That required that the cylinder walls and pistons and almost all of the metal parts in an engine had to survive higher temperatures. The result was that the cylinders and all of the other metal parts had to have much much better tempering. Now a 100,000 mile engine is not uncommon. I have two vehicles that will probably go to 200,000 miles. The car companies would love to put an expiration date on new cars, but the public wouldn't stand for that.

When they discovered King Tut's tomb, they found wheat stored in the tomb. According to our government (The same one that lets car seat manufacturers set expiration dates) the wheat expired CENTURIES ( ! ! ! ) before it was discovered. Scientists took that wheat and found that it was not only edible, but was growable. They used that wheat to improve the drought tolerance and disease resistance of modern wheat.

The same "superior intelligence" found in our government officials that said the wheat in King Tut's tomb was no good and should be thrown away declared that your car seats will expire.

If you believe what these government officials say, I'll make you a real good deal on the part of the Brooklyn Bridge that I own.

Good luck to you and yours.

I have never worried about expiration dates and such. If the seat has not been in an accident it should be fine. I think they have dates on them somewhere but I'm not sure.

Truth be told, how long did your car seat sit in a warehouse then in the store before it was even purchased. There is no way to tell.

I don't travel a lot on the highway though.

I wouldn't do it. Why take the chance? Yes, it MIGHT be fine, but how do you really know that? A friend told you? Was your friend involved in the testing of these carseats? You are right that your baby is a miracle. Don't take a chance with your miracle.

Another option is one that is not brand new but is less than five yrs old
Car seats have expiration dates on them, so you can buy a gently used infant seat. Like you, someone who used it for one year and their baby outgrew it. Just check the expiration date and you can get one that still has five or six good years, which your doesn't. Check Craig's list etc. Using this method I bought car seats for my car, hubby's car, and one for daughter or grandma's car.

.

Malia - I should have clarified! I DID use a car seat for my kids. My 3 1/2 year old is still in the 5 point harness my 7 1/2 year old is still in a booster.
I was asking about the infant one, both my kids were too long for it and weighed to much at the year mark. So we had to switch. We never really used it as a carrier when we went around, my kids prefered to be held and I prefered to not hear them screaming

Get a new one. The last car seat you b ought was 7 1/2 years ago. Things have changed. I would not be comfortable putting a newborn in an old seat.
Better to be safe than sorry.

Get a new one. they expire because they get worn out, banged around and used a lot. it stinks to spend a lot of money but 7 1/2 years old is OLD in carseats. when it is a safety issue I go worse case scenario. is $100-$200 worth your little ones life or well being? As far as I know after having been in 2 car accidents with car seats there is no way to tell by looking at them and examining them to know if they are safe. In CA insurance companies are required to replace seats that were in an accident. My second set was 6 months old (still basically brand new) with no signs of wear and tear when we were in an accident and they had to be replaced. Congratulations on your upcoming arrival!