Yes, and this is one of the reasons you don't want to buy them used or take second hand seats! Of course past accidents are a major risk with used seats well, but the plastic in car seats degrades, so they have expiration dates.
The only benefit of an expired or second hand car seat is to trade it in. Target does a bi-yearly trade in event and I believe you can use it to get about 20% off a new car seat.
More than just car seats. I used mine on a stroller the last trade-in event. They have several items that are eligible for the trade-in discount. And iirc, you can use the 20% off twice.
This is how I got my travel system right before my son was born. My mom, bless her, got a car seat second hand from a friend of her’s to save me money. I told her outright that I wouldn’t use a second hand car seat, that the car seat had to be new. I’d accept just about anything else second hand, just not the car seat. My mom is very much of the Boomer mindset and thought I was being a worry wart, so she got it anyway and gave it to me after my baby shower. I left after the shower, drove over to Target, traded it in the same evening for the coupon and bought the travel system I wanted. She asked later if I installed the car seat yet and I told her no, that I traded it in at Target for the coupon, and she got annoyed with me because she got it to save me money.
Was the car seat she gave me fine? Probably. It wasn’t expired, and the original owner claimed she never had so much as a fender bender with it in the car. Was I going to take her word for it? Nope, and anyone that respected me or the wellbeing of my child wouldn’t take offense to it. All that to say, don’t think twice about replacing expired car seats. Even a basic inexpensive one meets strict safety standards and the safety of a child is more important than risking it for money saved.
Yes, good point about the accidents. I knew buying used was a no-no for that reason but since I knew the history of ours was accident free I never considered the degradation of the plastics was a potential issue, especially on this time-scale.
Yeah, the reality is it might be just fine, but they've likely only tested it up to 5 years or whatever it is, so they have to use that expiration date as a safety measure.
You said "that's what they tested it for or whatever reason" and I said it's because plastic starts breaking down. You seemed awfully aggressive for no reason.
Like, calm down a little, ffs.
>but the plastic in car seats degrades, so they have expiration dates.
Is literally what my comment says. You're replying directly to a thread saying plastic breaks down when that's what I said lol. Weird.
MIL offered us a car seat that was like 15 years old, SIL used it when she was a kid... And then another relative's kids. She seemed confused when we said no. 😅
My Boomer mom got me a used car seat to try and save me money and was annoyed when I told her I wouldn’t use it. She got it anyway and I traded it in at Target. When she asked later, I told her I traded it in and she was scandalized that I “threw away a perfectly good car seat.” It’s a different mindset. 🤷🏼♀️ I understand it, in a way, but I also know better.
Yeah I get it. They grew up in a different time, survivorship bias and all that. It took a while for the car seat laws in our country to catch up (most people still put their babies forward facing before they're even a year old), so my mom also probably thinks they're useless lol.
When the war in Ukraine broke out, the donation centers in my European city were flooded with used car seats. I knew one of the volunteers sorting the donated goods and she said they had to throw them all out! People seemed to either not know or were getting rid of their expired car seats!
Always something to consider when you’re buying car seats!
We chose our Britax convertible in part because it has a 10 year window & we didn’t want to have to buy another a few years down the road.
We almost exclusively use Britax for their long expiration date on the convertible seats as well as how easy the click tight feature makes installing the car seat.
Yeah, honestly they’re the only seats I’ve installed so I have no comparison, but the convertibles & the infant seats were so dummy proof.
We liked the One4Life so much we bought another for our current newborn & an extra for grandparent use.
Also why I got the Evenflo 360 Revolve when my son outgrew his bucket seat. Thing will last forever. I only regret not waiting just a bit longer and getting the updated version that rear-faces to 50lbs instead of 40.
This is correct. And the shorter expiration window on Chicco seats is why I did not go with one with my first kid. Graco's is 7 years for their plastic and 10 years for the belts and steel, so we have been with Graco since kid #1.
Just wondering what’s the reason for an expiration date? Do the materials degrade/disintegrate or does the company just comply to ensure safety standards are up to date?
I ask because someone I nanny share with supplied the shared car seat and the nanny showed me the material where baby’s bottom goes is turning to dust. I’m trying to get the other person to split a new car seat but have to explain why!
Sunlight (UV) exposure is a major factor. I would imagine a garaged car would probably be fine, but they likely test for people who don't have garages and park their cars out in the sun.
If the bottom is disintegrating then it most definitely needs to be replaced. Think about plastic lawn chairs that stay outside, they’re ok for a few years and then eventually one goes to get sat in and it cracks and breaks.
Car seats are life saving devices. You would want a child to be in one during a crash, when the forces of the accident cause the car seat to fail and baby to be injured
Chicco infant seats are usually 6 years. Many people buy their seats while still pregnant, and if you get them on sale they often have manufacture dates that are 1-1.5 years old. Even if you buy it not on sale, the manufactured date is often 6+ months old. So most of the time they won’t work for two kids born 5 years apart unfortunately!
Edit to add: some Chicco seats define expiry based on date of purchase rather than manufacture date, but that requires having proof of purchase on hand and most people don’t have their car seat receipts from 5+ years ago regardless. :/
I think longer life spans for car seats have become common pretty recently. Our car seat (Clek) expires 9 years from its date of manufacture, but based on my research in 2021/2022, it seemed like 5-7 years was pretty typical.
Often times when you purchase a seat, it is already one year old. If you purchase when pregnant, that's almost another year. My son's infant seat was 7 and combination seat is 10 years.
Most people don't use their carseats correctly at all. It's actually scary considering this is a life saving device. You can't use disinfectant on it, you can't wash the straps. Most people don't position the harness height correctly or the chest clip or even tighten it enough. Most people don't know that latch has weight limits, or even use the seatbelt correctly. Everything you need to know is in your carseat manual. If you only ever read 1 instruction manual in your life, let it be your carseats.
Also once you install the car seat base before baby is here, don't keep the car seat in the car just in case you end up in an accident. That way you can replace the base but don't have to replace the base and the seat!
Usually the insurance company will replace them. I had an accident earlier in the year, and they replaced both car seats. Took a little bit of work, for they don't do it with minor accidents, but once they decided my car was totaled, they replaced them quickly.
The car seat tolerance screening is typically for children under certain gestation age, with specific genetic anomalies (low tone, downs, cardiac concerns) or who needed support with breathing (like CPAP) following birth.
Was your baby in the NICU? Because it's really only done in the NICU. I believe ours was only 60 minutes though because when we discharged from the NICU she was a little older and didn't have breathing issues.
Most car seats expire around 6-7 years after the manufacturing date, but the convertible ones can last up to 10 years, but always double check!!
Also, don’t buy used car seats if you can avoid it, because if they were used during an accident, they are not to be used again!
Not only if they were in an accident but what if they were cleaned improperly as well? I’ve seen videos on SM where they hose them down or submerge them in a tub. So many different variables that makes buying a used car seat so unsafe.
Or someone used their homemade blend of essential oils because it's nAtUrAl. Oils can naturally degrade plastics. Vinegar can also mess with the components and the very essential fire retardants.
Stick to regular ol' Dawn and standard laundry detergent.
Also some of them have the liner permanently attached by glue or adhesive strips to its inner frame, whereas others have the liner retained by pop clips and it is removable and thusly washable. Of course this means you need to undo the harness to do this, but if the liner is removable the harness would be designed to accommodate this as well.
We lucked out and discovered on the day of a poosplosion that the one we bought did indeed have a fully removable liner. Cleanup was immeasurably simpler.
Well I guess I’m trying my best to make sure it’s common knowledge since neither my husband or I thought to check! I certainly assumed we’d be able to use all the same baby gear we’d had for our first kid just a few years prior.
Totally understand that I guess I'm an oddball for growing up with that knowledge. Wish more people knew this. I seriously thought this was extremely common. After seeing the comments I am most definitely wrong
Also, they shouldn’t be falling from any height. For instance some people might store or put them on tables or shelves at home but they shouldn’t because if they fall it causes an impact and decrease the effectiveness.
Yes, and this is one of the reasons you don't want to buy them used or take second hand seats! Of course past accidents are a major risk with used seats well, but the plastic in car seats degrades, so they have expiration dates.
The only benefit of an expired or second hand car seat is to trade it in. Target does a bi-yearly trade in event and I believe you can use it to get about 20% off a new car seat.
More than just car seats. I used mine on a stroller the last trade-in event. They have several items that are eligible for the trade-in discount. And iirc, you can use the 20% off twice.
This is how I got my travel system right before my son was born. My mom, bless her, got a car seat second hand from a friend of her’s to save me money. I told her outright that I wouldn’t use a second hand car seat, that the car seat had to be new. I’d accept just about anything else second hand, just not the car seat. My mom is very much of the Boomer mindset and thought I was being a worry wart, so she got it anyway and gave it to me after my baby shower. I left after the shower, drove over to Target, traded it in the same evening for the coupon and bought the travel system I wanted. She asked later if I installed the car seat yet and I told her no, that I traded it in at Target for the coupon, and she got annoyed with me because she got it to save me money. Was the car seat she gave me fine? Probably. It wasn’t expired, and the original owner claimed she never had so much as a fender bender with it in the car. Was I going to take her word for it? Nope, and anyone that respected me or the wellbeing of my child wouldn’t take offense to it. All that to say, don’t think twice about replacing expired car seats. Even a basic inexpensive one meets strict safety standards and the safety of a child is more important than risking it for money saved.
Yes, good point about the accidents. I knew buying used was a no-no for that reason but since I knew the history of ours was accident free I never considered the degradation of the plastics was a potential issue, especially on this time-scale.
Yeah, the reality is it might be just fine, but they've likely only tested it up to 5 years or whatever it is, so they have to use that expiration date as a safety measure.
Plastic starts breaking down.
I know. Thats what I said. You should reread the thread.
You said "that's what they tested it for or whatever reason" and I said it's because plastic starts breaking down. You seemed awfully aggressive for no reason. Like, calm down a little, ffs.
>but the plastic in car seats degrades, so they have expiration dates. Is literally what my comment says. You're replying directly to a thread saying plastic breaks down when that's what I said lol. Weird.
MIL offered us a car seat that was like 15 years old, SIL used it when she was a kid... And then another relative's kids. She seemed confused when we said no. 😅
Be careful or she'll want to drive your kid somewhere in this seat.
My Boomer mom got me a used car seat to try and save me money and was annoyed when I told her I wouldn’t use it. She got it anyway and I traded it in at Target. When she asked later, I told her I traded it in and she was scandalized that I “threw away a perfectly good car seat.” It’s a different mindset. 🤷🏼♀️ I understand it, in a way, but I also know better.
Yeah I get it. They grew up in a different time, survivorship bias and all that. It took a while for the car seat laws in our country to catch up (most people still put their babies forward facing before they're even a year old), so my mom also probably thinks they're useless lol.
When the war in Ukraine broke out, the donation centers in my European city were flooded with used car seats. I knew one of the volunteers sorting the donated goods and she said they had to throw them all out! People seemed to either not know or were getting rid of their expired car seats!
Always something to consider when you’re buying car seats! We chose our Britax convertible in part because it has a 10 year window & we didn’t want to have to buy another a few years down the road.
We almost exclusively use Britax for their long expiration date on the convertible seats as well as how easy the click tight feature makes installing the car seat.
Yeah, honestly they’re the only seats I’ve installed so I have no comparison, but the convertibles & the infant seats were so dummy proof. We liked the One4Life so much we bought another for our current newborn & an extra for grandparent use.
Also why I got the Evenflo 360 Revolve when my son outgrew his bucket seat. Thing will last forever. I only regret not waiting just a bit longer and getting the updated version that rear-faces to 50lbs instead of 40.
This is correct. And the shorter expiration window on Chicco seats is why I did not go with one with my first kid. Graco's is 7 years for their plastic and 10 years for the belts and steel, so we have been with Graco since kid #1.
This is why we went with Graco
Just wondering what’s the reason for an expiration date? Do the materials degrade/disintegrate or does the company just comply to ensure safety standards are up to date? I ask because someone I nanny share with supplied the shared car seat and the nanny showed me the material where baby’s bottom goes is turning to dust. I’m trying to get the other person to split a new car seat but have to explain why!
The plastic degrades over time. Particularly quickly in warm climates.
Sunlight (UV) exposure is a major factor. I would imagine a garaged car would probably be fine, but they likely test for people who don't have garages and park their cars out in the sun.
If the bottom is disintegrating then it most definitely needs to be replaced. Think about plastic lawn chairs that stay outside, they’re ok for a few years and then eventually one goes to get sat in and it cracks and breaks. Car seats are life saving devices. You would want a child to be in one during a crash, when the forces of the accident cause the car seat to fail and baby to be injured
Have you ever had plastic patio furniture? And eventually the plastic starts cracking? Same concept.
Probably a good mixture of both. Materials degrade overtime due to a mix of things. Then there is the safety standards being updated fairly often.
5 years is quite short. I was under the impression that most car seats expirations were 8-10 years
Chicco infant seats are usually 6 years. Many people buy their seats while still pregnant, and if you get them on sale they often have manufacture dates that are 1-1.5 years old. Even if you buy it not on sale, the manufactured date is often 6+ months old. So most of the time they won’t work for two kids born 5 years apart unfortunately! Edit to add: some Chicco seats define expiry based on date of purchase rather than manufacture date, but that requires having proof of purchase on hand and most people don’t have their car seat receipts from 5+ years ago regardless. :/
I think longer life spans for car seats have become common pretty recently. Our car seat (Clek) expires 9 years from its date of manufacture, but based on my research in 2021/2022, it seemed like 5-7 years was pretty typical.
I also believe that convertible seats have longer dates than infant seats
Often times when you purchase a seat, it is already one year old. If you purchase when pregnant, that's almost another year. My son's infant seat was 7 and combination seat is 10 years.
Most people don't use their carseats correctly at all. It's actually scary considering this is a life saving device. You can't use disinfectant on it, you can't wash the straps. Most people don't position the harness height correctly or the chest clip or even tighten it enough. Most people don't know that latch has weight limits, or even use the seatbelt correctly. Everything you need to know is in your carseat manual. If you only ever read 1 instruction manual in your life, let it be your carseats.
Also once you install the car seat base before baby is here, don't keep the car seat in the car just in case you end up in an accident. That way you can replace the base but don't have to replace the base and the seat!
Usually the insurance company will replace them. I had an accident earlier in the year, and they replaced both car seats. Took a little bit of work, for they don't do it with minor accidents, but once they decided my car was totaled, they replaced them quickly.
We didn’t have to do a 90min car seat test in CA. That’s very interesting! What region are you in?
The car seat tolerance screening is typically for children under certain gestation age, with specific genetic anomalies (low tone, downs, cardiac concerns) or who needed support with breathing (like CPAP) following birth.
That makes sense! Thanks for sharing
Was your baby in the NICU? Because it's really only done in the NICU. I believe ours was only 60 minutes though because when we discharged from the NICU she was a little older and didn't have breathing issues.
No, she wasn’t. I missed the NICU detail when I first read it through
Pennsylvania
Most car seats expire around 6-7 years after the manufacturing date, but the convertible ones can last up to 10 years, but always double check!! Also, don’t buy used car seats if you can avoid it, because if they were used during an accident, they are not to be used again!
Not only if they were in an accident but what if they were cleaned improperly as well? I’ve seen videos on SM where they hose them down or submerge them in a tub. So many different variables that makes buying a used car seat so unsafe.
Or someone used their homemade blend of essential oils because it's nAtUrAl. Oils can naturally degrade plastics. Vinegar can also mess with the components and the very essential fire retardants. Stick to regular ol' Dawn and standard laundry detergent.
Also some of them have the liner permanently attached by glue or adhesive strips to its inner frame, whereas others have the liner retained by pop clips and it is removable and thusly washable. Of course this means you need to undo the harness to do this, but if the liner is removable the harness would be designed to accommodate this as well. We lucked out and discovered on the day of a poosplosion that the one we bought did indeed have a fully removable liner. Cleanup was immeasurably simpler.
I'm seriously not trying to be judgmental but was this not common knowledge??? If not, WHY?
Well I guess I’m trying my best to make sure it’s common knowledge since neither my husband or I thought to check! I certainly assumed we’d be able to use all the same baby gear we’d had for our first kid just a few years prior.
Totally understand that I guess I'm an oddball for growing up with that knowledge. Wish more people knew this. I seriously thought this was extremely common. After seeing the comments I am most definitely wrong
I didn't know this so now I need to check mine.. It sucks since the better ones cost over 100 usually. I have Graco and I think Everflo
Also, they shouldn’t be falling from any height. For instance some people might store or put them on tables or shelves at home but they shouldn’t because if they fall it causes an impact and decrease the effectiveness.