Would you buy a used infant car seat?

cristinapage72

I had used infant seats for both my boys. And chose to invest in new convertible car seats and boosters that they still use today. Now, 5 years later, there seems to be some stigma on the topic of buying used. I'm curious to know everyone's thoughts on this.

ammnam14

Anything to save money! My SIL is giving us her car seat.

kleshelle

I bought a brand new car seat for my LO at a yard sale. I don't see anything wrong with doing so.

littleSkittle14

I think it's different if it's someone you know and trust.... But like Craigslist or something - just no. Car seats are only good until they are in an accident and then they need to be replaced, even if there's no obvious physical damage. I wouldn't jeopardize my child's safety because someone I met on the Internet assured me that their used car seat was "still in great condition". You just never know!

laceyglowacki

I say no, that's one thing I wouldn't buy used from anyone, not even a close relative or trusted friend. I'd buy used on pretty much everything else and use the savings from those products on a brand new seat.

AJo32

I'd buy used from a close friend or family, but definitely not from a stranger. You'd never know if it's been in an accident.

cristinapage72

Good points!

yl1m32015

I just read an article on this, I'll try to look for it. But it said specifically not to buy one used because you don't know whether it's been in an accident or not, or whether it's expired.

mfarglio

Car seats expire, and for this reasons alone not even including the risk of having been in an accident I wouldnt feel comfortable putting my baby at risk even from someone I knew. Anything else, yes, but not car seats. My local fire station has a program where they take used infant car seats and convert them into beds for families who literally have nothing including bassinets but I wouldn't use one in the car. If you're looking to save money go to Buy Buy Baby or Babies R Us and ask them if they have any old model displays they are selling. They may be a little dusty but they aren't all beat up and have never been used, and they are dirt cheap because the displays can't be sold at full retail value, especially if it's for a model they don't carry anymore. They almost always have some in the back room (I worked at Babies R Us one summer right out of high school and they would sometimes even give these to pregnant employees with manager approval since with the display discount, old model discount and employee discount they cost almost nothing anyways. Plus they just get thrown away or sent back to the manufacturer after so long).

rain0831boww

Nope. Some things I'd rather buy new. I'm a stickler for making sure I know something hasn't been recalled or lessened in quality.

Mags128

Absolutely not unless it's a really good friend. From a stranger you don't know the history of the seat. You don't know if it has been accident or washed the wrong way.

cristinapage72

Interesting. What if you were sure it hasn't been in an accident? Also, they have stickers that tell you an expiration date.

I'm not necessarily asking you ladies if you think I should or not, just asking for your personal preference. 5 years ago it seemed to be very common and widely accepted, so I find the topic intriguing.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

redfallon

cristinapage72 said:

Interesting. What if you were sure it hasn't been in an accident? Also, they have stickers that tell you an expiration date. I'm not necessarily asking you ladies if you think I should or not, just asking for your personal preference. 5 years ago it seemed to be very common and widely accepted, so I find the topic intriguing.

Yes, you can see if it's expired, but how can you know 100% that it hasn't been in any type of accident whatsoever and that the correct care has been taken? 

courtney198078

I agree car seats are the one thing I would not suggest to buy used. For all the reasons listed above plus past the expiration date it may be harder to find out if there have been any recalls on the seat. Safety in a car seat is very important. Another bit of advice make sure you have one of those emergency tool things in your car I'm not sure what they are called that cut the seatbelt or break the window. I had a car seat that when I got home and went to get my daughter out the car seat would not come unbuckled thank God it was not an emergency. My husband finally pushed the unlatch button so hard the whole thing broke. So I now keep one in my truck just in case there were no recalls on that seat until about a month later.

313Meg

littleSkittle14 said:

I think it's different if it's someone you know and trust.... But like Craigslist or something - just no. Car seats are only good until they are in an accident and then they need to be replaced, even if there's no obvious physical damage. I wouldn't jeopardize my child's safety because someone I met on the Internet assured me that their used car seat was "still in great condition". You just never know!

This exactly! Unless you can 100% guarantee that it's never been damaged or in an accident I would buy new.

tewinkle27

Nope, nope and nope. That's the only thing I will not buy used.

cristinapage72

redfallon said:

show previous quotes

cristinapage72 said:

Interesting. What if you were sure it hasn't been in an accident? Also, they have stickers that tell you an expiration date.

I'm not necessarily asking you ladies if you think I should or not, just asking for your personal preference. 5 years ago it seemed to be very common and widely accepted, so I find the topic intriguing.

Yes, you can see if it's expired, but how can you know 100% that it hasn't been in any type of accident whatsoever and that the correct care has been taken? 

I'm not arguing. Just playing devil's advocate and seeing if knowing for a fact that it hasn't been in an accident changes anyone's opinion.

I never said I planned on buying used this time. I just wanted to know if each of you personally would do it.

courtney198078

cristinapage72 said:

show previous quotes

redfallon said:

cristinapage72 said:

Interesting. What if you were sure it hasn't been in an accident? Also, they have stickers that tell you an expiration date.

I'm not necessarily asking you ladies if you think I should or not, just asking for your personal preference. 5 years ago it seemed to be very common and widely accepted, so I find the topic intriguing.

Yes, you can see if it's expired, but how can you know 100% that it hasn't been in any type of accident whatsoever and that the correct care has been taken? 

I'm not arguing. Just playing devil's advocate and seeing if knowing for a fact that it hasn't been in an accident changes anyone's opinion.

I never said I planned on buying used this time. I just wanted to know if each of you personally would do it.

If I am understanding what you are trying to ask even if I was 100% sure it hadn't been in an accident i still wouldn't buy used just my opinion I would be ok with just about everything else being used except car seat, pacifiers, and bottle nipples.

LC122

Here is my thing. With my first child, I didn't consider NOT buying new.
With my second child, we used the same infant seat as my first child because we knew it had not been in an accident and was not expired.
With my third child, we are planning to do the same.
So, technically, we are using a "used" (by us) car seat, but we know the history and care of it.
Looking back, you probably still couldn't have convinced me to buy used to start with, even using my own logic against me. Our infant seat also came as part of our jogger travel system, and it was a gift, so we were going to be getting that anyway.
If you really knew and trusted the source and the seat is not expired, I don't see a difference between that and using it for subsequent children within the same family.

courtney198078

If you are talking used in the scenario pp gave then yes I did use the same car seats on my 2nd that I used on my first bc they are so close in age

cristinapage72

No, I wasn't necessarily talking about using a car seat for more than one child in the same family.

I was more asking as a social question. When we lived in Florida 5-7 years ago, it was very common to buy car seats at garage sales or Craigslist from a perfect stranger. I happened to purchase both of mine from friends. But now with this baby, which I'm having in Chicago, all the garage sale pages say "Absolutely no car seats". I plan on buying a new one this time, only because I'm not wasting my money on all the other baby items that I now know are useless. I just wanted to figure out if it was the time that made the difference, or the region I was living in. Now I know :-)

jackiesue586

Nope. Absolutely not.
It could have been in an accident, checked on a plane or had the straps submerged in water to wash them.
Those make the seat very dangerous to use.

You can get new cosco seats from Wal-Mart for about 40$

iafzal38

Please do not buy a used car seat. You won't have record if it has been in an accident or is expired. I work for Graco baby and we never recommended buying used infant car seats.

merbear32

I read that you can buy everything used BUT a car seat and a crib mattress.

SamiBearrr

My dad gave me my brothers car seat that never got used because they had so many given to them, but then again my brother is only 2 years old so the car seat is still good. Now, if my brother was older like 5 and my dad had offered me the car seat I wouldn't have taken it. I think it all depends on how old the car seat is and who you are getting it from.

LMJL

@jackiesue586- Checking it on a plane is bad? Also, I wouldn't unless it was not expired & from a family member or very close friend that I trusted.

cristinapage72

iafzal38 said:

Please do not buy a used car seat. You won't have record if it has been in an accident or is expired. I work for Graco baby and we never recommended buying used infant car seats.

Once again, I want to point out that I am not asking you if you think I should buy a used carseat. I'm asking if you personally would. Please read my explanation in the comments above.

BostonBaby1

Absolutely not. Since you said from somebody that you do not know, and I don't trust people that I don't know. I don't even always trust people that I do know. So no :-)

GalLaura

No way. IMO this is the one place you do not cut corners. It's the safety of your baby.

cristinapage72

BostonBaby1 said:

Absolutely not. Since you said from somebody that you do not know, and I don't trust people that I don't know. I don't even always trust people that I do know. So no :-)

@BostonBaby1 where did I say that?

BostonBaby1

cristinapage72 said:

No, I wasn't necessarily talking about using a car seat for more than one child in the same family.

I was more asking as a social question. When we lived in Florida 5-7 years ago, it was very common to buy car seats at garage sales or Craigslist from a perfect stranger. I happened to purchase both of mine from friends. But now with this baby, which I'm having in Chicago, all the garage sale pages say "Absolutely no car seats". I plan on buying a new one this time, only because I'm not wasting my money on all the other baby items that I now know are useless. I just wanted to figure out if it was the time that made the difference, or the region I was living in. Now I know :-)

I'm sorry if I inferred incorrectly but I assumed because you had moved you had meant "garage sales craigslist or a perfect stranger," as opposed to a friend. I'm sorry if that was a mistake that I made.

* edited to say that my exhaustion is clearly made me unable to read English. Even reading this back I realize that it's nonsensical. Ugh. Sleep deprivation :-(

nik6499

Take a look at your insurance benefits, some actually offer car seats as a perk for attending prenatal appointments etc.

I probably won't buy one used. I didn't realize they expire, and I think this fact has been the reason so many people stopped buying used. It's a crucial piece of safety equipment trusting your most precious cargo, people just don't want to risk it.

jackiesue586

letitialange said:

@jackiesue586- Checking it on a plane is bad? Also, I wouldn't unless it was not expired & from a family member or very close friend that I trusted.

Nope! They are thrown around with other boxes and luggage and it can cause damage to the seat just as a car accident would.

cristinapage72

nik6499 said:

Take a look at your insurance benefits, some actually offer car seats as a perk for attending prenatal appointments etc.

I probably won't buy one used. I didn't realize they expire, and I think this fact has been the reason so many people stopped buying used. It's a crucial piece of safety equipment trusting your most precious cargo, people just don't want to risk it.

That's a good point, Nik. I don't think that was common knowledge several years ago. That very well may have caused the change in thinking.