Question about car seats and leaving the hospital after L&D

stankygroove

I saw a in a post from somebody that they do not allow you take your LO home from the hospital after Labor and Delivery in a car seat that is more than 2 years old. They said it was a law in Texas. Does anybody know if this is true? I know car seats have an expiration date of 5 years and I can't imagine why the hospital would make up their own rule and change it to 2 years but you never know. I  live in Dallas. Does anybody know for sure if this is truly a law in Dallas?

sethsgal

I have never heard of that. I know I had to get a new carseat with this baby cause my old was just turned 5, but you can always call up the L&D at your hospital and double check with them.

bieanca

I don't think that is the case.  I use to work for CPS and whenever I would have a child discharged to me from a hospital they never checked the carseat.  They just made sure that I had one.  Unfortunately CPS has some OLD carseats too!  I also had babies discharged from every hospital in Dallas, Plano, McKinney, Frisco, Allen, etc.  

punkfiction_v.3

thats not true. i just left the hospital with our baby in our 3.5 year old bucket.

mrsjones06

I delivered in Grapevine & they didn't check anything on my carseat.

Winter*Mommy

No one checked my carseat when I left the hospital.  I think they just asked if I had one, but never even looked.  Some carseats safety features are out of date after 2 years, so that is why you may have heard that date.

Dmom66

contact dfwhandymom@yahoo.com

I picked up one of her cards at BabyBliss. She does installs and give you the correct answer.

stankygroove

Thank you so much for all your responses ladies! I really appreciate it.

come*on*baby

my child's car seat was checked upon leaving the NICU for an expiration date. Its over 2 years old, but no more than 3.

stankygroove

Just thought I'd follow up on this post with some confirmation from my hospital. I went for a Labor and Delivery Tour at Presby in Dallas and got to ask whether this rumor was true. It is not true. You can use the car seat as long as the car seat is not expired according to the sticker on the seat itself. It does not have to be less than 2 years old.