Graco Safe Seat?

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My MIL's friend gave us a Graco Safe Seat infant seat... it made me very nervous to accept a techically "used" car seat, but it's brand new, never been used. Apparently they bought it for when their grandchild visits, but never ended up needing it.

It doesn't expire until our baby will be 16 months old. I checked and there are no recalls on it. I have the manual (which I just read through in its entirety).

In researching the product, it seems that very few stores carry the Safe Seat and are instead carrying the SnugRide (that's what we were planning to get). Is that fact worrisome?

What else do I need to check before feeling comfortable using this?

gimmietimmies

First, the fact that not many stores carry them isn't worrysome at all. There are several models of Graco infant seats, this is just one of them. It is essentially the Snugride 30, weight limit of 30lbs, height limit of 32". The base Snugride has less features, and is good to 22lbs and 29". I prefer the 30/35 models because the harness is front adjustable.

If you are absolutely confident that this has never been used, dropped, improperly stored, etc, and trust what they are saying about the seat's history, it's really up to you if you are comfortable using it. Check to make sure that the harness is still easy to adjust, and look under the cover to see the condition of the foam (it shouldn't disintegrate or crumble), and the fabric. I had a car seat stored in the garage I had to toss that ended up with mold.