car seat expiration date?

Meg&Jesse

Does anyone know if all car seats expire after 5 years?  I just pulled out our infant seat and we will be fine with this one.  It doesnt expire until 2014 and the baby will definitely be out of the seat by then.  However, I am wondering what to do with the other car seats.  DS has a Britax Boulevard and I am wondering if I will need a new one?  We plan to move DS to a booster seat (the one with the 5 point harness) when the baby moves to a regular car seat (DS will be around 5 years old at this time).

kpips20

In the User Guide for our Britax it says not to use the seat if it's over 6 years old (unless it's been in an accident prior).

 

ETA: Sorry, just realized that's confusing - meant to say OR if it's been in an accident!

Littlejen22

I would recommend keeping the oldest in the Britax as long as you want/can and then buying a booster seat instead of car seat/booster (boosters use a seat belt not a 5 pt harnass.). And buying the baby a new seat since you will need one eventually. Regular high back boosters are cheaper than combo seats and I don't see the point in switching to a new seat that can also be used as a booster if you do not plan on using it as a booster. 

penguingrrl

This varies by brand so you need to look on your seat for the expiration date, it will be imprinted somewhere. And just an FYI since he's nearing 4, many kids outgrow convertible seats for height long before hitting the weight limit for the harness. A harness is outgrown either when their shoulders go above the top harness slot OR when the tops of their ears are even with the top of the shell, whichever happens first. My kids have long torsoes and outgrow seats for height very young, so I would keep an eye on where your 4 year old's shoulders are in relation to the top slots! My daughter outgrew britax convertible seats for torso height around her 3rd birthday and at 4.5 is too tall for the graco nautilus in harnessed mode.

Meg&Jesse

penguingrrl:

This varies by brand so you need to look on your seat for the expiration date, it will be imprinted somewhere. And just an FYI since he's nearing 4, many kids outgrow convertible seats for height long before hitting the weight limit for the harness. A harness is outgrown either when their shoulders go above the top harness slot OR when the tops of their ears are even with the top of the shell, whichever happens first. My kids have long torsoes and outgrow seats for height very young, so I would keep an eye on where your 4 year old's shoulders are in relation to the top slots! My daughter outgrew britax convertible seats for torso height around her 3rd birthday and at 4.5 is too tall for the graco nautilus in harnessed mode.

DS is very short, less than 1%, so I think we are okay, but I will check the height requirements again.

I was going to get the Britax convertible seat that has the 5 point harness and then turns into just the booster.  I can't remember the name of that seat.

penguingrrl

Wow, if he's that small you likely don't have that problem! Honestly, if he's that small the frontier is probably overkill. That seat would get my overly tall girls to 7 harnessed, so it would probably keep him harnessed to 12. It has a top harness height of 20" and I (at 31 and 5'1" with longer legs per height) have a 21.5" torso. It's  a good seat, but overkill in many situations and a lot of money if you don't need the extra height!

He would probably do very well in the evenflo securekids 300/400 or graco nautilus/argos, which have 18" top harness slots. Those will easily get him to a safe booster age (between 4-7 based on maturity) for a lot less money than the frontier and both  also become boosters. The nautilus also becomes a backless booster, so it's truly the last seat he'll ever need. The frontier does not become a backless booster, but I would fit in it in high back booster mode.

Not trying to convince you one way or another, but the frontier is not a cheap option and all seats pass the same safety tests in order to be sold, so if you wanted to save a few bucks he likely doesn't need the capabilities of the frontier if he's a petite child!

smbd

Meg&Jesse:

I was going to get the Britax convertible seat that has the 5 point harness and then turns into just the booster.  I can't remember the name of that seat.

 

that's the britax frontier 85  and it's good for 9 years from date of manufacture.  Most of the car seat websites will tell you how long your car seat is good for.

*we just bought the frontier for #1 since her recaro was about to expire.