PSA: Convertible car seats

MammaBear81 · March 2011

I was doing some research on car seat expiration dates since our infant carrier is from DS2 (almost 4 years old) and the article pointed out that it's not a good idea to register for your convertible car seat if you plan on using an infant carrier. Here's why:

Car seats expire about 5 years after manufacture date, not purchase date. So if you register for a car seat, and get it before you even have the baby (it was likely manufactured at least 6 month if not more before you purchased it) by the time you get to use it you are already 1 1/2 years into it's "used" stage. The seat will expire by the time your child is 3 1/2 and you will have to purchase another one.

DreamChaser246 · March 2011

good to know!

cvl105 · March 2011

yup, definitely true. I did however register for one and will return it after my showers and purchase one with a newer manufacturing date. I got mine in the mail already and it was manufactured August 2010!

SarahAndBen09 · March 2011

Good point! I was debating about registering for one. I did decide to take it off my registry because I'd rather people buy stuff we have more of an immediate need for, but this is another good reason to take it off.

Thanks for the info!

mmaxwell818 · March 2011

It's not like its food and goes bad. I so don't get this! Who's going to make you stop using it and buy a new one? The carseat police? I just think this is silly. Our seatbelts don't have expiration dates why do carseats?

MammaBear81 · March 2011

mmaxwell818:
It's not like its food and goes bad. I so don't get this! Who's going to make you stop using it and buy a new one? The carseat police? I just think this is silly. Our seatbelts don't have expiration dates why do carseats?

But like clothes the parts end up with wear and tear (which I know will only happen when you use it, but it also depends on where you store it until use), there are manufacture recalls on products and car seat safety is constantly improving. Do you remember what infant seats looked like when we were little? No one is going to make you throw your seat out, but if you are in an accident and god forbid your child was injured because a part of the seat gave way, or broke and the car seat is expired the blame rests on you. It was just something I learned and passed it on.

mmaxwell818 · March 2011

MammaBear81:

mmaxwell818:
It's not like its food and goes bad. I so don't get this! Who's going to make you stop using it and buy a new one? The carseat police? I just think this is silly. Our seatbelts don't have expiration dates why do carseats?

But like clothes the parts end up with wear and tear (which I know will only happen when you use it, but it also depends on where you store it until use), there are manufacture recalls on products and car seat safety is constantly improving. Do you remember what infant seats looked like when we were little? No one is going to make you throw your seat out, but if you are in an accident and god forbid your child was injured because a part of the seat gave way, or broke and the car seat is expired the blame rests on you. It was just something I learned and passed it on.

I hope I didn't come off mean. It just seems funny to me! I get that it's fact and that it's something people should know. I for one won't buy a new carseat every 5 years. If I notice it's coming apart and seems unsafe then I will def get a new one. I'm kind of surprised we got in a car accident about a year ago and the police and emt and everything came and they looked at DS, checked that the carseat was installed correctly and said we didnt need to go to the hospital or anything becasue those things are safe they never checked a date or anything like that. (MIL also using DH's carseat from when he was a kid for DS so its 25+ years old.)

But I understand now, after doing a little research myself, that there are no laws, legally nothing could happen to us for using and "expired" carseat, and some dont even have expirations its up to the manufacturer. But it's more of a taking the manufacturer off the hook type of thing! Which then makes the whole convertable thing kind of silly because I think some kids might have to be in the carseat for more than 5 years. So it won't even last the length of time that a single child needs it for! Hmm.

CarlaAndJames · March 2011

great point!

We didn't register for one because I didn't want to store it, we have plenty of other items we do need right away, and stuff changes so fast I wondered if I want something different in a year+. I'll add this to my list of reasons

3Girls3xsTheFun · March 2011

mmaxwell818:
MammaBear81:

mmaxwell818:
It's not like its food and goes bad. I so don't get this! Who's going to make you stop using it and buy a new one? The carseat police? I just think this is silly. Our seatbelts don't have expiration dates why do carseats?

But like clothes the parts end up with wear and tear (which I know will only happen when you use it, but it also depends on where you store it until use), there are manufacture recalls on products and car seat safety is constantly improving. Do you remember what infant seats looked like when we were little? No one is going to make you throw your seat out, but if you are in an accident and god forbid your child was injured because a part of the seat gave way, or broke and the car seat is expired the blame rests on you. It was just something I learned and passed it on.

I hope I didn't come off mean. It just seems funny to me! I get that it's fact and that it's something people should know. I for one won't buy a new carseat every 5 years. If I notice it's coming apart and seems unsafe then I will def get a new one. I'm kind of surprised we got in a car accident about a year ago and the police and emt and everything came and they looked at DS, checked that the carseat was installed correctly and said we didnt need to go to the hospital or anything becasue those things are safe they never checked a date or anything like that. (MIL also using DH's carseat from when he was a kid for DS so its 25+ years old.)

But I understand now, after doing a little research myself, that there are no laws, legally nothing could happen to us for using and "expired" carseat, and some dont even have expirations its up to the manufacturer. But it's more of a taking the manufacturer off the hook type of thing! Which then makes the whole convertable thing kind of silly because I think some kids might have to be in the carseat for more than 5 years. So it won't even last the length of time that a single child needs it for! Hmm.

This wasn't true for us. DD1 outgrew the Evenflo Triumph around 3 years old so we had to get her a high back booster seat. And we got a new convertable carseat for DD2 because the first one was pretty gross after 3 years, lol.

We also registered for it because it was really expensive and I was happy to have someone else buy it for me! We started using it around 8 months because the infant seat carrier is annoying once the baby gets some weight on them.

kmv68 · March 2011

Here is the one missing point. By the time your child reaches 4 1/2- 5, depending on how big your child is, you don't use the "parts that wear out" anymore. You are essentially using the car seat as a booster with a seat belt. The seat itself will not expire.

SpceCadet · March 2011

We bought our convertible seat already. The Britax Next Generation seats (the higher weight limit ones) have a 7 year expiration. We are planning to use the infant insert with it to ensure a good fit for LO.

The car seat tech we consulted with recommended the convertible over the infant bucket seat due to the way it needs to be installed in DH's car. We will use the infant seat in my car instead for the beginning, then get a second Boulevard for my car.

klv · March 2011

kmv68:
Here is the one missing point. By the time your child reaches 4 1/2- 5, depending on how big your child is, you don't use the "parts that wear out" anymore. You are essentially using the car seat as a booster with a seat belt. The seat itself will not expire.

Not true. Its not the fabric or the straps that you need to be most concerned with. It is the plastic. After 5 years of sitting in the car in sub-zero temperatures or blistering heat the strength and durability of the plastic breaks down. Its not something you can see, which is why they put an expiration date on it.

ak1234 · March 2011

mmaxwell818:
It's not like its food and goes bad. I so don't get this! Who's going to make you stop using it and buy a new one? The carseat police? I just think this is silly. Our seatbelts don't have expiration dates why do carseats?

The issue with the carseat is that a lof of it is made of plastic. So, after it sits in your car for five years, in blistering heat, brutal cold (or hell, both), the plastic simply breaks down.

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