WDYT - buying a car seat at a yard sale?

SugarChick10 · September 2011

Not me, my IL's. LSS: our daycare asks that we list 2 emergency contacts on the off chance that they can't reach me or MH OR if we can't get there within the hour to pick up the LO. We listed both sets of grandparents. They both live less than a half hour away from the daycare.

MH's mom is very happy about this. She has a total of 6 grandchildren, but our LO is the only one that's closest in distance & can be seen pretty much whenever she wants.

MH's mom called last week & said she's listed as an emergency contact but doesn't have a car seat. I thought about this--I was going to buy an extra convertible car seat & keep it at our home. Whichever set of of grandparents would pick her up (and highly unlikely they'd ever need to, but you know, things happen), they both need to pass our home to get there, so they could get the car seat, then get LO. MH's mom decided she wants to get a car seat at a yardsale because "that's what all my my friends do, & they got really good deals!" She then told us not to worry, she would clean it really well.

Of course my immediate thoughts are: The cleanliness is the least of my worries. You don't know what you're getting at a yardsale regarding safety. Car seats expire. A car seat at a yard sale could've been in an accident, which thet seller probably won't tell you. So yeah, I got into "OMG, NO" mode. I explained to MH why she shouldn't buy a seat at a yard sale & he had no idea about any of it. He told his mom he'd get back to her.

I told my mom about it. Her thought? "Oh, just let her buy it. She's just trying to be helpful. What are the odds his parents will be called to pick her up?" I still say no.

WWYD?

ETA: It's highly unlikely that it would be necessary for either set of grandparents to pick up LO instead of us. MH & I both work in the same office, different jobs but both desk jobs. My position & supervisor allows for me to leave as necessary. And of course each of us has our own cell phone.

I don't want & didn't expect either set of grandparents to go to any expense. And I do appreciate MIL is trying to be helpful.

rsrn02 · September 2011

I want to do this but won't. Any authority on children recommend that you DO NOT buy a car seat used. My problem is I have 2 different babysitters plus dh and my car. That's FOUR car seats. It was easy when ds was in the infant carrier because all we did was buy extra bases. But now.....

Strunella · September 2011

I'd say no. I would never buy a car seat at a garage sale because as pp stated, you don't know anything about its history. And as you mentioned, the odds of MIL doing a pick-up is slim. So even if the car seat is $20, that's $20 wasted.

stever · September 2011

No way.

miababy · September 2011

No, I wouldn't let her buy it. The thing is, even if she never has to pick up your LO from daycare, she might use the excuse that she now has a carseat to want to come by and take LO out with her. I just wouldn't want to risk a used carseat, unless you know exactly where and who it came from.

Peppernut · September 2011

Nope. It's sweet of her to offer to get one, but yeah, not used.

KerryHS · September 2011

I would take a hand me down from a friend or someone who could assure me that the car seat was never in a car accident, but a random garage sale would make me very nervous. I hate spending money needlessly, but as cheap as I am -- I always buy new car seats. Love the hand me down clothes though... Big Smile

BrideBuddies · September 2011

I would ONLY take a used carseat from someone I knew and trusted. Not some random stranger who did God knows what in it.

SugarChick10 · September 2011

Sorry to post & run--sick husband, sick baby, & sick dog. Crazy weekend!

Thanks everyone! I suffer from "analysis paralysis", lol. I analyze things to death & then I freeze up. I know I don't want her buying a car seat from a random yard sale, but I thought about it SO much that I started to wonder "am I wrong here?" And then when my mom told me to just let my MIL buy it...yeah.

miababy:
No, I wouldn't let her buy it. The thing is, even if she never has to pick up your LO from daycare, she might use the excuse that she now has a carseat to want to come by and take LO out with her. I just wouldn't want to risk a used carseat, unless you know exactly where and who it came from.

Oh, this totally crossed my mind. My IL's have watched our LO a few times pre-daycare and MIL did mention it was a shame they didn't have a car seat because they could've taken her wherever.

MH is going to explain to his parents why they can't rely on 2nd hand car seats bought at yard sales. I think I need to get MH to stress to his parents that the chances of them being called to pick up our LO from daycare are very low (again, MH & I are very reachable, plus my parents are listed as the ICE to call first on the off chance we can't get there) & not to waste their money.

I guess it's a generational thing. H's parents are in their mid-70's and I don't think they see things like this the way we do (MIL's main concern about the seat was cleanliness). My parents are in their late-50's & mid-60's, and I could feel my mom's eye roll over the phone when I talked to her about it.

Thanks again!

jigglyjelloo · September 2011

I have just started lurking a bit on this board, but wanted to mention that if your MIL really wanted to have a carseat for LO Walmart sells the Cosco Scenera for $39. It is a very basic no frills seat, but it does have very good ratings for safety.

We have one for DH's vehicle since she is not in there too often. It was very light weight and fairly compact (which would make it good for air travel as well) and was very easy to install.

Maybe this could be a better alternative. I personally would not trust a seat from a yard sale.

Doodle2011 · September 2011

jigglyjelloo:

I have just started lurking a bit on this board, but wanted to mention that if your MIL really wanted to have a carseat for LO Walmart sells the Cosco Scenera for $39. It is a very basic no frills seat, but it does have very good ratings for safety.

We have one for DH's vehicle since she is not in there too often. It was very light weight and fairly compact (which would make it good for air travel as well) and was very easy to install.

Maybe this could be a better alternative. I personally would not trust a seat from a yard sale.

This.

benoitfan · September 2011

Absolutely NO. Expiry dates, lack of manual for proper installation, possibility the seat has been in an accident are the reasons why. If you are not sure how to tell them no, just tell them that you can't be sure of the history of the carseat purchased used and if there is even the slightest chance that they could be transporting your LO in a seat with unknown issues, it's not worth the risk.

I am very lucky. My ILs live closeby and see DS often. They also like picking him up from childcare. They do it most Friday nights and keep DS overnight so I can get a night off and possibly sleep in one day a week. (DH works straight nights, so I am on duty all the time). They went a bought a carseat (convertible, exactly like the one we have) at Walmart when it was on sale. I think it cost them around $100. They feel they will easily get their money's worth out of it.

I understand not every lo's grandparents want to buy a carseat, especially if they may never use it. In that case, you buy the seat and have them pick it up on their way to get lo. Alternatively, you could ask friends/relatives if they have a seat that they no longer need that they know is not expired and has never been in an accident that you could buy/borrow from them.

rabstbmom · September 2011

Doodle2011:
jigglyjelloo:

I have just started lurking a bit on this board, but wanted to mention that if your MIL really wanted to have a carseat for LO Walmart sells the Cosco Scenera for $39. It is a very basic no frills seat, but it does have very good ratings for safety.

We have one for DH's vehicle since she is not in there too often. It was very light weight and fairly compact (which would make it good for air travel as well) and was very easy to install.

Maybe this could be a better alternative. I personally would not trust a seat from a yard sale.
This.

I normally lurk on this board, but I thought I'd chime in and echo the recommendation for the scenera. I had my mom get this one for her car. Like you, I thought my mom would probably never have to pick up DS from daycare, but as she's the grandparent closest to us and daycare, I thought it would be a good idea just in case.

Well, just this past Friday, I stayed home from work sick and actually had my mom run me to the doctor for said illness. DH took DS to daycare, but he'd already left work early 2x that week to pick up DS because I had late work meetings. After the doctor's appt, my mom and I together went to daycare to pick up DS, and we put him in the scenera. Now, we didn't have far to go, but DS seemed content enough in the seat, and it was a help having grandma have that seat so I didn't have to drive and/or my mom didn't have to be uncomfortable driving my car just so we could have the carseat base (DS is still in the infant seat for just a few more weeks). That might be the only time my mom ever drives/picks DS up, but hey, that one time made every penny of that $40 or $50 we spent at Target to get the seat worth it.

SugarChick10 · September 2011

benoitfan:
In that case, you buy the seat and have them pick it up on their way to get lo.

That's exactly what I was going to do, especially since a few of the ladies recommended a car seat. They have to pass my house anyway in order to get to the daycare, so they could just as easily pick it up at the house before they get her.

At least with my parents, they have car seats my nephews used before they moved into the front facing realm. I know the history on those seats (expiration dates are good, no accidents), so I'm ok with them being used if necessary.

I'll still get an extra seat to keep at the house.

Thanks again for all the great advice, ladies!

robynlesley · September 2011

No way!

I'd rather get a "cheap" car seat at Wal-Mart because you don't know what that car seat went through. What if there WAS an accident? I would never trust that.

I have no issues taking a used car seat from someone you know and trust. We had my nephew's Britax Marathon until late August when we got Aaron a Frontier 85. The hand-me-down one was beginning to fall apart and was difficult to buckle. Plus it will expire in January, so we got a new one.

Piranha54 · September 2011

Nope. We got my mom a carseat for just that situation and times when we all pile in her car for dinners out etc. It's not one I'd buy for day to day use for us, but it also wasn't the cheapest new seat either. Could I have used that $$ elsewhere, yep, but this way, we all sleep well. Plus, mom is so close that she will go pick up DD and go to the park etc. so it's getting used.

GHBEA · September 2011

All I can picture is your MIL saying "well the lady at the yard sale said it wasn't in an accident". I have a friend who bought a used crib at a yard sale and asked the lady if it had been recalled the lady told her no. Put it away until it was time to set it up for the baby and she checked on line and sure enough the crib was recalled 18 months prior to the lady selling it. She spent $100 on it she went to the house to tell this lady and they had moved. She was out $100 dollars.

Maybe print out some information on why you don't buy used car seats for your MIL.