Car seat exp date?!?!

jnsmith85 · August 2013

Ok so I know a car seat is only good for 5 years after the date that is printed on the seat. My mom bought us our Britax B-Safe and gave it to us this past weekend. I was looking it over and noticed the date on the seat was 8-16-2012, it's already a year old!!! She just bought it at BRU on Thursday!!!!!!! We are returning it anyways because we are getting the B-Agile combo set. Has anyone else noticed this?!?!? I would assume the date would be alot closer to current dates, rather than a year old already!

kimbo1216 · August 2013

5 years is a general rule of thumb, but it just depends on the seat. Newer ones these days can go longer. It really just depends on the manufacturer. There should be an expiration date or the manufacturer should be able to tell you what it is.

On an infant seat that you only use a year, I wouldn't be too worried. Even if you have another kid or two. A lot can happen in the next 4 years and you may not want to use that seat whether it's expired or not.

RedZee · August 2013

When we were looking I started looking at expiration dates too. You definitely have to check. If you order online, call and check the expiration date. While it's true you might not use it a second time, it's pretty annoying to be forced to get another seat.

Michellepiner · August 2013

Could it have been the manufactured date? I know both are on the bottom...we had to look hard to find the expiration date.

ETA: I ask this because I would think that BRU wouldn't put expired car seats on the shelves..?

ETA: Ok, I misread your post. I thought you were saying that the car seat had expired in 2012....sorry about that! My brain doesn't work today!

sooner1981 · August 2013

Also, I believe Britax car seats are made to expire after 7 years, not 5 years.

RedZee · August 2013

RedZee said:

When we were looking I started looking at expiration dates too. You definitely have to check. If you order online, call and check the expiration date. While it's true you might not use it a second time, it's pretty annoying to be forced to get another seat.

Oops - that should have said MANUFACTURE date. Sorry.

Alexandrap · August 2013

I fully expect a years loss in the time it's manufactured, shipped to a wearhouse, shipped to individual stores and sits on a shelf. It probably wouldn't even phase unless it were longer than a year.

*blue*flower* · August 2013

Just FYI for anyone concerned, we bought our older DD's Britax Frontier last year from diapers.com. it was manufactured the month before we purchased it. Doesn't get much newer than that!

jnsmith85 · August 2013

sooner1981 said:
Also, I believe Britax car seats are made to expire after 7 years, not 5 years.

I did not know that! I am a NICU nurse and our standard is 5 years, that's what we tell all our parents. Good to know about the Britax, me and DH want this one to last for baby #2, which we will not be having til this one is out of diapers!

finnybooboo · August 2013

Our Britax B-Ready was manufactured in 2012 as well. We also bought it during their free ride event where they were giving away the free car seats with the strollers, so it didn't surprise me that they were trying to get rid of inventory.

finnybooboo · August 2013

This also got me curious. I just looked in our manual, and for the B-SAFE infant seat it says:

"To prevent injury due to deterioration or hidden damage, DO NOT

use this infant car seat and base if it is older than six years or has

been in a moderate or severe crash. See date of manufacture

located on the infant car seat and base"

tbug082810 · August 2013

Yep, always check the manual. Many now have 6+ years. Heck, the Diono's have a 10 year warranty before they expire!

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