How long can a car seat be used for?

amother

Periwinkle

Mon, Feb 01 2016, 5:49 am

We have a car seat that has been sitting in our house for close to a decade. Can we use it? Or is there a reason why it should not be used after such a long time?

baba

Mon, Feb 01 2016, 6:11 am

Car seats do have an exporation date, it usually says so somewhere on it. AFAIK they're good for about 5-7 years and then the plastic starts to deteriorate and they wont be safe anymore to use.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Feb 01 2016, 6:11 am

I read 5 years, and less if you live in a very hot climate. Age (and heat) will eventually break down the strength of the plastic parts, and can make them shatter on impact. Basically, the whole thing can become very brittle under stress.

amother

Periwinkle

Mon, Feb 01 2016, 6:16 am

Even if the car seat has not been used in about 5 years? It was used for one kid for about 4 years and then since then not at all. Still not a good idea, in terms of the plastic and all?

amother

cornflower

Mon, Feb 01 2016, 6:41 am

It doesn't matter how good it looks and how well you kept it. They have an expiration date stamped on it and cannot be used safely after that date. It is unusual to have a date more than 7 years, though you can certainly check (I believe some of the very expensive models do last 10 years). But yes, car seats expire, just like the milk in your fridge. If it's expired, you need to toss it.

invisiblecircus

Mon, Feb 01 2016, 7:15 am

amother wrote:

Even if the car seat has not been used in about 5 years? It was used for one kid for about 4 years and then since then not at all. Still not a good idea, in terms of the plastic and all?

No, it's the age of the seat, not the amount of use it gets that matters. It can be sitting in a warehouse new in it's packaging and still be unsafe.

Check the expiry date though, it might still be OK

Marion

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 1:48 pm

invisiblecircus wrote:

This is not completely accurate. Storage conditions DO matter. I spoke with Graco about this when I was expecting DS#3; we'd had the infant seat for just over 4 years and we were about a month away from the stamped date on the seat. HOWEVER, for the first 6 months it was sitting in a ship or a warehouse, for the next two and a bit years it was in our home, used very rarely (we did not own a car and lived in a 3rd floor walkup so did not take the seat unless we had to), was used for another 6 months or so (got a car when DS#2 was 6 months old), and then was in storage again for almost 18 months. Graco told me I could safely use it for DS#3 but that I should get rid of it after that.

amother

Amethyst

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 2:03 pm

Marion wrote:

No. You're wrong. You must go by the expiration date on the seat. The customer service representative you spoke to at Graco is absolutely mistaken. Unfortunately, mostly uneducated people are hired as customer service agents.

Hashem_Yaazor

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 10:00 pm

amother cornflower -- Newer car seats (convertibles, not infant seats) are being found with 10 year expirations, not just expensive models. I got a few this summer for under $100 with 10 year lifespans. One brand is actually more than 10 years since it goes by end of the calendar year, so I got it in August 2015 and will last me till December 31, 2025!

Ema of 5

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 10:33 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Which seats did you get that are 10 or more years???? I would love such seats!!

SRB

Tue, Feb 02 2016, 11:20 pm

I was literally just reading an article
about the biggest car seat mistakes before I switched over to see what's doing on imamother. Your car seat should have an expiration date - DO NOT USE IT AFTER EXPIRATION. Your child's life is not worth taking the risk. This article states, ideally you should use a seat less than five years old and defiantly less than ten years old. When I did research previously for my baby, most often I read a car seat should be max seven years old.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_ca.....tion2

Ema of 5

Wed, Feb 03 2016, 12:26 am

amother wrote:

Eek! Gotta check my car seats tomorrow. One of mine is at least 10 yrs old. Where so you find the date? Stamped into the plastic? Pale

There's usually a sticker on the lower back somewhere, or somewhere on the under side.

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Feb 03 2016, 10:05 am

I got a couple Coscos and secondary seats and a Safety 1st Guide 65 which is what lasts till the end of the calendar year. Not all Safety 1sts supposedly have 10 year expirations, but mine did. I bought at Walmart.
However, it's not a long seat, so ERF for a taller kid may be difficult. I wouldn't automatically recommend it just because of the expiration. It really matters what you are using it for.

Marion

Wed, Feb 03 2016, 12:50 pm

amother wrote:

That seat is long gone so there's no issue. In any case, we used it, safely, for another 10 months or so, and got ride of it 3 months after it "expired". The expiry date is based on certain usage expectations and climate expectations; the wear and tear on a seat in storage (especially climate controlled storage) is simply not the same as the wear and tear on a seat in a hot (boiling) car...