A question for car seat safety experts.......

[Tiger926]

I live in the UK and there are no expiry dates on car seats hence why I do not understand it. The UK laws are generally very rigid - we have to have our children in some form of seat until they are 11 years old so if expiry dates were a neccessity then I assume they would apply here.

You have no expiry dates on car seats? So, what's stopping someone from using a seat that's 20 years old? That is scary...

Just because there is no law about it, it doesn't mean it's acceptable to follow that. 7 years old is very old for a car seat.

Canada and US are very rigid about car seats, so obviously the UK isn't rigid enough if they aren't recognizing the fact that car seats break down. Are your seats made out of plastic too? I'm just amazed by this info...

Best of luck with your new babe! Tiger

 

[Bren's Mom]

OP, I'm a currently certified CPST and I wouldn't hesitate to reuse a Chicco Keyfit that expires in 2013. Not for one second would I worry about it!

(That's assuming I know the history, because it was mine or a trusted friend or relatives and know that it's not been misused or in an accident.)

 

[kpm76]

OP, I'm a currently certified CPST and I wouldn't hesitate to reuse a Chicco Keyfit that expires in 2013. Not for one second would I worry about it!

(That's assuming I know the history, because it was mine or a trusted friend or relatives and know that it's not been misused or in an accident.)

Thanks! We bought it new for DD and it has never been used by anyone else so I know the history completely. Still waiting to hear back from our State Police and Injury Prevention Center to see what their position is on the subject...just curious.

***********
While we donate a lot to charity, I would not give a car seat to anyone, including family and friends. It's a huge liability and I would feel awful if something happened to a child who was riding in a seat I provided.

As for expiration dates, it's not that the seat was "good enough" for one child and not for another, it's that age and wear and tear can make the seat unsafe. That was my motive in asking this question. I want to make sure if we decide to use the seat again, that I have done my due diligence in making sure it's safe for the baby.

 

[thebeesknees]

I have a question for the CPST people on here, as well. You talked about storing it properly, so it wasn't exposed to extreme heat or cold. I (obviously) keep my kids' car seats buckled into the car at all times. The car is parked in the garage for the most part, or outdoors if we are at a store or something. I know it can get super hot in a car during the summer. Do I need to be concerned about the heat breaking down the plastic at all? Or as long as the seats have not expired, that is taken into consideration by the manufacturer? Sorry to sound so dopey on this, but I want to keep my kids as safe as possible!

 

[amylynne01]

I am not a CPST but very passionate about car seat safety. The expiration date takes in account being stored in extreme hot or cold in a vehicle. Seats used in Arizona where it gets over 100 degrees in the summer will last just as long as a seat used in moderate temps. Most manufacturers have expirations of 6 years because of plastic breaking down over time and because new and SAFER technology is constantly coming out. A 3pt harness was once considered safe, and now it is far outdated. Same goes for the over the head shield.

Just because my parents weren't in car seats doesn't mean it was safe. It just means that they were lucky to have never been in an accident. There are far too many kids who are hurt in accidents because so-and-so never used a seat and they were fine or they were in the wrong seat or the seat wasn't used properly. Why put your most precious cargo in danger when it's not necessary?

OP, the Chicco Keyfit you mentioned is absolutely safe, and I would not hesitate to use it. I used the same infant carrier made in 2007 for both of my girls (born in 2007 and 2009). If I had another baby before it expires in 2013, I will use it again. There really is no NEED to buy a new one unless you WANT a new one.

 

[kpm76]

I am not a CPST but very passionate about car seat safety. The expiration date takes in account being stored in extreme hot or cold in a vehicle. Seats used in Arizona where it gets over 100 degrees in the summer will last just as long as a seat used in moderate temps. Most manufacturers have expirations of 6 years because of plastic breaking down over time and because new and SAFER technology is constantly coming out. A 3pt harness was once considered safe, and now it is far outdated. Same goes for the over the head shield.

Just because my parents weren't in car seats doesn't mean it was safe. It just means that they were lucky to have never been in an accident. There are far too many kids who are hurt in accidents because so-and-so never used a seat and they were fine or they were in the wrong seat or the seat wasn't used properly. Why put your most precious cargo in danger when it's not necessary?

OP, the Chicco Keyfit you mentioned is absolutely safe, and I would not hesitate to use it. I used the same infant carrier made in 2007 for both of my girls (born in 2007 and 2009). If I had another baby before it expires in 2013, I will use it again. There really is no NEED to buy a new one unless you WANT a new one.

Thanks for your informative post! Honestly, I don't want to spend almost $200 on a new one but if it was the safest option, no question I would do it.

As for the argument that some of us were not in car seats and survived, well, I just can't buy it. 30 years ago we didn't know the harmful effects of cigarette smoke and many women continued to smoke while pregnant and even were allowed to smoke right after delivery. Since then we have learned of the dangers and modified behavior. Just because babies survived without ill effects of smoke does not mean we should tolerate pregnant women smoking......

 

[r&kmommy]

Expiration dates ARE NOT A MARKETING PLOY!!!! Please do NOT use a car seat past its expiration date! A month or two isn't going to make much difference, but as time goes on the plastic erodes/degrades and can completely split in a crash.

OP I would not hesitate to use the keyfit! I used ds's graco infant bucket for dd, she was born in 10/2006 and the seat expired in 1/2008... she used it until christmas of 2007 and then moved up to a convertible seat. (and I destroyed the infant bucket so that nobody would take it off the street and use it)

Here are two links...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvCRz7BRAM0

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/family/23980828/detail.html

 

[bumbershoot]

I would totally use that carseat with your next kidlet.


I have also sold two carseats to a consignment shop. There's a market for it, and if someone's going to buy one, they might as well buy MINE. The snugride wasn't even used for 4 months, and the Scenera was in great condition; two people got GREAT seats for almost nothing (twice what I was paid...which was nearly nothing, LOL).

That said, I would never have been the one in the market for a used seat!

As for the argument that some of us were not in car seats and survived, well, I just can't buy it.

30 years ago we didn't know the harmful effects of cigarette smoke and many women continued to smoke while pregnant and even were allowed to smoke right after delivery. Since then we have learned of the dangers and modified behavior. Just because babies survived without ill effects of smoke does not mean we should tolerate pregnant women smoking......

The other issue with the first statement is that those who didn't survive aren't around to TELL US that they aren't around. By definition, those of us saying that we're around are around...

It's the same with seatbelt stuff. My first stepdad's dad owned a gas station and towing company. Stepdad worked there. He saw so many horrific things when helping tow cars away from wrecks that he put seatbelts into our classic '55 Chevy, even though it legally didn't need seatbelts b/c of being grandfathered in. He SAW those who now aren't around...


Please add a couple decades to your second paragraph! 30 years ago was 1980 and people certain DID know the problems with smoking. Many in my mom's circle knew it even in '69 when I was born; the first thing many of them did as soon as they knew they were pregnant was to quit smoking b/c they knew the problems. At least at 1 decade to that statement, if not more... the women who smoked to keep their weight down and the baby's weight down ALSO knew that something was going on to impact the baby, even if they saw it as a positive, so we could go back to the 50s or even the 40s...

 

[kpm76]

Please add a couple decades to your second paragraph! 30 years ago was 1980 and people certain DID know the problems with smoking. Many in my mom's circle knew it even in '69 when I was born; the first thing many of them did as soon as they knew they were pregnant was to quit smoking b/c they knew the problems. At least at 1 decade to that statement, if not more... the women who smoked to keep their weight down and the baby's weight down ALSO knew that something was going on to impact the baby, even if they saw it as a positive, so we could go back to the 50s or even the 40s...

Well, when my mother had my brother 30 years ago in 1980 and she said they still allowed women to smoke in recovery and in their hospital rooms, even with the newborns around. There has always been a level of awareness that smoking is not good, but even 30 yrs ago we did not know all of the harmful effects, otherwise, no way would there be smoking in hospitals!

Anyway, back on the original subject.....our Injury Prevention Center returned my call and echoed what many of you said. As long as the seat is not past expiration, was stored properly and not in an accident, it is fine to reuse. They offered to inspect it as well so I will definitely be doing that.

Thanks again to everyone who provided valuable insight!

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

Okay I am as car seat crazy as they come, but if the seat is not expired, never been in an accident and does not have any recalls, use it!

 

[wbn36]

We used the Chicco KeyFit 30 infant car seat for DD, who is now 3 yrs old. We bought the seat in 2007 and it expires in January 2013. The seat was used from May 2007-March 2008 and was never in an accident. I am expecting another baby in August and we just assumed we would buy another infant carrier; however, I have been reading that unless the seat has expired it's ok to use it again.

Honest answers please....would you re-use the seat or purchase a new one? I will never compromise safety for a few hundred dollars but if it's perfectly safe to re-use, I will consider it. DD is in a Britax Marathon now and I love it so the new baby will be getting one as well when he outgrows the carrier.

Thanks so much

Call your local police department. Typcially, they will have a car seat expert that will answer your question. I run a daycare and consider myself pretty smart on the subject. I am pretty confident they will tell you that it is ok to use. They are also a great resource to use for making sure that the seats are installed correctly. Congratulations!

 

[ilvdznee]

What??? I have never heard of such a thing! I'm betting the car seat manufactures are the ones putting expiration dates on carseats and spreading rumors that your kids are gonna die a horrible death if you don't have the latest, greatest one. Oh, and the one that kept your last kid safe last year, boy did you luck out, it was a death trap!!! This mentality is insane! My mom was put in a crate on the floorboard as a baby, when her mom wasn't holding her in the front seat that is, and she's alive and well today I'm all for keeping kids safe, but this country has really gone off the deep end if we think something we just used for one kid is not good enough for the next! Either that or we just have way too much disposable income, maybe we should donate some to the kids eating dirt and bugs in other countries!

It is actually a safety issue not the carseat manufacturers. The plastic breaksdown over the years & is not as safe

 

[ilvdznee]

I am an ER nurse & certified in car seat installation & your original car seat is fine.