Are you makpid on expiration dates for carseats?

Silver Member Joined: Aug 24 2009 Posts: 653

I'm wondering how important this really is. Our infant-to-toddler convertible seat is nearing its expiration date, being six years old, but it's in great condition, never been in an accident b"h, only ever been used less than once a week, and I really like the seat. It has no signs of wear and tear and I'm wondering if I REALLY need to get rid of it. I know that "ideally" it's the correct thing to do, but if it only makes the kid liketwo percent safer I'm not sure it's worth the expense...after all, it's kept in a minivan in the middle center seat, so the child is not at high risk of injury from a front, rear, or side impact collision chas veshalom, meaning low risk of actual impact to the seat, which I think would mean that so long as the seat and child are properly secured to avoid the possibility of ejection chalilah, it should be ok, no?
Now, I realize that many people aren't even aware of the entire concept of car seats having expiration dates, and others don't feel it's all that important, and honestly, I've never heard of an accident where the child's injuries were attributed to being in an expired seat, or were considered to be worse than if they had been in a newer seat. And my dh feels it's just a marketing gimmick, so I'd have a lot of work convincing him it needs to be replaced.
Then there's another thing - I need to buy a seat for the next baby. I would LOVE for that seat to be an infant carrier-style seat. I've always saved money by just using the convertible seat from birth to age 3 or 4, whenever they reached its maximum size limit. But now, all of our seats are in use and I'm iy"h going to have to buy another one either way. I would love to finally have the convenience of being able to transfer a sleeping baby into and out of the car or stroller without waking them. My toddler will probably outgrow the convertible seat around the same time as the baby outgrows the infant seat, so I would then be able to move the baby to the convertible. But if I really can't continue to use the convertible, then I would just have to forgo the infant seat and buy a new convertible to put the new baby in right from the start. Which I really don't want to do because it's a huge pain in the neck to have to constantly move a baby in and out when running errands, especially when they are cranky and fussy and FINALLY just manage to fall asleep in the carseat...
So, what do I do? Is it really so awful to extend the life of a carseat for another two years or so, in a low risk situation such as I described above (seat far from front, rear, and sides of car, very safe seat, almost-new condition, used less than once per week)? It's not like I'm talking about using a twenty year old seat when they are made totally differently nowadays...

Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18389

The issue is there is no guarantee how the plastic will hold up in a crash past the expiration. And there is no way of testing it in advance.
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Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18389

BTW, I think Toys R Us/Babies R Us is having the trade-in right now of bringing in old ones to get 25% off a new one.

Posted: Thu, Sep 08 2011, 11:27 am Post subject:

From what I read about it, the plastic weakens over time. So if an expired car seat is in an accident, it is more likely to break apart than a newer one.

I also thought it was a gimmick, and it took a lot of imamother postings and research to convince me to get new car seats. But my child is worth it. Risking her life is not worth it.
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Silver Member Joined: Oct 27 2010 Posts: 801

There's only one way to find out if you can ignore the expiration date, and I don't think you want to find out that way!

Never gamble with safety issues.