BTW, what would you recommend is the best car seat on the market? Always check for an expiration date before installing a used car seat in your … Car seat bases also have a set future expiration date, which is determined based on when and how you purchased them. In this post, you are going to learn why car seats have an expiry date and what you can do about it. Crash test expiry . For an infant seat with a base, this expiration date is 6 years after the date of manufacture. Vehicle safety is one of the top concerns for everyone, but especially parents. Replacements expire too. We want our children to be as safe as possible so we pay close attention to the recommendations of car seat manufacturers, pediatricians and experts. Keeping them safe is your top priority. In other words, car seat manufacturers decide on the appropriate car seat expiry date for each model based on a set of general guidelines. Car seat expiry: hi ladies, so I was washing my capsule ready for Bub today and noticed the manufacture date of 2004. Why Do Car Seats Expire? The length of useful life varies and is most often a set amount of time from the date of manufacture. Can I get a fine if I have an old car seat? We use cookies to improve and personalize your experience on the site. I do not think that the car seat expires. But kids grow quickly, and you can go through two or three car seats in a span of a few years. To find out if a car seat is expired, you should look for that expiration date label first. Why Do Car Seats Expire: Know Car Seats and Their Laws. It was my sisters capsule that she bought new in 2010 and I used it 2.5 years ago for my daughter. Car seats need to be replaced all the time, Lewis said, whether they’ve expired, have been involved in any type of car accident, or a child has just outgrown it. Car seat safety is understandably an obsession for many parents. Why Do Car Seats Expire? Several things factor into the expiration date. Just like you might have to use milk within 2 days of the manufacturing date or the purification date, the norm is that it is better not to use a car seat after 6 years of its manufacturing date. You can find a white sticker on the bottom of the seat and the bottom of the base. Did you realize that children’s car seats have expiration dates, too? Like any other product they can eventually wear out, so you should inspect your car seat base regularly to make sure it doesn’t need to be replaced. The car seat and or booster should have a date of manufacture and the expiration on a sticker or it should be stamped on the seat. Only a few car seats can last longer than six years. Manufacturers tell buyers to purchase new car seats every six to 10 years for important safety reasons. A baby car seat is an essential item when your family travels with a small child . All manufacturers of car and booster seats in Canada set an expiry date on their seats. Seeing an expiration date on a car seat may be awkward and confusing at the same time. If I don't see a different expiration spelled out for BPBs in writing from the manufacturer, then I assume they expire just like the harnessed seats do. The main factor in car seat expiration is that materials degrade over time when exposed to extreme temperatures. Trade-In Events. Some manufacturers will say the seat expires 4 years after manufacture in which case you count from the date of manufacture to identify its expiration. How long do car seats last? So I did my research and found not one but five reasons to replace the baby gear on or around the expiration date. Older seats may not meet current government safety standards. Car seats have an expiration date on one of the manufacturer labels that can be found on the sides or bottom of the car seat. Do car seats expire? By Car Bibles Staff. Published Feb. 20, 2019. Sometimes your car seat may become useless even before the mentioned expiry date. Various factors go into to determining if one seat “expires” prior to another. Learn More The plastics can degrade; parts can break, get lost, or be installed incorrectly; and technologies change. Car seat bases expire. But it is up to you. Do Car Seats Expire: Know Car Seats and Their Laws Your children are precious. Why Do Seats Expire? 1) Materials degrade over time. I would never buy a second hand car seat. Some recommend changing them every decade, but it’s always better to err on the side of caution. Even the sturdiest car seat is not made to last forever. Car seats that have reached their expiration dates should not be used. Even though cars are getting smarter, the people behind the wheel are getting more careless. Answer: Car seats are exposed to the elements, especially here in Iowa with our extreme differences in seasons. Most car seats expire between 6 to 10 years after the date of manufacture, so a new one should last through at least a few kids. But do baby car seats expire? The question of 'do child car seats expire' can be a confusing matter. When Do Car Seats Expire? I would rather just spend money on a new one and know for sure that my baby will be safe. Well, it's NOT because they're made from dairy. You may have heard that car seats expire, but this is only somewhat true. Even shampoos and toothpaste have expiration dates. Car seats are subjected to extreme temperatures and lots of every-day wear and tear. If your car seat is damaged in an accident, even a tiny knock, then it automatically expires and reaches the end of its life. Why do car seats expire? Make sure you check both because the seat and the base may have different dates. As far as we can see, the only store that still does this is Target, but there may be others. Car seat manufacturers try to outdo each other every release they do which is why you should never have an outdated seat even if it is still within its usage date. Chicco car seat bases expire at the same time the seat expires. But if there is a Best Before written on it, there must be a reason. Why do car seat bases expire? A simple answer to this question is yes, child car seats do have an expiry date, and they do expire for more than one reason. Car seats should never be used if any part of it has been put under stress as this can weaken the plastic mouldings and at times crack the safety cushioning. Do car seat bases expire? A question we are asked frequently, and a good one! This is beneficial to all parents because it supports the newest findings through research, done by the car seat manufacturers themselves every year. How do you know when your car seat or booster seat expires? Aside from keeping up with technology and car seat standards, another reason car seats expire is because of the materials they're made with. That expensive car seat you’ve been lugging around in your back seat may have been the top of the line when you bought it, but things change. Why Do Car Seats Expire and Do They Have Expiration Dates? All car seats and boosters have different lifespans. I was planning on using it as I know the history of the seat which I thought was fine until I looked up expiry of car seats. As we've touched on in other recent threads on this topic, if belt positioning booster seats truly do not expire, then seat manufacturers would/should make that distinction in their expirations FAQs. Materials can eventually wear down, either from age or use or exposure to elements. Why Do Car Seats Expire? And there are good reasons why you want to get rid of them in time to prevent your children from real dangers that expired car seats pose. And even though they're made of materials that are designed to last for a very long time, nothing lasts forever! It is important to note, though, that the expiration date is set from the date the seat was manufactured, not when you bought it. March 21, 2016. Car seats do have expiration dates, and not just to force parents to buy them more often. It is not always clear when a car seat becomes unsafe to use, and there are car seats on the market designed to last 11 years. There are a number of reasons why car seats expire, but the most important of which is to keep your child safe! If you do find that the car seat is expired or it’s been in a moderate to severe car crash, there are still things you can do. Learn why car seats expire, how to recycle a car seat, and where to take an old car seat to trade-in. Some big-box stores usually hold car seat trade-in events throughout the year. To find out when your seat expires, take a look at the seat itself. There is no one rule; seats can expire anywhere from 4-12 years from when they were made. But do car seats expire or is it just a ploy by the ma However, currently, there is no government regulation in the United States that enforces that. When you think of expiration dates, you might think of the gallon of milk in your refrigerator, but believe it or not, car seats expire, too. When your seat breaks down or degrades, you might think that you can just replace a specific part of it. The US Standard . Wear And Tear . Children's car seats expire. Share on. I’ll also give you some resources for what to do with them when they’re expired! Booster seat expires just like the conventional toddler car seats do. You may find it hard to believe, but the seats in your car typically expire six years after the date of manufacture. They're not milk or fruit, in other words. But why? Materials can become brittle and can crack/break more easily over time. 1. Do you know why? Well, physically, if kept in dry conditions, out of the sun they might last many years indeed, but that doesn’t mean you should keep using them, or hand yours on to other parents, because the recommended expiration date for a car seat in Australia is 10 years. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. And as a certified child passenger safety technician, I have to tell parents car seats do expire and if you are using the car seat after the date of expiration and something goes wrong you will likely not be able to hold the manufacturer liable because you were not following the manufacturers requirements. There are several reasons car seats expire, and I wanted to address just a few of those reasons. FACT: Car seats DO have an expiration date, just as most foods, medicine and other necessary items. But the fact remains if the car seat have been in an accident, then it is a no no. For safety and optimum quality, foods have expiration dates, and drugs and medications have expiration dates to prevent using weakening or other unsafe changes. Do Chicco car seat bases expire? Why do car seats expire? Yes. If there's no expiration date listed, use the date of manufacture and consult the car seat owners' manual. On an average, the answer is around 5 to 10 years, from the date of manufacture. To make things even more complicated, in New Zealand, car seats meeting the US, European, and Australia/ NZ standards can be sold, each standard comes with slightly different rules and protocol around expiry. 1. The lifespan could be indicated with an expiration date or it may say “Do Not Use After” and a date. There are many differing timescales given, and car seats in the UK do not come with a stamped expiry date. Why do car seats expire? Just like the food in your refrigerator could not be eaten anymore, you will not be able to use your car seat forever! 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