When do convertible car seats expire

Remove any metal parts and recycle the plastic pieces. Some communities have car seat recycling programs: Check here to see options in your area. Some retailers—like Target —even host car seat trade-in events at various times throughout the year, offering a special discount on your new seat purchase.

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Baby Products. By Christin Perry. Image: iStock. Why Do Car Seats Expire? Chicco: There should be a white sticker located on the back of the car seat. Cosco: The car seat expiration date is likely imprinted into the plastic on the bottom of the seat or a white sticker on the back of the seat, depending on the model. Evenflo: A white sticker should be located on the bottom or back of the car seat, depending on the model.

This chamber allows us to perform tests replicating an expected life span of the seat. The materials the seat is made from, the process by which the seat was made, the design of the seat, and the size and weight of the child using the seat are all designed in accordance with the life cycle test requirements. Britax Car Seats manufactured June or after Infant car seats have a useable life of 6 years. Convertible car seats excluding the Classic line have a useable life of 7 years.

ClickTight Convertible car seats have a useable life of 10 years. HarnessBooster seats have a useable life of 9 years. Belt-Positioning Booster seats have a useable life of 6 or 10 years. Refer to the user guide of your specific belt-positioning booster seat.

Frontier HarnessBooster seats manufactured from have a service life of 9 years. Sign In. Their equivalent of the DOT has conducted studies showing no degradation of materials after 20 or even 30 years. Hi Ryan, As I mentioned in the article, if they have completed testing, car seat manufacturers have not and likely will not share those results as it would be considered proprietary information.

There is a link to a study that showed sunlight degrades the type of plastic often used in the article above. Often Sweden is credited for having such a low child car accident death rate because all parents keep their children rear-facing for an extended period.

Their car seat manufacturers also have expiration dates on car seats. As I also mentioned in the article it may be a tactic to avoid liability in case the materials degrade. If you have links to studies from Sweden or otherwise, please do share. 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.

I have a couple car seats used when my grandchildren come to town. When the children are not here, I store the car seats in our house away from heat, cold, sun and humidity. For these reasons and the fact that the seats have not been in an accident, I see no reason why the seats cannot be used after their expiration date.

I do not install them, but have my daughter do those honors. It is better for both of our peace of mind. The fact that there are not clear cut regulations is a strong indication that an expired seat that has been cared for and not in an accident, is perfectly fine to use when installed correctly.

Chalk this one up to planned obsolescence and our litigious society! Thank you, Amie, for replying to the critique. So I appreciate your effort in engaging in the comment section and responding to doubts and critiques that way. I am a firm believer that one of the biggest failures involving car seats is the failure to install the base correctly. My plan was to have them installed in each vehicle by a professional. There would be no need to shuffle them from car to car, just double-check.

My grandson had other plans and was born 3 months early at just over a lb. After 21 months in the hospital, he was over the weight limit, so we purchased a different seat. I pulled the 3 original seats out of the boxes and they were expiring. Super frustrating, as they had never been exposed to extreme heat or cold…. That is frustrating. And surprising that they were still available for sale on the shelf apparently so far into their 6-year expiration period.

Just planned obsolescence. Make more money and fill up landfills. Only an idiot would dream up this. Time for this to go away. How is the plastic used in car seats different from the plastic used in the cars themselves? Very good question. Why not have an inspection, at appropriate locations; to extend the expiration date based on the inspection.

The car seat manufacturers and safety organizations say that you cannot always see damage in the plastic upon just a visual inspection. This is also the reason many manufacturers require car seats be replaced after any type of crash.

What about all the plastic and belts involved there, why would a car seat be any different?? Generally speaking the manufacturers are not worried about the webbing degrading over time. Most seat belt safety locking components are made of metal so there is also not a concern about degradation over time with those. Your email address will not be published.