Carseat was used in 2004, can I still use it?

[allie1078]

also a good message board for carseat questions is car-seat.org.

 

[lil mermaid]

DH won't let me replace our car seat even though it's six years old because he thinks it's stupid that car seats have expiration dates. Any advice on how to change his mind? The seat was used for about a year for our DD (born in October 2003) and now our son is due in three months.

I wouldn't try to change his mind. I'd just go and buy a new seat.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

I'm curious if carseats expire after 5 or 6 years, then why do many seats say the first and last carseat you'll ever buy? Do the newer seats have longer lifespans? I got DS a Graco Nautilus about 6 mo ago, I'm curious of it's expiration.

Just wondering.

 

[Bren's Mom]

CPST here, I can answer a couple of the questions:

The car seat manufacturers say it's the last car seat you'll ever need to buy because they're marketing car seats and they want you to buy them. They ARE getting away from that now, the boxes are coming out much more clearly marked...you no longer just see '5-100lbs' because people were thinking they could use the HARNESS to 100lbs and the harness was only rated to 40lbs.

Graco Nautilus; harness seat expires 6 years from date of manufacture (DOM), booster seat expires 9 years from DOM.

In general, most seats expire 5-8 years from DOM with the majority being 6 years. Newer seats, though, like the Britax Frontier, are being made with newer, stronger materials and are being given longer expiry dates, like 9 years for a harnessed seat. When in doubt, call the manufacturer's 800 # and have the seat handy to give them the model # etc info off of it. They will tell you definitely when the seat expires.

Before 2009 some seats were marked with expiry dates, some marked only with date of manufacture and expiry should be in the manual. For example, Britax seats expired 6 years from DOM.

All seats made in 2009 and later, though, will have the date of manufacture AND the expiration clearly marked on a sticker or stamped directly into the plastic by law.

I absolutely recommend car-seat.org for any parent or caregiver who wants more info on car seats. Many CPSTs like me as well as many knowledgeable parents are there to answer your questions.

To the op: You can tell your dh that the federal standards for car seats have changed at least twice (been made stronger) in the past 6 years.