As parents, we want our kids to be safe in all they do and encounter. We make sure they eat well, don’t talk to strangers, and sit in their car seat. However, we typically don’t think of non-food items as something that has an expiration date. But that is exaclty the case with car seats. Car seats expire after a certain period of time, which means that they are no longer safe to use.
Here’s what you need to know about car seats and their expiration dates.
How long until car seats expire?
Child car seat guidelines: When can you use a used seat
The thought of having to get a new car seat is frustrating for parents. After all, car seats can cost hundreds of dollars — they aren’t cheap. But just because they expire doesn’t mean that you have to get a new seat in every situation. And there are some car seat guidelines that will have you change the car seat prior to expiration.
“I have three kids. I can’t be buying a new car seat for each of them. I just can’t afford it,” Martha Meyers told Mom.com. She right, many parents can’t afford to buy a new seat for each child. And that is okay. The goal is to know the history of the seat.
If you know that a car seat is not expired, and has not been in an accident, you are okay to reuse the seat for another child. This means that if someone is giving you a seat, you need to be confident that you can trust them when they say that the seat has never been in an accident.
Along the same vein, even if the car seat isn’t expired, if it was in an accident, you may want to think twice about continuing to use it. If anyone was injured in the accident or any glass broke on the vehicle, SafeKids.org recommends replacing the car seat. If your car seat was in an accident, talk to your insurance carrier about having it replaced as part of the claim. Most do and this makes getting a new car seat much more cost-effective.
However, experts strongly advise against buying car seats from an unknown source, such as garage sales or secondhand stores where you do not know the car seat's history.
