When you have a baby, some of the things you stress about adding to your baby registry and regret buying just become part of your daily environment. The IKEA toy kitchen in the living room and the bulky carriage in the corner almost no longer appear in your mind. This is what a car seat looks like—just a bulky extension of the car you’ve been using. So you might be surprised when you first hear that they have an expiration date.
That’s right: car seats expire after a while, and it’s important to remember the date. Here’s everything you need to know about why these products go bad after seven to ten years.
Do car seats expire?
Yes, you should take that expiration date seriously, according to Cass Herring, CPSTI, child passenger safety technician and senior director of road safety and child occupant protection at Safe Kids Worldwide. The Alliance of Manufacturers for Child Passenger Safety, a group dedicated to the safe use of car seats, says brands put expiration dates on seats because:
- Over time, exposure to food, drinks, cleaning products and other environmental factors can cause the seat’s materials and components to degrade.
- Over time, parts can get lost, reinstalled incorrectly after cleaning, or simply show some wear and tear from use.
- The instruction manual may be missing or no longer available online.
- Improvements in car seat materials, design, safety technology, and more are happening all the time, which means regulations and safety standards will change, too. Shelf life helps obsolete cars become obsolete.
Can expired car seats still be used?
Using an expired car seat is not safe and experts don’t recommend it. Essentially, if you expect your car seat to do everything it’s advertised to do (such as protect your child in a car accident), the manufacturer doesn’t guarantee that it will still function past its expiration date.
“As with any product, we like to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. They test the product thoroughly to understand the best use of the product to ensure the best possible safety and protection for your child. We follow these guidelines as well as car seats Additional recommendations from the chair manufacturer are very important,” Herring said.
How do I check if my car seat is expired?
You can find your car seat’s expiration date on the base or side of the seat shell. If your car seat’s expiration date is on the base, it’s a good idea to write down the date in a note on your phone or somewhere you can access without uninstalling the seat.
“They will also have an expiration date at the beginning of the manufacturer’s instructions or instruction manual,” Herring said. “If you lose your manual, you can find it online through the manufacturer’s website.”
What is the optimal age of use of a car seat?
Herring says that if you buy a new car seat, it will last an average of six to 10 years before it expires. The expiry date and schedule depend on the brand of car seat you purchase, but again the instruction manual will specify the lifespan of your product. If you anticipate having children living close by and want to purchase a product that will last a full 10 years, you can usually view the product manual in PDF format on the manufacturer’s website.
Buying a used car seat can get sketchy, and it’s not something experts recommend. Of course, you can check the expiration date on the seat, but you need to know some important information about the seat’s history to make sure it hasn’t been degraded. For this reason, it’s better to get a used car seat from a trusted friend or family member than to buy one used from a stranger, Herring says.
“If you get a seat that has been used by someone else, ask questions. Ask them if they know the history, if it was purchased new, are all the parts there? Has it been in a crash? Ask how that happened.” Storage is to ensure that it does not grow in areas where mold may grow.
Last but not least: always check to see if the seat you inherited has been recalled. You can access the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall database and search for your car seat’s make and model. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a database you can cross-check as well.
