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.
We make sure our child is in the safest seat and position for their size and when our car seats expire we dutifully dispose of them instead of passing them down to our younger children, friends or charities. Every parent knows that car seats have expiration dates—but why do they? What studies and tests prompted manufacturers and safety advocates to make this rule? The answers he got didn't satisfy him, and suggest that car seat expiration dates are more about increasing consumption than increasing protection.
A father himself, Minter was well aware of the fact that car seats have expiration dates when, in the course of reporting for Secondhand , he found himself at a used goods outlet in Tucson where secondhand car seats were being sent over the border to Mexico. Concerned that unsafe car seats may be putting children in other countries in danger, Minter decided to dig into the story—but what he uncovered was the opposite of what he thought he was chasing.
There is no law, Minter learned, because there is nothing proving that age alone makes a car seat unsafe. Minter reached out to numerous car seat manufacturers and retailers expecting that they would be able to point him to a specific study or testing protocol used to determine when and why car seats expire.
Convertible car seats expire 10 years after the date of manufacture. In addition, the date label is found on the back of your car seat. All-in-One Car Seats : These seats need to be tossed and their use discontinued 10 years after the date of manufacture.
The label can also be found on the back of the seat. Harness Boosters : Discontinue use and toss this seat 10 years after the manufacture date listed on the back of the seat, because it will be expired. Belt-Positioning Booster Seats : These seats expire 10 years after the manufacture date listed on the label that is affixed to the back of the seat. Expiration date if you have a Baby Trend Car Seat: For all Baby Trend car seats, your date of manufacture label will be located under your car seat.
Infant car seat with base : Stop using this seat within 6 years of the date of manufacture DOM. Booster Car Seat : These seats will expire in 10 years and the label can also be found under the seat. The label can be found on the backside of your seat, as well as underneath. Convertible Car Seat : These will expire in years depending on the exact model, so make sure you check your user manual and the label on the backside or under your seat.
All-in-One Car Seat : These will expire in 10 years. The label is found both on the backside and under your seat. Booster Car Seat : These seats will expire in years and so make sure you check the label on the backside of your seat or the user manual. If a car seat expires when a kid only has a few months left using it, parents may be tempted to buy a secondhand one or take an old seat from someone they know. The NHTSA has a searchable registry of recalls , as well as a checklist for determining whether a car seat that was involved in a car crash is safe to use.
When in doubt, parents should call the manufacturer directly. Whatever you do, just remember the most important thing, which is to use a carseat, no matter what.
Sign up for the Fatherly newsletter to get original articles and expert advice about parenting, fitness, gear, and more in your inbox every day. Please try again. Overtime this can breakdown the plastic making it brittle. Sun exposure can also cause damage to plastics and synthetic fabrics often used in car seats. There is research to backup damage from sun. Whether or not car seat manufacturers age test their car seats is unknown. Car seat manufacturers tend to guard their data closely.
Food or drinks spilled on, or cleaning agents used on, or dirt gathered in webbing, buckles, adjusters and other parts may prevent them from working safely after some time. Degrading plastic can interfere with the performance of a car seat. The ability of the shell to maintain integrity and transfer crash energy to the seat belt or LATCH system could be compromised. For instance, using a conventional 5-point harness car seat forward facing during a forward crash, the restraining forces are first experienced by the harness strap, then transferred to the shell of the car seat before being transferred to the seat belt or LATCH and finally to the car.
If the plastic is degraded, the shell could potentially break during that transfer of energy. In addition to the materials aging, the standards could have changed since your car seat was manufactured.
If the regulations change, an older car seat may no longer be in compliance. Often car seats can continue to be used to the end of their life. But if a car seat had no expiration date, it may allow you to continue using a car seat that is no longer as safe as the new standards require.
So newer car seats may be easier to install and have increased safety performance. Recalls can affect the usability of a car seat. Usually if there is a recall on a car seat the manufacturer will notify the registered owner and send replacement parts.
Very rarely, a car seat will be deemed unusable and the manufacturer will instruct you to discontinue use and destroy the seat. There is no government regulation that requires an expiration date on car seats in the United States. For instance, for the first almost 10 years, RideSafer vests did not have an expiration date. Car seat manufacturers decide them based on the expected useful life of their product.
Most car seats expire after 6 to 7 years from the date of manufacturer. Note that is not the date of purchase; it could have sat on the store shelf for months or longer. RideSafer vests currently have a year expiration date. All car seats must have a date of manufacturer on them. Most of the time this is on a sticker, often on the back of the shell.
Sometimes the date is actually embossed on the shell of the car seat. Some car seat manufacturers also add a date of expiration on the sticker. Others just have a length of time from the date of manufacture. If you are buying a car seat secondhand, which we do not recommend, be sure to look for the expiration date.
It depends.
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