You open up your jug of milk, and it hits you. That smell. You look at the label and your milk has expired. Every car seat and booster seat has a life span and an expiration date, just like the bad milk.
Except for the smell part. Well, there are several reasons that car seats and booster seats expire. Materials break down over time. Most car seats have a plastic shell. Plastic breaks down and degrades over time, becoming brittle.
This could be very dangerous if an expired seat is being used in the event of an accident. Remember that time you sat down in a plastic lawn chair that had been sitting outside for several summers, and crashed right through to the ground? The same is possible for a car seat that has extended past its expiration: the plastic could break apart and fail to serve its purpose of keeping a child safe and uninjured in a crash.
Most car seats also have metal parts that wear over time. Metal can develop rust in even unseen areas of the car seat and once again, not function properly in an accident. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies. Just like that carton of milk or eggs, car seats eventually expire.
Though thankfully, not nearly as fast! Brand-new car seats are typically usable for at least a few years or longer, depending on the amount of time between when the seat was manufactured and when it was purchased. Expired car seats may not adequately protect riders in the event of a crash.
But different factors can make the seat less safe over time, putting a child at higher risk for serious injury or even death in the event of a crash. Car seats generally expire within six to eight years after their date of manufacture not the date the seat was purchased. Manufacturers base their expiration dates around how long they expect their seat to function safely as designed, so the dates can vary from one brand or model to the next.
Best Convertible Car Seats Cheap vs. Expiration dates are usually listed on a sticker on the seat itself, but in some cases, they might be stamped directly into the plastic shell. On the contrary, studies have been performed that show there is no noticeable difference in the effectiveness of a well maintained car seat beyond its expiration date. Look at Sweden, for example, where car seats are used for many, many years, and they have one of the lowest child car accident death rates in the world.
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. Also, technology is forever evolving. Why is our two-year-old laptop already outdated?!
This means that car seat safety stats can be improved with as new features, materials, or technologies are introduced. Say you buy a car seat that is rear-facing and will hold your child up to a certain weight, but then the weight guidelines change for a rear-facing seat.
It may not be the law that you have to replace your seat, but the manufacturer may discontinue it and stop making replacement parts — not to mention, you no longer have the safest seat possible for your little one. You may indeed be using a recent and unexpired hand-me-down car seat with no registration card in sight. Manufacturers such as Britax and Graco publish this on their websites. Looking for information about when your specific car seat expires? Most brands have a page dedicated to safety information where they tell you how to find the expiration date.
Baby stores and big-box retailers think Target and Walmart often have car seat recycling or trade-in programs, so keep an eye out or call your local store to ask about their policy. But actually, there are important safety reasons behind limiting the life of your car seat. We recommend registering your car seat as well — and carefully following installation instructions to avoid compromising the safety of the seat. After all, your baby is the most precious cargo your vehicle will ever transport.
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