Britax Car Seat Expiration – When Do Britax Car Seats Expire?
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Britax Car Seat Expiration – Understanding Why Car Seats Expire
Now and then, I wonder why should a car seat expire. Would I expect a car seat to expire after dolling out a good sum to buy a brand like Britax?
Well, it is what it is.
This led me to write how to check if your car seat is expired, and you sure want to know also when do Britax car seats expire. Spot on! That’s what this article is about, and I’ll be on that soon. Let me quickly explain why car seats expire.
Car seats are made to protect your child in the event of a car crash. For such to be guaranteed, they are made to meet high safety standards.
But on the other hand, the quality usually degrades with time due to different factors like exposure to weather changes, safety laws and regulations updates, and technological evolution.
However, people think it is a marketing strategy to set expiration dates, but the reality is different. It’s to assure you of your child’s safety within when it is assumed safe.
Environmental Factors Causing Wear & Tear on Materials
Further on weather factor. Remember when I mentioned weather changes?
Now, look at this. A car seat will spend most of its useful life in the car, mostly convertibles, all-in-ones, and boosters. All this while it will be exposed to sunlight during the summer and cold during the winter, year in year out.
This temperature change now and then will cause the materials to break down over time.
Improved Safety Features
Car seats are improved upon regularly to include better safety features that enhance your child’s protection.
Britax happens to be at the top of their game when it comes to innovations.
A good amount of resources is spent on research, testing, and design to improve child safety.
It’s only necessary that you have something that is even safer and at the same time comfy for your little one.
Change in Safety Laws and Regulations
New laws and regulations come up now and then from different states. When this happens, the previous model might no longer meet standards and will need to be changed.
While everything can not be covered in this Britax car seat expiration guide, you may refer to the general one here, how to Check if your Car seat is expired.
When Do Britax Car Seats Expire?
Britax, a leading car safety brand that prides itself to be a leader in child safety technology, is known for innovative car seat safety features like the SafeCell Impact Protection, which forms a crumple zone around your child and absorbs crash energy, protecting your child from any form of impact.
However still, Britax car seats also expire.
Britax car seats expiration dates vary across their product line and from the date of manufacture (prior 2010 and after 2010).
These expiration dates range from 6-10 years across all product lines.
Britax Car Seats manufactured before June 2010
The expiration date for infant car seats (including base) manufactured prior through June 2010 is 6 years from the date of manufacture;
Belt-positioning booster seats – 6 years from the date of manufacture.
Frontier Harness-2-Booster, manufactured from 2008 to 2010 – has a useful life of 9 years.
Britax Car Seats manufactured after June 2010
Infant car seats – a useable lie of 6 years
Convertible car seats (excluding the classic line) – useable life of 7 years;
ClickTight Convertible car seats – useable life of 10 years;
Harness-2-Booster seats – useable life of 9 years; and
Belt-Positioning Booster seats – useable life ranging from 6 or 10 years.
Where to Find Expiration Date on Britax Car Seats
Car seat expiration is calculated by adding the number of useful years to the date of manufacture.
A simple formula will be,
Date of Manufacture + Useful life = Expiration Date.
That means, to know the expiration date of your Britax car seat, you’ll have to check for the date of manufacture.
The date of manufacture for Britax car seats can be found on the car seat/booster seat’s serial label which can underside of the base, under the seat cover or on the seat shell
Britax Car Seat Expiration Dates
Britax has a ton of product lines.
I have tried to exhaust the list of Britax car seat expiration dates, and this section will cover the expiration dates on all models.
Car Seats Expiration Britax
Infant Rear-facing only Seats
(including B-Safe series)
| Model | Useable life - Expiration Date | Location of Expiry Date |
Manual (PDF Download) 'Canadian' | Weight Limit | Height Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen2 FlexFit+ | 6 years - after date of manufacture | serial label is underside of base | 4-35lbs | Up to 32 in. | |
Gen2 FlexFit | 6 years - after date of manufacture | serial label is underside of base | 4-35lbs | Up to 32 in. | |
Gen2 | 6 years - after date of manufacture | serial label is underside of base | 4-35lbs | Up to 32 in. | |
Endeavours | 6 years - after date of manufacture | serial label is underside of base | 4-35lbs | Up to 32 in. | |
Ultra | 6 years - after date of manufacture | serial label is underside of base | 4-35lbs | Up to 32 in. | |
35 | 6 years - after date of manufacture | serial label is underside of base | 4-35lbs | Up to 32 in. | |
B-Safe 35 Elite | 6 years - after date of manufacture | serial label is underside of base | 4-35lbs | Up to 32 in. |
Car Seats Expiration Britax
Rear & Forward-Facing Seats
(convertibles & all-in-one)
| Model | Useable life - Expiration Date | Location of Expiry Date |
Manual (PDF Download) 'Canadian' | Weight Limit | Height Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Advocate ClickTight Convertible | 10 years - after date of manufacture | serial label under the seat cover | 5-65lbs | Up to 49 in. | |
Boulevard ClickTight Convertible | 10 years - after date of manufacture | serial label under the seat cover | 5-65lbs | Up to 49 in. | |
Marathon ClickTight Convertible | 10 years - after date of manufacture | serial label under the seat cover | 5-65lbs | Up to 49 in. | |
Anti Rebound Bar ClickTight Convertible User Guide | - | - | - | - | |
Allegiance 3-Stage Convertible | 7 years - after date of manufacture | serial label under the seat cover | 5-65lbs | Up to 49 in. | |
Emblem 3-Stage Convertible | 7 years - after date of manufacture | serial label under the seat cover | 5-65lbs | Up to 49 in. | |
One4Life ClickTight All-in-One | 10 years - after date of manufacture | serial label under the seat cover | 5-120lbs | Up to 63 in. |
Car Seat Expiration Britax
Forward-Facing Only Seats
(Harness-2-Booster) Seats
| Model | Useable life - Expiration Date | Location of Expiry Date |
Manual (PDF Download) 'Canadian' | Weight Limit | Height Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grow With You | 9 years - after date of manufacture | serial Label located on the child seat shell | 25-120 lbs | 34 to 63 in. | |
Grow With You ClickTight | 9 years - after date of manufacture | serial Label located on the child seat shell | 25-120 lbs | 34 to 63 in. | |
Grow With You ClickTight Plus | 9 years - after date of manufacture | serial Label located on the child seat shell | 25-120 lbs | 34 to 63 in. |
Car Seat Expiration Britax
Belt-Positioning Booster Seats
| Model | Useable life - Expiration Date | Location of Expiry Date |
Manual (PDF Download) 'Canadian' | Weight Limit | Height Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Highpoint 2-Stage | 10 years - after date of manufacture | serial Label located under the base of the seat | 40-120 lbs | 38 to 63 in. | |
Skyline 2-Stage | 10 years - after date of manufacture | serial Label located under the base of the seat | 40-120 lbs | 38 to 63 in. |
What Next When Your Britax Car Seat Expires?
It is recommended that when your car seat expires that you stop using it immediately. This is because the car seat’s safety is not guaranteed beyond its useable life.
There are available options of what to do when your Britax car seat expires:
Dispose of it
However, how it may sound, it’s the reality. It’s no more ‘useful,’ and you can’t give it out, unfortunately, so you don’t put a child’s life at risk.
The way to do this is to remove the seat cover, cut the harness straps where available, write “DO NOT USE, EXPIRED” on it and put it in a black garbage bag before taking it for disposal or recycling.
Recycle it
Save the environment, they say. Yippie! Recycle plastics and keep the environment clean.
Well, this is possible with expired car seats. Interestingly, there are campaign programs that advocate for recycling such seats.
An example is Target’s Car Seat Trade-In, where you bring in your used car seat and get rewarded 20% off on a replacement purchase irrespective of type (new car seat, car seat base, travel system, or stroller).
Target’s partner, Waste Management, recycles these expired car seats and uses the materials obtained in making other products such as pallets and plastic buckets; construction materials like steel beams and carpet padding.
Donate it
However, expired car seats can still be donated to Child Passenger Safety Technicians (CPSTs), who are trained experts in car seat installation and handling.
What they do with expired donated seats is use them for training and demonstration purposes.
In some states, when you break the car seat laws, you are mandated to join a car seat education program where you learn about car seat installations and guides so you don’t repeat such offense again.
These expired donated car seats come in handy for such training demonstrations.
Is It Safe to Use an Expired Car Seat?
It is not a good idea to use an expired car seat because of the risk it pose.
Car seats are tested up to the limit of the number of years recommended for them to be used. Beyond these years, safety is no longer guaranteed. This test is called “life cycle testing.”
Immediately a car seat reaches the expiry date; you must dispose of it.
Resource to Other Brand Manufacturer's Expiration Dates
While you may still be interested in learning the expiration dates on other brands, I have articles written on the following brands:
Final Wrap Up
While this article aimed at educating you on Britax car seat expiration and when they expire, including expiration dates for all models, a key takeaway should be on understanding why car seats expire in the first place.
The safety of your child should be your priority. You don’t want any eventuality when using an expired seat, and there is an accident.
On the other hand, proper disposal is necessary. While taking away a risk from you, try not to put it on others—no need to gift an expired seat.
Recycling programs are available, donations to CPSTs centers are also great.
Cheers to a great future with your kids.
