Do Car Seats Really Expire?
It takes learning every now and then to be aware of different things around us.
While we mostly think just edibles and some other consumables expire, we may be oblivious that car seats expire too.
I believe you are trying to find out if truly car seats expire and how to check if your car seat is expired.
Well, the shortest and quickest answer to that will be a Yes. But how and why?
This has been a debatable topic for many years, and people have come to say that the reason manufacturer’s set expiration dates for car seats is as a marketing strategy, so they always sell more.
But I agree with the saying that, better safe than sorry.
Car seats are made with one primary purpose, to keep your child safe in the event of a car crash. Every car seat produced is rigorously tested to ensure it meets safety standards before being sold and would only last a specific time because it requires high quality integrity, which degrades over time, to maintain that original purpose.
So, yes, car seats really do expire.
Where to Check if Your Car Seat is Expired?
Very well. Now we are on the same page; we’ll move on to the next question of how to check if your car seat is expired?
Every manufacturer sets their expiration date between 6 and 10 years, and this starts counting from the date of manufacture, not the date you buy.
So, you keep in mind to make sure to check and confirm the manufacturing date when buying a car seat.
The expiration date on a car seat is on one of the car seat labels often written as the useful life. The useful life is also written in the car seat manual or stamped somewhere into the car seat. You then calculate the expiration date by adding the number of useful years to the manufacture date.
The length of time, which is often between 6 to 10 years, will vary depending on the material used with your car seat.
If it is a car seat with steel-reinforced belt parts, it will have a useful life of 10 years. If it is a car seat with plastic-reinforced belt paths, it will be 7 years. This particular time frame applies to GracoBaby Car Seats. More information on other brands is provided later on.
Why do Infant Car Seats Expire?
There are a number of reasons manufacturers claim car seats expire, and one of those includes environmental factors. Exposure to different weather conditions could degrade the quality of the materials over time and affect the car seat’s integrity.
While other reasons include the evolution of technology and safety regulations over time, you want to have the recent production that meets current safety standards and general improvement in safety measures.
Understanding why an infant car seat expires will help you decide if buying a second-hand car seat is worth it or if you should buy a new one.
1. Wear and Tear of the Car Seat Materials
Car seats mostly spend most of their useful life inside a car, depending on the type of car seat you have.
Speaking of types, a convertible car seat will spend most of its useful life in your can since it is fixed to the vehicle seat and is used longer, say for up to seven years, while an infant car seat is easy to carry about and maybe in your home for most of the time.
When a car seat stays in the car all day and season, it is exposed to sunlight through the day and summer season and to cold through the night and winter. This change in temperature will lead to a breakdown of the material, especially the plastic parts.
2. Evolution of Technology and Safety Regulations
Change, they say, is constant. Year in year out, there is advancement in technology. New discoveries are made, better improvements are made as well. Same way, safety regulations change too. You want to have the safest car seat at the time and also be in accordance with the law.
Using the LATCH system as an example, it is a modern technology that has been used in vehicles produced since 2002. A very recent technology developed among others is the SafeCell Impact Protection in 2018 by Britax. This safety feature forms a crumple zone and absorbs crash energy, thereby protecting your baby from impact.
So, you always want the safest car seat for your baby.
Is it Illegal to Use an Expired Car Seat
To begin with, even though it is not advisable to use an expired car seat as defined by a manufacturer, you may be compelled to use a car seat handed down to you.
The first thing you should do is check for the manufacturing date and the useful life and calculate the expiration date.
Next, you should do is to find out the complete history of the seat to know if it has ever been involved in any form of crash. If it has been involved in even the minor of crashes, you must not use it.
Now, is it illegal to use an expired car seat? According to resources I could pull from in my research, I found an article on Market Place where the author claimed he contacted the United States Transportation Safety Administration to obtain a list of rules and regulations relating to expiration dates of child safety seats and got a response that “there are no actual rules or regulations in the U.S. about using an expired date car seat.”
However, it must not be ignored that for optimal safety of your child, a new car seat is the best or a car seat you are completely aware of the usage history that it has never been involved in even the minor of crashes.
What Should You do With an Expired Car Seat?
It is recommended that as soon as your car seat expires, you stop using it immediately and dispose of it for recycling.
To prevent putting a child at risk when they pick up the expired car seat to reuse, you are advised to ‘destroy’ it before turning it over for recycling. You remove the seat cover, cut the harness straps, write “DO NOT USE, EXPIRED” on it, and put it in a black garbage bag before taking it to where it is to be recycled.
There is a campaign program run by Minneapolis-based Target that gives store credit for recycling used and expired seats at Target stores. Target then destroys the seats.
You get a 20% coupon off one car seat, one stroller, or baby gear on your Target app towards a new car seat, car seat base, stroller, travel system, or any select baby gear that you buy as a replacement.
This is a great incentive towards discouraging parents from reusing old or expired car seats.
The materials from the old car seats are recycled into new products such as pallets, plastic buckets, steel beams, and carpet padding by their partner company, Waste Management.
Car Seats Expiration by Brands
Graco Car Seat Expiration
Graco car seat has a useful life of 7 to 10 years depending on the car seat material type you buy.
For the belt-positioning boosters and for the convertible harnessed seats with steel-reinforced belt paths, it is 10-years.
While for the convertible harnessed seats with plastic-reinforced belt paths, such as the Contender™ 65, it is 7 years.
The useful life is written in the manual and stamped into the car seat as “Do not use this child restraint…”
Graco car seat expiration is calculated by adding the date of manufacture to the useful life.
Date of manufacture (3/15/2022) + Useful Life for a steel-reinforced booster (10 years) = Expiration Date of 3/15/2032
This article is dedicated entirely to Graco car seat expiration and contains everything you need to know on the brand’s expiration dates (all models).
Chicco Car Seat Expiration
Chicco car seat materials are made of steel and ultra-durable polymers which gives their car seats credible strength properties to withstand an impact in a car crash and a good lifespan duration.
While Chicco did not explicitly state the range of years across their car seats like Graco, it is mentioned on their website that the Fit4® 4-in-1 Convertible Car Seat has a lifespan of 10 years.
Chicco provides means to extend your child’s car seat durability by offering parts replacements here and there to reduce wear and tear. Such replacements include 5-point harnesses, new seat covers, and infant inserts.
This does good justice to giving you longer time and values.
Chicco car seat expiration is found on the underside of the car seat, on the car seat base, or on the label.
Britax Car Seat Expiration – How Long are Britax Car Seats Good For?
Britax car seat expiration varies across their product lines with useable life ranging from 6 – 10 years across all products.
Useable Life for Britax Car Seats Manufactured in June 2010 And After
Infant car seats – 6 years
Convertible car seats (excluding the classic line) – 7 years
ClickTight Convertible car seats – 10 years
Harness-2-Booster seats – 9 years
Belt-Positioning Booster seats – 6 or 10 years (you have to check the manual of your specific belt-positioning seat to confirm which is for yours)
The date of manufacture for Britax car seats can be found on the car seat/booster seat’s serial label.
Useable Life for Britax Car Seats Manufactured Before June 2010
The usable life for most Britax infant car seats, including bases, manufactured before June 2010 have a lifespan of 6 years.
Frontier Harness-2-Booster seats manufactured from 2008 – 2010 have a lifespan of 9 years.
This article is dedicated entirely to Britax car seat expiration and contains everything you need to kno on the brand’s expiration dates (all models).
Evenflo Car Seat Expiration
Evenflo has different product lines and, as such different seat expiration dates just like the other brands.
Evenflo symphony car seat (an all-in-one car seat that is used from infancy to school age which is usually up to 8 years) – 8 years after the date of manufacture
Evenflo Transitions and Evenflo Evolve 3-in-1 combination – 6 years
All other product lines – 6 years after manufacture.
This article is dedicated entirely to Evenflo car seat expiration and contains everything you need to know on the brand’s expiration dates (all models).
Cosco Car Seat Expiration
Cosco car seats has a lifespan of 8-10 years from the date of manufacture.
The expiration date calculation follows the same step as other brands;
Date of Manufacture + Lifespan = Expiration Date.
This is dedicated guide on Cosco car seat expiration and everything you need to know on the brand’s expiration dates (all models).
Safety 1st Car Seat Expiration
Safety 1st car seats expiry date ranges from 8-10 years from the date of manufacture.
The expiration date calculation follows the same step as other brands;
Date of Manufacture + Lifespan = Expiration Date.
This is dedicated guide on Safety 1st car seat expiration and everything you need to know on the brand’s expiration dates (all models, including video guides in finding the date of manufacture label).
Diono Car Seat Expiration
Diono car seat expiration is calculated different from other brands.
While other brands calculates car seat expiration from the date of manufacture, Diono calculate theirs from the date of purchase.
However if the date of manufacture cannot be determined, you are to refer to the date of manufacture.
Diono car seats have a useful life of 6 to 10 years depending on the car seat model.
A simple calculation will be:
Date of Purchse/Manufacture (3/15/2022) + Useful Life (10 years) = Expiration Date of 3/15/2032
This article is dedicated entirely to Diono car seat expiration and contains everything you need to know on the brand models’ expiration dates (models).
