Car seats and booster seats typically expire after six years ; however, check under the seat or on the frame of your particular model to find the specific expiration date. Try to always buy new a car seat when your current model has passed its expiration date or after any car accidents.
How do you find out when a car seat expires?
– It’s tempting to be cynical and believe that car seat expiration dates exist to support a billion-dollar baby gear industry wanting to get more money out of you. But actually, there are important safety reasons behind limiting the life of your car seat.
While this doesn’t mean you can’t take your sister’s car seat when your nephew outgrows it — or use baby #1’s car seat for baby #2 a couple years later — it does mean that there’s a certain time frame within which this is OK. Check your seat’s expiration date by looking at its label, usually at the bottom or back to the 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.
How long can you use Graco booster seat?
Graco defines ‘useful life’ as 10 years for belt-positioning boosters and for steel-reinforced belt path car seats and 7 years for plastic-reinforced belt path car seats.
How long are booster seats good for in Canada?
When Do Car Seats Expire In Canada? Generally, car seats and booster seats will expire after six to nine years, according to Transport Canada. Always confirm with the manufacturer’s information. You should not use expired car seats because the safety standards have changed, and there are now safer products.
Do car seats really expire after 6 years?
We hear it all the time: “Car seats don’t actually expire. That’s just a ploy by the manufacturers to get you to spend more money and buy new stuff.” It doesn’t matter how many times we hear it; it’s still not true. Car seats expire, and your kid’s safety could depend on you recognizing that fact. Car seat label – on NHTSA website History lesson “Why, back in my day, we rode home from the hospital on mom’s lap while dad manned the three-on-the-tree, and there were no seatbelts, and we all survived. Up hill. Both ways. Through a blizzard.” Sure, but gas was $0.50 per gallon and Cadillac’s were the standard of the world with tail fins.
- Things change.
- If we look back 30 years ago, infant car carriers weren’t widely available.
- The LATCH system didn’t exist.
- Car seats certainly didn’t have sippy cup holders either, and the ability to adjust the base to better fit various seat angles, forget about it.
- As time progresses innovation happens.
We are able to take data from research and implement technology to better protect children. According to the IIHS, the number of infants killed in car crashes since 1975 has plummeted 77 percent, and the number of children under 3 killed in car crashes has similarly dropped by 75 percent.
- Both of those declines are despite a 20-percent increase in the number of children age 3 and under riding in cars over the same time period.
- That’s an especially promising statistic bolstered further by researchers at the National Institutes of Health who concluded that effective use of a child restraint can cut down on fatal injuries by 70 to 80 percent,
In 2018 35% of children killed in car crashes were unrestrained according to the NHTSA, As a result, car seats today have more technology and features built into them than one would think necessary—or even realize. From side-impact protection to spring-loaded whiplash protection to LATCH, countless hours of research and development has been poured into better protecting our young ones and and the numbers tell the tale. 
2017 Chrysler Pacifica long-term road test Car seats expire Yes, car seats typically expire after six years from the date of manufacture, though that can vary depending on manufacture and car seat.
What car seat should a 7 year old be in?
The new extension recommends children use backless boosters once they are 125cm or taller, which is roughly about 7-years-old.
Are backless booster seats legal?
But if this is based on safety, should I stop using my backless booster? – The evidence shows high-backed Group 2/3 (booster) car seats offer a higher level of protection compared to backless boosters (booster cushions). At MadeForMums, we would therefore recommend using high-backed car seats up to the height of 135cm or until children are over 12 years old.
How do I check my expiration date?
Download Article Download Article Lots of food items, beauty products, and medications are thrown away every year because of misunderstood expiration dates. Learn the difference between an open-date code, which gives you a recommendation on how long a certain item will be good for, versus a closed code, which tells you when an item was actually manufactured.
- 1 Look for a date accompanied with “use by,” “sell by,” or “best by.” Check the bottom of the product, the sides of the container, the lid, and the necks of bottles. The numbers are stamped on and can sometimes be hard to read or find depending on where they were placed.
- Many beauty products don’t come with expiration dates, but some do. Keep in mind that most products have a 30-month shelf life. After they have been opened, it’s recommended to use them within 1 year, though if they don’t smell bad or change consistency, you can use your best judgment as to whether or not you want to keep using them.
- These types of dates that come with a label are “open dates”, meaning that the food or manufacturing company chose that date and it’s meant for the consumer or for the stockers at the store. There are also “closed codes,” but those are meant for manufacturers, rather than consumers.
Did You Know? Expiration dates for food, medicines, and beauty products aren’t regulated by the USDA or the FDA. They’re added entirely at the discretion of the actual company. This is part of the reason it can be so tricky to read these dates and understand how long your items will actually be good for.
- 2 Use a “best by” date to determine the peak window of freshness or potency.
When should a car seat be replaced?
The life span is usually six years. Expiration dates ensure that key components of the seat haven’t become too worn and that the seat meets contemporary safety standards, which are always being raised. If your child’s seat has been in a crash: Most seats can be reused after a minor fender bender.
What are the booster seat requirements in Ontario?
Pre-school to 8 years old – Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act requires children to use a booster seat when they weigh 18 kg to 36 kg (40-80 lb.), are less than 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) tall, and are under the age of 8. This is a minimum requirement. It is best to keep your child in a booster seat until they reach the manufacturer’s height or weight limits.
Seat belts are designed to protect older children and adults. Booster seats raise a child up so that the adult seat belt works more effectively by properly positioning the seat belt across the child’s body. Booster seats protect against serious injury 3 ½ times better than seat belts alone. A lap and shoulder combination belt must be used with all booster seats.
Your child’s head must be supported by the top of the booster seat, vehicle seat or headrest. The shoulder strap must lie across the child’s shoulder (not the neck or face) and middle of the chest. The lap belt must cross low over the hips, not the stomach.
Can you use a car seat after the expiration date?
What do I do if a car seat is expired? – A car seat or booster seat that has expired should be permanently disposed of so it cannot be reused by any one else. Car seat technicians tell parents to “destroy” the car seat. This means cutting the harness straps and removing the padding prior to recycling the car seat or putting it in the trash.
By Amie Durocher, Creative Director at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Tech since 2004 Copyright 2020 Safe Ride 4 Kids. All rights reserved. You may not publish, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute this material without permission. You are welcome to link to Safe Ride 4 Kids or share on social media.
© amie durocher
Do small booster seats expire?
Do Car Seat Bases and Boosters Also Expire? – When replacing your car seat, it’s important to swap the entire product. Although it’s easy to assume the plastic base may break more than the cushy seat, the entire product is susceptible to regular wear and tear or damage during a crash.
- Therefore, it’s important to replace both the base and seat.
- Of course, if you’re using a base that’s older than the seat, and you didn’t experience an accident, you can replace them separately as each piece expires.
- If you have any questions at all, contact the manufacturer.
- Likewise, booster seats have an expiration date just like car seats.
Check the expiration date on your specific model, and if buying used or after a car accident, adhere to the same advice above regarding car seats.
How do you read date stamps?
Download Article Download Article Lots of food items, beauty products, and medications are thrown away every year because of misunderstood expiration dates. Learn the difference between an open-date code, which gives you a recommendation on how long a certain item will be good for, versus a closed code, which tells you when an item was actually manufactured.
- 1 Look for a date accompanied with “use by,” “sell by,” or “best by.” Check the bottom of the product, the sides of the container, the lid, and the necks of bottles. The numbers are stamped on and can sometimes be hard to read or find depending on where they were placed.
- Many beauty products don’t come with expiration dates, but some do. Keep in mind that most products have a 30-month shelf life. After they have been opened, it’s recommended to use them within 1 year, though if they don’t smell bad or change consistency, you can use your best judgment as to whether or not you want to keep using them.
- These types of dates that come with a label are “open dates”, meaning that the food or manufacturing company chose that date and it’s meant for the consumer or for the stockers at the store. There are also “closed codes,” but those are meant for manufacturers, rather than consumers.
Did You Know? Expiration dates for food, medicines, and beauty products aren’t regulated by the USDA or the FDA. They’re added entirely at the discretion of the actual company. This is part of the reason it can be so tricky to read these dates and understand how long your items will actually be good for.
- 2 Use a “best by” date to determine the peak window of freshness or potency.
How long does an infant car seat last?
Infant seat – Photo: Michael Hession An infant seat is the rear-facing, bucket-style car seat that most parents opt to use through the first year of their baby’s life, and sometimes up to age 2. (No matter where you live in the US, an appropriate car seat is required when you’re driving with an infant.) All dedicated infant seats are rear-facing-only, and the most common type snaps in and out of a base that typically stays installed in the car.
- So if you’re a two-car family, it’s likely that you can get just one seat and two bases.
- Some parents may decide to forego the infant-specific seat and rely on a convertible car seat rated for newborn use; they usually come with an added infant insert cushion for extra support.) All infant seats have a five-point harness, and they include a newborn insert to use from birth until a child is between 11 and 15 pounds.
(Check the manual for exact guidelines, but generally if the baby’s shoulders don’t reach the straps without the insert, you should use the insert.) Most infant seats have more than one recline option. For newborns, you want the seat in the most reclined angle possible.
Why do child car seats have expiration dates?
Why Do Car Seats Expire? – How can a piece of plastic, metal, and fabric expire? safety Most manufacturers give their car seats expiration dates of 6 to 10 years after they’re made, at which point a car seat could, at best, have outdated technology, and at worst, no longer meet the safety standards of the seats on the market.
