Car seat expiration question

mpk3 · Jan 23, 2011

I have two Britax Marathon car seats that are going to expire in May & June 2011. Currently, my parents have these two seats to keep on hand when they need to drive my children, which is extremly rare.

I kind of want to go and destroy them at this point since they're so close to expiring. But, is that premature considering we techncially have a few months left?

What exactly is the protocol for expired seats? Do they literally go "bad" 6 years to the exact date of manufacture?

How should I handle the situation...destroy them now? Wait and destroy them in May & June?

Thank you!

jourdysmom · Jan 23, 2011

Unless you have replacement seats already, I would wait til they expire to destroy them. Britax Marathon seat covers are in high demand if they are in decent shape (even better if you have the shoulder and belly pads).

Once they expire remove the covers, and cut the harness straps and LATCH and Top Tether straps and write EXPIRED DO NOT USE in multiple places all over the shell. Throw in the regular trash unless you have a Car seat recycling program near you.

ETA: The seats don't magically self-destruct the day after the expiration date, but we do know that the plastic does degrade over time, and honestly, I don't want my child to be a crash test dummy. Crash tests with a 10 year old Britax seat were devastating. The harness ripped right thru the shell and the injuries would be significant if not fatal.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvCRz7BRAM0&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Car seat expiration[/ame]

rachelandtyke · Jan 23, 2011

I think Babies R Us is doing their trade in event now or soon. Keep the covers/pads to sell and you can take the seats in to get a 25% off coupon for each that you could use on replacement seats. My Boulevard expires in September (which is when they tend to do the Fall one), so I will be taking mine in then.

mpk3 · Jan 23, 2011

jourdysmom said:
Unless you have replacement seats already, I would wait til they expire to destroy them. Britax Marathon seat covers are in high demand if they are in decent shape (even better if you have the shoulder and belly pads).

Once they expire remove the covers, and cut the harness straps and LATCH and Top Tether straps and write EXPIRED DO NOT USE in multiple places all over the shell.

These are our original seats. We gave them to our parents when we replaced these two Marathons with Frontier 85 seats. So, I don't exactly need to wait since we don't use these two Marathons except when my parents drive my kids in their car, which is rare.

I do have the belly pads and shoulder pads. The covers are in decent condition, not perfect.

Glad to hear they're technically still safe to use until May & June when they officially expire. Thank you!

rachelandtyke said:
I think Babies R Us is doing their trade in event now or soon.

Good to know, thanks. :thumbsup: We're having another baby and we need a new infant carrier since our first infant carrier just expired in October.

Car seat expiration question

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