need help with a reply

mama_katz · Sep 5, 2011

I asked my friends on facebook if they would want to know if they were using their car seats improperly. It lead to a pretty nice discussion including expiration dates.

Then I got this reply:

Sooo- what happens when it expires. Does it implode? Ha!!

Anyone have help with a reply? Links would be great, too.

eyeslkethesky5391 · Sep 5, 2011

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvCRz7BRAM0"]Car seat expiration - YouTube[/ame]

video of expired car seat

wendytthomas · Sep 5, 2011

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvCRz7BRAM0"]Car seat expiration - YouTube[/ame]

It doesn't explode, it partially ejects the child, catching them around the neck. I'd bet the dummy didn't survive that test. That's a 10 year old Britax.

Will they do that the day after they expire? I don't know. Honesty, I doubt it. But at some point, yes. They're just plastic. Glorified plastic, but plastic. Even steel reinforced seats are not 100% steel. The harness can rip out. And with daily use and abuse (and no matter how careful you are with your seats, a kid is living in it), head and cold, light and dark, there's a lot of stuff a carseat deals with in its lifespan. I wouldn't use a carseat past the expiration date if the company isn't willing to say, "Yes, this WILL save your child's life."

Wendy

nevaehsmommy · Sep 5, 2011

If a company does not trust there product to function at 100% who am I to argue that I know better. I refuse to let my child be the test dummy to find out what does happen.

WhatAboutPuppy · Sep 5, 2011

"It slowly starts to go bad just like milk. 1 day passed, you'd never know... but there's a reason that EVERY company that puts an expiration on their product does so. They are saying that passed that date they are not responsible for the results. You can spit out expired milk but there's only one way to truly know if your child's seat has gone bad past the manufacturer's expiration... I'm glad you find this funny."

zactayaus · Sep 5, 2011

I always give the example of a plastic toy or lawn furniture that is left out in the heat and cold all year round. Over time the plastic gets brittle and weak and breaks. Same thing happens to car seats. They are plastic. The are in the extreme heat and cold day in and day out. Eventually they too will become brittle and weak.

lovemybabies924 · Sep 6, 2011

Love the video thanks

Sent from my iPod touch, sorry for any auto-correct typos!

soygurl · Sep 6, 2011

Besides the very real issue of plastic degradation, there is also the issue of advancements in technology. Older seats might not pass current crash test standards, or might be lacking critical warning labels. IIRC, car seat expirations became standard (or more widely used?) when front passenger airbags became standard. Before that, rear facing seats did not have a warning about airbags. Rather than force a recall of all previous seats, expiration dates insure that seats stay relatively current. In addition to that, the older a seat is, the more likely it is to have missing parts (which may or may not be obvious). Along those same lines, important stickers eventually fade and wear off, and instruction manuals have a habit of disappearing.

All in all, there are MULTIPLE reasons why car seats expire. None (that I know of!

) involve exploding car seats, but ALL can have a serious effect on safety.

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