Adrianne Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 A friend recent told me about infant car seat expiration dates. She said they expire after 6 years. She also mentioned that if you are "caught" with an expired car seat the police can fine you. I did some research on the internet about Pa state law since this is where I live and cannot find any such law. Does anyone know about this? With a baby coming in 4 weeks, I feel I need to look into this thoroughly. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 A friend recent told me about infant car seat expiration dates. She said they expire after 6 years. She also mentioned that if you are "caught" with an expired car seat the police can fine you. I did some research on the internet about Pa state law since this is where I live and cannot find any such law. Does anyone know about this? With a baby coming in 4 weeks, I feel I need to look into this thoroughly. Thanks! I do know that you should not sell or buy a car seat over 6 years. Now to get fined for this I don't think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shenan Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 A friend recent told me about infant car seat expiration dates. She said they expire after 6 years. She also mentioned that if you are "caught" with an expired car seat the police can fine you. I did some research on the internet about Pa state law since this is where I live and cannot find any such law. Does anyone know about this? With a baby coming in 4 weeks, I feel I need to look into this thoroughly. Thanks! I don't know about police being able to fine you BUT car seats DO expire! The expiration used to be 5 years I didn't know it was moved to 6 yrs. The reason being is because the safety standards required for them change so frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krista in LA Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I don't live in PA, but I have never heard of any police checking the expiration date on the seat. However, you don't want to use a seat that is too old because over time, with exposure to sunlight and high/low temperatures, plastic will deteriorate. An older seat might not hold up to the forces of a crash and can put your child at risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaik76 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I live in PA too...and I don't think you get fined. I called our carseat co. and they said to get rid of a carseat after 6 years. The research I read pointed to this too...the plastic degrades, leaving it not as safe in an accident. ETA: Plus, how would they ever know your car seat was older than 6 years? They don't go looking at the expiration date on them!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommylawyer Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 It seems as though individual seat manufacturers do put expirations dates on their seats and encourage the consumer destroys the seat (rather than resell it) after that expiration date. Here is a link to an article. However, in my brief research, I cannot find any state laws that say you will be fined if you are using a car seat past expiration. It seems as though, beyond the manufacturers' recommendations, it is up to the consumer to heed this advice; not the states to enforce it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrianne Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 I live in PA too...and I don't think you get fined. I called our carseat co. and they said to get rid of a carseat after 6 years. The research I read pointed to this too...the plastic degrades, leaving it not as safe in an accident.ETA: Plus, how would they ever know your car seat was older than 6 years? They don't go looking at the expiration date on them!:D Apparently in this situation they did look at the date and saw it was expired. Now this something that happened to a friend of a friend (you know how that goes) I had the same carseats for both of other boys which I know was more than 6 years. We were in an accident and both those seats were discarded after the accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Yes, the rule of thumb for carseats is 6 years from date of manufacture. That date can be found on the side of the seat, usually on a label near all the warnings. Some manufacturers put and expiration date on the seat. There are some new ones coming out that are meant for extended harnessing and they have a longer useful life, but those are really recent. If your seat is over 6 years old (not from when you bought it, but the manu. date) or was in an accident, destroy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I donated mine to the local middle school to use with the smart babies they have for home ec. (A smart baby is like a robot doll.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetfeet Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 It is 6 years. If you have a proper use clause using the seat past the expiration date can result in a fine. They degrade over time, parts are lost and safety standards change. If you aren't interested in spending money on a new infant seat I'd look into the cosco scenera, a convertible seat, that goes from 5-40 pounds and costs about $45. Otherwise I'd put feelers out to family and good friends to see if you can borrow one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrianne Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 This may be a strange question but if the plastic in my carseat will degrade after 6 years making it unsafe for my child, what about the plastic in my car? It is not similar? Does it not degrade making it unsafe for everyone? Should I buy a new car after six years???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 This may be a strange question but if the plastic in my carseat will degrade after 6 years making it unsafe for my child, what about the plastic in my car? It is not similar? Does it not degrade making it unsafe for everyone? Should I buy a new car after six years???? I think it has to do with the locking mechanisms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetfeet Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 This may be a strange question but if the plastic in my carseat will degrade after 6 years making it unsafe for my child, what about the plastic in my car? It is not similar? Does it not degrade making it unsafe for everyone? Should I buy a new car after six years???? The plastic isn't the 'beef' of your car. It's sheet metal and a metal cage that protect you. The plastic panels are just there to hide wires and gauges. You could theoretically remove your interior plastic paneling. The plastic of a carseat is the carseat. It is what holds your child in place during an accident. There isn't much else to a carseat other than fabric. Unless you drive a saturn like I do..:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Tara~ Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 It is 6 years. If you have a proper use clause using the seat past the expiration date can result in a fine. They degrade over time, parts are lost and safety standards change. If you aren't interested in spending money on a new infant seat I'd look into the cosco scenera, a convertible seat, that goes from 5-40 pounds and costs about $45. Otherwise I'd put feelers out to family and good friends to see if you can borrow one. Yeah that. But a cop 'catching' that is unlikely, in all honesty. They are not very car seat savvy. Even those who have gone through a required tech course. Of course, I am by no means encouraging use of an expired seat. I'm just saying the likelihood of getting busted for such is slim. Now, if you were to pull up at a car seat check event..that's another story. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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