carseat safety experts would you use this infant seat?

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

I was given an infant seat from dh's friend who got the seat from a friend, dh's friend said it was new and the fabric cover/seat looks unused but since I am getting it from a person from a person I am leery to use it on my soon to be dd, it is near expiration date it will expire december 2011, so I don't know what to do, but dh may not be happy about needing a new seat when he knows we have this one, I need advice.

Thanks

[ElaynesMom]

I wouldn't use a seat that had been passed on twice. You really have no way of knowing how the seat has been treated before arriving in your hands. It is really best to have a new seat. If your husband is worried about cost there are a number of convertible seats you could use from birth as you would eventually need a convertible after the bucket anyways.

[chickabiddy]

When you use a previously owned carseat, you're trusting the previous owners with your baby's life.  I would use a seat from my sister.  I wouldn't use a seat from my sister's neighbor's cousin.

I don't think there are people out there knowingly passing out deathtraps.  I do think that there are a lot of people who don't know how to properly care for carseats.  The seat could have been dropped, it could have been bleached, the straps could have gone through the washer and dryer, etc.

Agree that $45 for a Scenera that lasts three years is a good investment in peace of mind.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

thanks, that's my feelings as well, i do have a new convertible (comfortsport) but was advised it is not good for newborns. I know that you can get inexpensive new infant seats for under 60$ so that is what i am leaning towards, and while i know dh's friend is well meaning, both he and dh are from india where they don't use carseats at all so they don't realize, why using this seat might bother me. 

[ElaynesMom]

When did you purchase the ComfortSport? Can you still return it? While it is a safe seat in that it passes all required tests, it's often outgrown very early both rf and forward facing, so it really isn't a good value for the money.
 

Originally Posted by ILoveMyBabyBird 

thanks, that's my feelings as well, i do have a new convertible (comfortsport) but was advised it is not good for newborns. I know that you can get inexpensive new infant seats for under 60$ so that is what i am leaning towards, and while i know dh's friend is well meaning, both he and dh are from india where they don't use carseats at all so they don't realize, why using this seat might bother me. 

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

it was over a year ago when i was ttc that i bought it, i found it at target for 12.50$ it was clearance or a pricing error, but it has a manufacture date of 9/2009 and doesn't expire until 2015, so for the price it wasn't a bad deal. I had a comfortsport with ds and it got ruined with mold in the basement, so i know they don't last long, (ds outgrew his at 3) but for the price i thought it was worth it and could work for some time or as a backup seat at least in dh's suv. I learned my lesson with the first two seats, so i kept the one dh's friend gave us and the new comfortsport not in the basement but in our spare/office closet. Really buying the infant seat won't break the bank, dh doesn't understand why i am so nit picky about carseats, baby cribs and making sure they are uptodate/not recalled etc, but we don't need a lot of baby items, so I think that splurging for an infant seat is in our budget, dh is just being frugal in this area i guess, i am normally the frugal one, but not about safety issues.

[ElaynesMom]

 Well for 12.50 I would have picked it up too!  Glad to hear an infant seat won't break the bank for you guys. The only thing I would really suggest for an infant seat is that it has a front harness adjuster strap. Rear adjust seats can be pretty annoying.