What to do with expired car seat?

[Curlita]

I'm cross posting this in the decluttering board too.... we have a car seat that we got from a friend for Dylan and as luck would have it, it expires in November. So we are registered for another one, but I'm trying to figure out what the heck to do with the other one? I can't really give it to Goodwill or something, since it isn't any good to anyone. Is there some agency that recycles them? I hate to just chuck it into the landfill...

[Da WIC Lady]

Originally Posted by Curlita

I'm cross posting this in the decluttering board too.... we have a car seat that we got from a friend for Dylan and as luck would have it, it expires in November. So we are registered for another one, but I'm trying to figure out what the heck to do with the other one? I can't really give it to Goodwill or something, since it isn't any good to anyone. Is there some agency that recycles them? I hate to just chuck it into the landfill...

I know here in VA, you can take them to either the DMV or Walmart and they'll give you $5 for each old carseat you bring in. The limit is 2 per year per household. Ask at your local Walmart if it's a national program.

Anna

[Undercover Hippie]

I was told to take the cover and straps off and cut them up or otherwise make the seat unusable, then just put it all in the trash. It felt so wrong to me to do that and to send it to the landfill! But that's what I did anyway... there were no exchange or recycling programs in my area that I could find, and I certainly didn't want anyone using an unsafe carseat. Sucks though, feels so wasteful!

[Mom2ManyBlessings]

I feel the same way - what a waste of landfill space, but what can you do??? I agree, if you can't find a program that will take it, then cut the straps and the cover, and write EXPIRED - DO NOT USE with a sharpie all over the plastic parts, and leave it for the trash guys.

[GinaRae]

Here's where I might get in trouble, but what makes these seats so unsafe? If this seat expires in November, isn't it better to give to a family who might have only gotten their hands on a ten year old seat? I have never heard what makes them suddenly unsafe after the expiration date.

[AKmomof2+1inNov]

Also try to smash the shell on it-or someone will try to put it back together using duck tape-seriously I'm a pretty new car seat tech, but the stories I've heard! And I would write "crashed-unsafe" all other it instead of expired because maybe people think that doesn't matter.

Gina-it's not that it is suddenly unsafe one day, but they we don't know when it will be so better safe than sorry. And there are great programs that will help a family in need get a brand new seat. A seat that is 6 years old also might not have all the latest safety features. And of course there could be small cracks forming in the plastic that would effect crash performance.

[sorteep]

soooo is it basically plastic fatigue that is the reason?? I was always skeptical of this.. I am a safety girl and would not use an old one but I can't help but think PART of it a a conspiracy by Graco to get people to buy new ones...... maybe I'm reading too much into it but are there actual crash tests of old car seats SHOWING they are unsafe?? just curious (I have a brand new one, for the record...) I must admit... I DID put an old one someone gave me in Goodwill, it was not technically expired but sooonnnn (like dec...) hopefully someone will get some use of it... good question

[AKmomof2+1inNov]

I've seen a different one, but I can't find it now but here is a 10 year old Britax being tested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvCRz7BRAM0

There actually is one booster seat made completely without plastic, and it doesn't expire but other than that all seats do-so it's not just a graco thing.

[GinaRae]

I watched the video. It's not really clear what they were testing or what the end result was,

What makes the straps weak after a few years then? I guess I still don't understand. Is it rot? From what?

And as far as new seats for families who need help, after being in the situation I have been in for this pregnancy where suddenly my entire income has dried up and blown away and there is no one to buy us a seat but in no way with hubby's income could we qualify for ANYTHING, I can see how there would be families in need, despite all the good will programs.

I am left wondering still why a seat can't be passed down. How old are they to be expired? 6 years?

We're buying the new one SOME day before the baby is born, I hope! Just never seems to get done.

Otherwise, where do I look for an expiration date on a bucket (I think it's a Graco) that a neighbor may still have for $20?

[Curlita]

The date of manufacture should be on the bottom on a sticker. They are considered expired six years after their manufacture date. One of the reasons for the expiration that I have heard is that the plastic breaks down over time.

Gina, I initially adopted a skeptical stance about this also (a plot by The Man! The Man trying to bring us down! Fight The Man's insistence that we overspend on plastic baby buckets! Ahem. Sorry, I seem to be a bit slap happy) but in our case the bottom line is that 1) we are having a hospital birth and 2) hospitals will not let you take an infant home without an UNexpired car seat.

[lisalulu]

Originally Posted by sorteep

soooo is it basically plastic fatigue that is the reason?? I was always skeptical of this.. I am a safety girl and would not use an old one but I can't help but think PART of it a a conspiracy by Graco to get people to buy new ones...... maybe I'm reading too much into it but are there actual crash tests of old car seats SHOWING they are unsafe??

I wouldn't ever use an expired seat but I honestly wonder the same thing. When we went to get help installing our car seat with ds, the tech told us its because they don't test them after that long and its an unknown-which basically says to me that they don't want to invest the money in it and hey they get to make money if you buy another one. Yeah the plastic probably will wear down over time but it'd be nice if they could test them and try to extend the life of them to like 10 years or something. I think with the date on ours we will only get 5 years out of it so if we want a 3rd child we'll be buying another infant seat .

[LittleBrownDog]

Originally Posted by GinaRae

And as far as new seats for families who need help, after being in the situation I have been in for this pregnancy where suddenly my entire income has dried up and blown away and there is no one to buy us a seat but in no way with hubby's income could we qualify for ANYTHING, I can see how there would be families in need, despite all the good will programs.

There is a program here in Madison where you can get a new carseat for $5 for 6 months, and there are no income checks or requirements- It's open to anyone. At the end of the 6 months you just go back, they check the seat, upgrade if necessary, and you pay another $5 for another 6 months. Might be worth looking for something like that?

[sorteep]

I can see the plastic fatigue thing (esp in hot hot cars forever etc )but the straps??? no way, they are made of the same material as car seatbelts and if they are saying the baby seat straps are degrading then so are the seatbelts in cars and I figure that would have been a HUGE scandal by now if it were true...

too bad about the plastic, though... OH and I was just using Graco by name as an example, I know there are many mfgrs..

I guess I can't use Evan's old Britax I just got back from my sis tho... bummer.. those babies are expensive/..

[GinaRae]

The strap thing... I agree with Laura. Doesn't seem right.

I do know car companies get sued over seatbelts that break, but often it's a driver going way too fast anyway and I don't think it's a deterioration thing truly. I knew a guy whom was paralyzed and sued (and won!) but had been going 100 MPH when he crashed and the seatbelt broke. :

The plastic that degrades... I just don't know about that either. I mean plastic takes something like 100 years to breakdown in a landfill.

I could see if they've found something safer for the newer version, found a default and recalled, or if the carseat was in an accident. I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the rest.

Leigh, I don't know if they have anything like that program here. I've never heard of it. I am a baby seat snob, so we want a new Britax and that's why we've held off from getting just anything. We'll see if that happens before the homebirth and if I end up in the hospital, it will have to happen.

I figured if I was absolutely desperate or wanted an extra I would grab the neighbor's seat, but can't bring myself to do it yet.

So I don't know why I am even blathering on about seats. I guess I just feel the financial crunch and know how bad it can be for families who need a seat and it's not working out.

[Valian]

You would never send spoiled milk or rotten vegetables to a community pantry or soup kitchen, right? Then you should never pass along an expired car seat because it just isn't safe.

Found this from the a search and just wanted to chime in that car seats expire because of the stress and deterioration of the plastics. No, its not that one day they suddenly go bad, but rather that manufact. have to affix a date saying when they are no longer confident in the perfect performance of the seat.

Crash tests of expired seats have shown harness failure not because the straps were degraded but because under the weight of the child (dummy) plus the force of the crash the harness ripped through the back of the seat.


All kids deserve safe seats and its better to have parents search out a safe seat through a community program than use an expired one. If you know the family personally and want to help consider gathering $40 to buy a brand new Scenera (5pt harness seat) which lasts lots of kids from birth to 3-4 years old.

Most car seats expire after 6 years. A few expire after 8 years. After that date you should remove the cover, cut up the straps and use a sledge hammer on the plastic seat. If you can't actually destroy the seat then write all over it in permanent marker: expired do not use.

[mittendrin]

Any plastic usually gets brittle over time. I don;t exactly know if that would be the reason why a carseat expires. Could be a reason though. If you have a spare seat that you only put in the car a few times here and there, say a seat for grandma's car, I probably wouldn't throw it out on the date it expires. But just think you live in a very hot climate where the seat get heated up to over a 100 degrees 6 months out of the year the plastic would probably in way worse shape after a few years.

[AKmomof2+1inNov]

The video is supposed to be a 10 year old Britax that the straps pull through the plastic-not the straps not working, but I agree, you really can't tell anything from that video. I wish I could find the other one I've seen that is labeled. I think the straps would be ok IF they were cared for properly. But I know tons of people wash them with detergent in the washing machine which is a no no. (And I would suggest replacing seatbelts on a car if you buy it used and think it's been in a wreck.)

I know the safekids.org the certifies child passenger safety technicians have a huge variance on how the local programs are run, but here we ask for a $35 donation and if the people say they don't have it, we take less. I understand making more on paper than most programs will allow (we only qualify for stuff cuz Alaska's income limits are higher), but there is a good seat at Walmart for around $40 that will RF a baby from birth to 35 pounds and FF to 40 pounds. It's the one we use for our backup seat and the one our local safekids gives out too (but up here they cost $50 at walmart with is 2-3 hours away). It's not a bucket, but it does fit a newborn properly. I know there are lots of people who would still struggle with $35-$40 dollars-but not usually people who wouldn't qualify for things otherwise.

To me one of the biggest reasons not to use older seats are the designs and safety features change. Five years ago a lot of the infant carriers were 3 point harness and now most are 5 point-which is much safer. For FFing seats, about 5 or so years ago they added the top tethers with significantly improves performance in a crash (I'll look up some statistics if you need me to) and you can have the hardware to hook the top tether installed in almost any vehicle for free or cheap if it's older than 9/00 (that's when they were required). Also I think about 5-10 years ago there were a lot more over head shield seats sold-but now we know 5 point harnesses are safer than the over the head shield type seats, and I believe there are only one or two more on the market. Another thing they changed was to reinforce the all the harness positions on the back of the seats. Before you had to move the harness to the top slots on a lot of seats when if was FFing or in a crash the straps would pull through the plastic-and many parents didn't realize that. They don't need to be reinforced RFing because the whole back of the seat takes the crash impact (remember-car seats are only required to be tested for head on collisions-but some manufactures exceed that). And new seats have more foam that protects kids better.

I buy my kids expensive seats-I live without other things to do it, but I do it because my kids are big and outgrow graco/evenflo seats so fast it doesn't cost more in the long run. My son was 40 pounds at barely 3 years old and not mature enough physically (IMO) or mentally to ride properly in a booster seat. Thankfully Evenflo is now putting out a seat that go to 50lbs in a harness, so more kids like mine will be safer in cars without their parents having to spend $200-$300 on a higher weight seat.

Sorry, this is long-I could talk car seats all day! I just made so many mistakes with my oldest that when I started researching I couldn't stop. I honestly and sincerely hope that my seats are never tested in an actual crash-but with the icy roads/moose/testosterone charged drivers in huge trucks around here that pass tourist on blind turns, I'm trying to be safer instead of sorry.

[GinaRae]

So the plastic getting brittle - that makes sense. Much more sense than the straps actually breaking. It makes sense then that plastic doesn't biodegrade for quite some time in a landfill BUT that in a few years in a hot car it could become too brittle for safety.

Just to be whiny, I don't think it's fair to compare my wanting to help families (IF the seats are still safe) with giving rotten foods to the food pantry. laughup

[Curlita]

Originally Posted by GinaRae

Just to be whiny, I don't think it's fair to compare my wanting to help families (IF the seats are still safe) with giving rotten foods to the food pantry. laughup

Yeah, I had that thought too. We know you, Gina! Feeding moldy cheese to starving orphans! Don't deny it!

[LittleLlama]

Consider that the average car seat strap gets a lot more slime and food to corrode them than the average seat belt too.

AND, People should absolutely replace their seat belts if they are getting worn.