CARSEATS EXPIRE PEOPLE

With my shopping for baby started (okay in full bloom) I've been surfing around the various classified sites and places listing used goods and I've seen an abundance of older carseats and carriers for sale. I know these sites are buyer beware type thing, so providing all the info on the product is not the onus of the site/ group. So I wanted to put a reminder out there. Please remember that carseats and carriers EXPIRE. The average lifespan is about 5 years. Some people are listing height / weight restrictions but no one is listing the expiry dates. Many people don't realise seats expire... for obvious reasons they don't look at a piece of equipment like they do a carton of milk.

I think what scared me most was that people were eating up the older seats that were selling for next to nothing, but ignoring the gently used much young snugride (or other known brand) that was selling for like $40 (still a good price).

I realised our own home on the web http://www.nlmoms.com had no stance on this either... so I fixed that by adding an advisory to our marketplace rules too!


If you are buying a carseat or carrier used here are some tips:

1. You want to know the history of the seat (has it been in any accidents)

2. You will want to know the height and weight restrictions; to make sure it suitable for your child.

3. You need to ask the EXPIRY DATE (which should be on a sticker on most carseat/ carriers). Otherwise ask for the manufactured date. Most seats (with the exception of some new ones) have a lifespan of 5 years.

4. Ask for the brand, make and model # so you can look up further information about the seat for yourself. Most manufacturers have the product specifics and mannuals on line.