AIBU to use expired car seat?

[Bubblemilk]

We don't do a lot of journeys with ds but have got a couple of big ones coming up as we travel for Christmas. He is using his cousin's car seat, but I have recently learned this expired 6 months ago. Unfortunately at 14.5kg and only 96 cm, even though he is 4 years old he can't go into a high back booster. My options are to leave him in the seat until he hits 15kg/100cm then get a hbb ( this could take 6 months or more), buy a new extended rear facing seat that goes to 25kg or buy a forward facing harness seat that turns into a hbb at the right size.

Which would you say is safest to do between leaving him in his current rear facing seat or moving to forward facing harnessed seat? Has anyone else continued using their seats for subsequent children when the seat is older than 7 years? My other arguement is which is most reasonable between us buying an expensive new rear facing seat or one of the other two options which are cheaper and last longer? We won't be having any more children so won't need any seats after he's finished with them.

New seat. The inside of the seat will likely be starting to lose effectiveness

Absolutely get a new seat. It doesn't matter if you don't travel often or far - it only takes one accident.
For his age, I'd probably look at something like a Britax 123 evolva.

If money were no object then rear facing is still the safest way to travel for a small child in a car. Do they mind still being rear faced? If it were me I would spend my money and go for a forward facing high back booster with the harness. You will get so much more use from it. (I never realised about an expiry date on car seats, ds1 had a baby seat that was used for ds4 7 years later!)

You need a new seat and you need an ERF seat if you want him to be safe. It will last you 2-3 years and you can’t put a price on your child’s safety.

Try the Britax Maxway. Only £199.

I’d still use the cousin’s car seat personally and then get the next up car seat when he hits the criteria. It won’t suddenly start deteriorating when it reaches 7 years but appreciate my opinion may be the minority.

I'd buy a new rear facing seat. Can you imagine if you crashed and he was hurt? You'd never stop blaming yourself.

Christ, I never knew car seats had expiration dates!

How can I car seat possibly expire? Surely it's actual use not years owned that matters anyway?

Is the seat worn out?

I think it's because they don't test them after a certain amount of years so can't say for sure they are safe?

Nor me. Since when has this been a thing?

In the same way that motorcycle helmets "expire". I assume the materials (polystyrene?) might start to degrade.

It's a tricky one OP I used an infant carrier with DS1 that was probably expired, but I didn't know they could express at that stage. I bought a new one for dc2 though.

If he's happy to rear face I'd say get an erf seat, he's small so will fit for a good few years yet.

EU and UK car seats don't expire. They have maximum recommended use periods set by the manufacturer, but this is largely in response to recent trends where parents have begun to worry about such things, probably because they have heard of the concept of expiry dates from America, where the car seats do have expiry dates which are backed up in law.

Ours is just a recommended/guide - if you're six months over it, that really isn't a big problem, especially for temporary use, if it's still in good condition without too much wear and tear, missing parts, as long as everything still works smoothly etc. If it was your main seat, then it would make sense to replace it with a longer rear facing one. Since it's not, it's safer to use a 6-months-older-than-recommended lifespan seat of the correct age stage (especially RF) than to change to a high backed booster if he's too small to use it effectively. And it doesn't make economical sense to change for another harnessed seat.

You could if you wanted to replace look at something like Britax Evolva where it uses the harness up to 18kg and is a booster seat after that, but TBH the cheaper models of these tend to be a compromise in both modes, and it really isn't that big of a problem to use a 7.5 year old seat if it's in good condition - I'd just use it now and replace it when he hits 15kg.

I'm guessing it's a Joie Stages? If it hasn't been bashed around I'd use that up to around 8-10 years with no issues. Discard in the case of any damage, including wear and tear or stiff mechanical parts (harness, belt clips, recline, headrest) as that could point to corrosion or debris inside the seat.

The manual says do not use after 7 years and it probably has about 7 years actual use from both children now. Rationally I understand it's probably fine but pp is right if we had an accident and something happened, I'd always be thinking of the what ifs. We have the money, and really the money means nothing if the worst was to happen. I'm definitely not moving him to a hbb only a harnessed seat that would then turn into a hbb but I think ERF is what we've alway believed to be safest.

I had no idea seats had expiration dates. So, yes, quite possibly my younger children who had seats passed down did. This is good to know - I'd better just dump them rather than pass them to charity then. I didn't know.

In car safety centre, who know their stuff, told me that expiry is only a USA thing due to the litigious culture over there and possibly the extreme weather making plastic more likely to perish. not a think in the UK.

At that height and weight he would get quite a long time still in an ERF seat.

Maybe I’m being stupid, but I’d read “do not use after 7 years” to mean, not to use the seat on a child over 7 regardless of their size.
are you sure seats have expiry dates?

I had no idea about the expiration date but once I did know I just couldn’t continue to use the seat. Think I’d go for another RF, annoying as that is. I just don’t think I’d forgive myself if anything happened and they weren’t in the right seat. You’d always think what if.

Manufacturer confirmed all their seats have an expiration date.

I'd look at Maxway Plus. Brilliant seat and there are always deals on.

I would use a few more months

Some seats sold now say 0-12 years, so can you only actually use them for 7 years max?

I mean I wouldn’t use a super old seat, and Ds is still rear facing at 2.5 so I am aware of car seat safety. But if it’s a few months older and from family I would. It won’t deteriorate overnight, and if it was your own bought seat you would probably happily use another few months without an issue.

Wtf. Of course you are BU! This is the safety of your child

Absolutely get a new seat. It doesn't matter if you don't travel often or far - it only takes one accident.

It would be more rational not to go anywhere, on the grounds that staying at home is safer. That's based on the common assumption here that absolute levels of risk are irrelevant, and that the costs of avoiding risk are not a valid reason for taking more than the absolute minimum.

(For the record, I think the commentators are wrong.)

If you do decide to go ERF, have a look at the Axkid Move. It’s the more basic version of the Axkid Mini and goes up to 25kg. Our almost 3 year old is about the same size as your DC and is still happy and comfy in it. You can often get deals on it around bank holidays which take it to around £200.

I’d use it. It will be fine.