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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to use expired car seat?

56 replies

Bubblemilk · 19/12/2022 07:17

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.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bubblemilk · 19/12/2022 11:00

I think I was happy to use it another few months after expiry but then forgot about it until the longer journeys started coming up. Looking at ds's previous growth it could be another year before he's ready for a hbb and that seems too long for us to weight. May as well get a new seat now and get more use of it.

OP posts:
CFsEverywhereYouLook · 19/12/2022 11:13

I would definitely replace with a 25kg erf seat. My son will be 7 in March and will get one more Xmas (long journeys) out of his Axkid Minikid before we switch to a HBB in January. He’s never moaned about being rear facing (even though most of his class mates don’t use any kind of car seat - that’s another story) and never complained about his legs. Your guy is so petite, he could get another few years out of a 25kg seat.

Hugasauras · 19/12/2022 11:26

I have a Move and Maxway Plus (in diff cars) and I much prefer the Maxway. DD gets head flop in the Move, which seems to be quite common in that seat. Not a massive deal as she's nearly 4 so not a safety thing but it does reduce the comfort a bit. Maxway just feels nicer too. Both great seats but if I was choosing again I would get 2 x Maxway Plus.

Hugasauras · 19/12/2022 11:27

And given how low centile he is I think a 25kg ERF seat is def the play. He will get loads of time in it, so you might as well get one now as it'll last a good few years.

BelleMarionette · 19/12/2022 11:32

The Joie stages offers good value for money and longevity

EilonwyWithRedGoldHair · 19/12/2022 11:44

Getoff · 19/12/2022 09:25

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.)

Lots of accidents happen in the home...

Bigbadfish · 19/12/2022 12:40

I'd use it. Like most things the expiate date will be conservative.

YellowTreeHouse · 19/12/2022 14:46

arethereanyleftatall · 19/12/2022 08:55

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.

Car seats should always be disposed of after use. They should never be sold second hand - it’s not safe as the purchaser doesn’t know the history.

YellowTreeHouse · 19/12/2022 14:48

Caspianberg · 19/12/2022 09:09

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.

Those seats sold that are for 0-12 years are not safe. No seat can guarantee a good or safe fit for such a wide age range.

BertieBotts · 19/12/2022 15:00

Fair enough. If you want to change it then the max way plus would be a good option as will last a long time.

Caspianberg · 19/12/2022 15:01

@YellowTreeHouse - I know, I wouldn’t use one. But I assume they can’t actually sell a product for 0-12 years, and then give it a 7 or 10 year expiration date?

YellowTreeHouse · 19/12/2022 15:09

Caspianberg · 19/12/2022 15:01

@YellowTreeHouse - I know, I wouldn’t use one. But I assume they can’t actually sell a product for 0-12 years, and then give it a 7 or 10 year expiration date?

They probably don’t, but the one OP is talking about isn’t a 0-12 every stages.

It’s to do with the degradation of materials, wear and tear, the limits at the time of manufacture etc etc. So all seats will have a different expiry date.

Bunnycat101 · 19/12/2022 15:13

When you say you don’t do a lot of journeys, do you have your own car? I wasn’t 100% sure from the posts as I think that does make a difference re the practicality of tethering etc.

Original poster
Bubblemilk · 19/12/2022 15:22

We do have our own car, ds probably goes in it once or twice a week for a short around town journey, then we probably go further and above 25/30 miles an hour around once a month. I know we should have bought one before now based on the expiry but like pp I expected some leniency in the expiry date. It's only now I've realised a hbb is a long way off for him that I've realised we need to stick to rear facing even if that costs us some money we weren't expecting to spend.

OP posts:
2bazookas · 19/12/2022 15:29

New seat.
I can't believe you put cost ahead of your only child's safety.

FoxtrotSkarloey · 19/12/2022 15:36

It's a bit like insurance. Chances of needing it are really slim but it's not a risk you want to take, as you say.

Given he's quite small for his age, I'd go for an ERF.

If you do want something for the longer run forward facing, we've got a Joie Bold which I'm really happy with. We chose it because it allows for the longest time we could find with a harness rather than using the car seat belt.

Heartbreaktuna · 19/12/2022 15:36

I would use it for the sake of 6ms expiry.
But for the posters who doubt they expire, have you ever felt years old polystyrene? It turns into a rock. That's what's inside a child's car seat.
They have a limited life span because the polystyrene degrades inside of them. And safety standards change over the years and so it may no longer be up to spec.

FoxtrotSkarloey · 19/12/2022 15:43

Heartbreaktuna · 19/12/2022 15:36

I would use it for the sake of 6ms expiry.
But for the posters who doubt they expire, have you ever felt years old polystyrene? It turns into a rock. That's what's inside a child's car seat.
They have a limited life span because the polystyrene degrades inside of them. And safety standards change over the years and so it may no longer be up to spec.

I was really surprised to find they are just polystyrene! We used second hand for DS' baby seat (given by close friends and no doubts about its history) and I took the covers all off to give it a good clean, and it really is just lumps of polystyrene in a plastic casing.

NoKnit · 19/12/2022 15:43

Use the seat it is fine.

There is no way a seat will degrade to cause damage in an accident in like a month. The ERF days are slowly coming to an end, be grateful you made it to 4

Original poster
Bubblemilk · 19/12/2022 15:44

It wasn't just about the cost, it just felt very wasteful when what was the difference in the material between one month and next month. 6 months feels like pushing our luck. Clearly I'm not the only one who would use it expired though, there's been a mix of answers on this thread.

OP posts:
Caspianberg · 19/12/2022 15:51

@Heartbreaktuna - oh I know it’s polystyrene. But if a seat is safe at 7 years, it won’t suddenly be completely unsafe at 7 years and 1 months old. It will gradually with time.

YellowTreeHouse · 19/12/2022 16:13

NoKnit · 19/12/2022 15:43

Use the seat it is fine.

There is no way a seat will degrade to cause damage in an accident in like a month. The ERF days are slowly coming to an end, be grateful you made it to 4

No, they’re not coming to an end. With the right ERF seat children car rear face until 6-7.

BertieBotts · 19/12/2022 18:17

You should do what you feel comfortable with, but FWIW, the expiry period is fairly arbitrary, not typically based on any tests, and 7 years is on the shorter end. It's unlikely that this seat, whatever it is, is made of significantly less substantial materials than one which lasts 8, or 10 or 12. And bear in mind that the company is going to be extremely conservative in their estimate, because there's no use them saying it lasts 7 years and then somebody absolutely using it to death and wearing it out in 5. They will base that 7 years on the worst, toughest, most careless use which means if you've been fairly careful with it, it will probably be okay for longer. And they have probably subtracted a couple of years as well. So if on average it lasts 12 years, a careless user 9-10, they say 7 just to make doubly sure. That's why I don't think six months is a big issue, and if for example you would only need to use this seat once a year at Christmas, then it makes sense to wait until next year to replace it.

On the other hand if you use it fairly often and since it is likely to be another year or more before he's actually outgrown it, it does make more sense to replace sooner rather than later, even if it means getting a more expensive type. You might be fine with an 18kg limit such as Joie stages if you want to stay rear facing and that can be used as a high backed booster afterwards too, just not to the full 150cm recommendation.

It's true that standards change over time but the main change in the last 7 years is the prominence of extended rear facing, it sounds like it's already a rear facing seat so not particularly relevant in this case. The cheaper rear facing seats that are for sale now are the same as what was for sale in 2015. Some of them have better side impact protection and some of the spin seats are cheaper eg Graco turn2me.

BertieBotts · 19/12/2022 18:21

Sorry I misread your latest post - if you do want a harnessed seat that turns into HBB I can really recommend the Britax Advansafix. It's great as a booster as well as a harnessed seat. You probably don't need the i-size one. Recaro Tian elite has also recently got a good crash test result in this category. It's worth spending more for a 123 seat with Isofix rather than the seatbelt fitted type.

For a main seat I would replace, I was thinking that it was a borrowed one.

BertieBotts · 19/12/2022 18:23

FoxtrotSkarloey · 19/12/2022 15:43

I was really surprised to find they are just polystyrene! We used second hand for DS' baby seat (given by close friends and no doubts about its history) and I took the covers all off to give it a good clean, and it really is just lumps of polystyrene in a plastic casing.

Show quote history

They are not just polystyrene, some use EPS which looks like polystyrene but it's a stronger material. However inside the seat it often is for the crash force absorption. Under the plastic you will often have metal elements as well. It's all pretty clever stuff. Infant carriers are often very simple though which is part of why they work so well and so consistently.