Re-using Car Seat for DC3?

[YummmyMummy]

We bought a Recaro Youn Profi Plus for DD1 in early 2009 and used it for bother her and DS1 in 2010. We're expecting DC3 in November and wonder whether to use the car seat for the third time around.

Any thoughts? It's not been in a crash but has had the usual knocks and scrapes (v. minor) just from being carried around. I recall hearing something about car seats having an expiry date. Anyone know anything or have followed the guildelines on this?

I would.

Can't imagine 2 years having an effect when my 123 car seat will do DS until he's 11.

yes, i would use it again

expiry dates are usually well over 5 years

I think I've read somewhere that they should be thrown out after 6 years. Mind you, DD2 is still in a Maxi Cosi Group 1 seat we bought for DD1 in early 2004.

Yes I would. You bought new and you know exactly what use it's already had so I don't see a problem.

Never heard of them having an expiry date. The cynic in me wonders if this is to guilt/frighten parents into buying a new seat for every child though - but as I say I am very cynical

maxi cosi have the shortest lifespans. they expire after 5 years iirc
think britax and graco are somewhere between 7-10

it's not so bad if they've been in the house, but if they've been in a shed/garage/attic they will be exposed to very extreme temperatures which can weaken the plastic

there is a clip on youtube of a crash test done on a 10 yr old britax seat. the harness snaps out completely because the plastic has become brittle.

so i would be wary... but not in the OP's circumstances

Where do you find the expiry date of a car seat?

Iwish - unfortunately it is not a requirement to have an expiry date on a seat just the date of manufacture. It might look like a series of clocks with one hand or a grid with 'pips' in to denote the month/year. With the grid the last square with a pip is the date of manufacture.

In the US almost all seats have to have a do not use past date stamped on them. For those that don't the manual will have a no. of years that the seat can be used for. You then use the date of manufacture to work out the date which you dispose of the seat (obviously). Be nice if we had that here.

The length of time a seat is valid for varies depending on the seat construction but it is normally between 5-10 years (10 years is usually for a metal framed seat).

Thanks for that. I'll have a close look at our seats over the weekend.

Thanks ladies. I had hoped this was the case but with things like this you just never know. Will bear the 'expiry date' in mind too.

yep i would def use the recaro in your case,
i wouldnt use one that was 5-6 yo though,as in both our maxi-cosi manual and our britax one it states that they reccommend you replace after 5-6y,

While I think your seat should be safe have a look at the plastic shell for stress marks (white or light coloured marks on the plastic) before using it again and check the straps/harness for fraying or damage.

The reason I say this is because I've just checked our spare baby bucket (DD3 is now too tall for it at 18m) and it's DOM is June 2006, it is a cheap seat though - a Team Tex one (aka Nania).

It looked in good condition so I was tempted to freecycle it on the proviso it was only used for a few months but on closer inspection the navy blue plastic was covered in light blue/white stress marks. I've now stripped it down and removed the straps/cover so I can take it to the tip and no-one would be able to reuse it. It just doesn't look safe and I'm glad we never had an accident with one of the DDs in it.

It's not even 5 years old yet and is our spare seat so was used at most 25 for 3 babies (DD3 used it for the longest - trips in ambulances being the most common reason for use!).

It was stored indoors in a cupboard and was never kept in a car for a long period (perhaps a few hours) so was not exposed to the extremes of heat/cold a seat might if it was kept for years in a car. I don't know why it has stress marks on it.