Car seat styrofoam is cracked - do I need a new one?

[EldonAve]

Just noticed that the styrofoam under the cover of the car seat is all cracked and falling off
Is it critical? Do I need to get a new car seat?

We had a similar issue recently and decided to replace the seat. There was a kind of wing bit which DS1 was using to lever himself up into the seat and he did it so often it snapped.

How old is the seat? It does sound as if the styrofoam may have cracked through age in your case? Tbh I would replace it.

Yes get a new one. This could weaken the car seat making it less effective in an accident. I would get one to be on the safe side.

Yes a new one. Take no risks with DC in cars! I was told that any crack no matter how small can effect the shock absorbancy of an impact. Not worth taking the risk.

I think it's probably 6 years old
The styrofoam isn't crumbling but it has cracked in a various places and these large pieces are loose.

I can't find any mention on the Britax website about the stuff though
I'd rather not spend £200 quid to replace it if I don't need to

If dc has only just gone in the seat and is going tp be in it for a few year i would defiantly get a new one. Maybe one that covers two groups would be cheaper in the end. Maxi cosy seats say in the instructions that they should be replaced after 6 years

Firstly check how old seat is and when britax recommend that it has expired.

If in date you can get replacement foam from britax for about a fiver.

However I would only do this if you know how its cracked- mine was because ex was overzealous when leaning on it! If I couldn't be sure that it hadn't been dropped then I would get a new one.

If it's a forward facer I would consider extended rearfacing especially if you are going to replace anyway!

If it's 6 years old and bit of it are broken, then yes - you don't know what other damage is there that you can't see.

You can get a seat for loads less than £200, but yes - I was definitely replace.

I replaced the styrofoam in DS's car seat after he snapped it, however if it has "crumbled" I'd be worried about what other damage it had incurred and be tempted to replace the whole thing tbh

Do Britax list expiry dates for their UK products? I can't find anything on the website

No official word on UK but this on US site.

www.britaxusa.com/support

As it's 6 yrs already I would replace for £200 you can get an extended one like a britax two way elite that'll last a long time.

we had this with a first stage carseat, we had used it for for two children and it was about 4yrs old? we just replaced it, not worth the risk imo.

In-car safety centre recently told us that car seats are good for 5 years, which I found interesting as I always thought 6 or 7.

it is a bugger replacing seats, and even more irritating when you have to change seats (need to fit 3 seats in car as dc3 due soon) and a perfectly good, nay excellent seat has to be scrapped because you can't do anything else with it

Thanks
DH has now confessed to cracking the foam when leaning on the seat

You can get replacement polystrene bits from the car seat manufacturer - I got some for our Britax Exclipse. hth!

hi, if it's a britax seat i would ring them and get replacement foam. britax baby seats in the uk are 6 years and car seats 10 years. i found the info here, www.childrestraints.co.nz/manufacture-expiry.php

:)

What about the seats that are for age 4-12? Do they also only last 6 years or 8?

It's really easy to damage it, if you ever put pressure on the side impact "wings". When choosing a group 1 seat the fitter put it in the car and I went to "check" the fit by putting my hand on this and sort of pushing from side to side. She said "Ooooh no, never do that, you can crack the polystyrene!" and then showed me that with a FF seat you check the fit by pulling on the straps to check it doesn't move away from the car backseat.

DP regularly does the "shake seat to check it's in properly" thing to reassure DS he's in safely I have tried to tell him he can damage it, but he doesn't believe me.

I know this is a long time after the thread was started, but I had the same problem. I just phoned Britax and they can do a replacement for £7. I was about to take it to the tip - so glad I searched on the internet first and decided it was worth ringing!