Would you use this carseat?

[BroccoliSpears]

Would you use a seven year old car seat for your baby? Or do you think technology and engineering has come on since it was made seven years ago?

It is a basic Mothercare one (the cheap one - about £40 now I think).

It's been used for various children in the family, including our dd last year.

It's never been in a crash.

On all the offical sites for car seats, they suggest that they are only good for 6 years. However, if you know its full history, I can't see why it would be a problem.

Oh definately, i use my sister's old one from 4 years ago. How can engineering improve? All they do is change trhe cover and add twiddly bits on like drink holders and nose wipers! If does the basic function of keeping the nipper safe then go for it. I bet if you went in to mothercare and looked at the similar model tey have now and lifted up the fabric, the 'structure' r casing would be exactly the same!

I would buy a newer, better one. Any excuse to shop.

1. absolutely engineering, and the understanding of what happens in an impact has improved tremendously in the last 7yrs.

1. exposure to sunlight and fluctuating temperatures can cause microscopic damage to the plastics th seat will be made of.

As Maureen says, most guidance is 6yrs but TBH we got a new 1st seat for DD3 5yrs after brought for DDTs, although she is reusing their second stage seat which is only 3-4yrs old

Message withdrawn

I think we are talking the stage 0, 1 &2 ones where the seat is a structure which holds the child, rather than the booster/high backs where it is more of a case of making the seatbelt safer in some respects.

Interesting point though.

I thought it was 5yr's (due to SMS's pt 2). I wouldn't reuse a 7yo one I don't think.
Friend has my ds1's now (which is about 5.5y) for her 6mo and I am scrapping it after she has finished with it.
Never thought about it in relation to the 4-12 seats though! We got ds1's when he was 2y9m so it potentially has a 9 year life for him.

Hmmmm.

Okay... so, next question:

Is the difference between the £100 babyseats in Mothercare and the £40 babyseats in Mothercare just down to fancy schmancy hoods and cup holders? Or is a £100 seat sixty pounds safer than a £40 seat?

So 9 year old ss's old seat which dd1 used (now 4) and dd2 is now in age nearly 2 is really for the scrap heap then? when britax still make the same model?

The trouble is that the official advice tends to come from the people who want you to buy more car seats.

I would never compromise my baby's safety, but I also don't have the cash to splash on a seat we don't actually need.

the safety thing depends on the seats, there are very good ones that are cheap and very bad ones that cost loads. I posted the which report findings on here a while ago, it was interesting to see the differences

thread here

I have just checked RoSPA (indepant safety advice) and they say not to use a seat which is too old, but don't quote a specific age.

What they do say though is that from March 2008 it will be illegal to use a seat which doesn't conform to EC44.03 or EC44.04 (at the moment it is illegal to sell without these accreditations). That should be checked as a bare minimum.

My FIL and his wife gave us the seat they had for my half sis in law who is now 9, DS is 1 and I couldn't make myself comfortable with using it so we bought new.
If the nylon in climbing ropes is affected by UV in daylight, how much more are car seats exposed to? My worry was that the britax ones are designed to flex and absorb the impact and if the plastic gets brittle with age it could be nasty.
On the one we bought there is actually a use by date moulded in the plastic under the seat.
If you used it last year, why worry now?

is it the mother care daytona?

about 7 years ago (i remember cause my 1st ever baby charge was baby at the time) Which? reviewed that car seat

the mothercare daytona.... it is the only product in the entire history of Which? magazine to score 0.... it was so bad that a child in it would not stand a chance and actually be KILLED if in a 30mph accident, and there neck was broken. that was what happend to the crash test dummy and it was all 100% properly strapped in.... the crash tests were horrific and they showed them all frame by frame in the which maagazine at the time.... (the time i had a baby charge ) (they actually recommended leaving baby at home and going straight to buy a different car seat cause it was so bad)

Until very recently all mothercare car seats were really really really crap and dangerouse, though in the past few years this has changed and mothercare have finally produced a few own brand safe cars seats (along with a fair few dangerouse ones)

there is no way in the world I would put a baby in a 7 year old MOTHERCARE car seat.

However for example the up to date at the time model that my charge had (7 years ago) was very good at the time and okish now, so i would reuse that for a baby but absoultely NOT a mothercare one.

if you want a relaly safe stage 0 seat look no further than the maxi cosi cabrio

that does very very very well in the modern day crash tests

Carseats shouldn't be exposed to much UV light because very little UV passes thru glass.

I always throw a blanket over mine anyway, it stops the buckles getting hot.