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Original poster

Would you use a broken car seat?

10 replies

Wills · 07/04/2006 18:29

I'm 34 weeks. I've just got the car seat out of the loft. We'd taken the cover off and stored that in the airing cupboard but had left the polystyrene backing (around the head area) in place to prevent it getting broken. We got it out and I turned my back for a whole 10 minutes which is all it took for my dd2 to break it in half. Its a mummas and pappas car seat that also fits onto the pram chasis. Its 6 years old so the likelyhood of getting a replacement is low. We could glue the ploysterene together and then to the chair but would that be good enough?

OP posts:

hulababy · 07/04/2006 18:30

No. The car seat would no longer be safe and couldn't be trusted to hold up in the event of a crash. Better get a new one IMO.

alexsmum · 07/04/2006 18:31

the polystyrene on ds2's car seat is broken on one side. we talked to mothercare about it and they said it wasn't a safety issue so we still use it.

NomDePlume · 07/04/2006 18:31

In a word, no. You just don't know how much the damage (however minor it may appear) has damaged the structural integrity (and therefore safety) of the seat.

Original poster

Wills · 07/04/2006 18:40

I agree that my gut instinct says no because of integrity issues. If I'd dropped the car seat then I would view it the same way as a hard hat i.e. that the plastic of the seat itself had been compromised. However Polystyrene is made of loads of plastic balls glued together.... So how about glueing the two parts back together. Do you see what I mean? Am I kidding myself?

OP posts:

cupcakes · 07/04/2006 18:44

You are kidding yourself. It would be incredibly unsafe. Sorry.

NomDePlume · 07/04/2006 18:45

In all probabilty the seat is fine, if it's just the polystyrene that has broken, BUT you can't be certain, for peace of mind, I'd swap it.

NomDePlume · 07/04/2006 18:46

sorry, too, many, commas ,,,,,,,,

hulababy · 07/04/2006 18:47

Could you live with yourself if you did have a crash and the car seat failed, after this? I know I couldn't, regardless of the reason for the crash and the seat failing, and that is what would be in my mind.

Also car seats have improved massively in six years anyway, so a new one - which doesn't have to be particuarly expensive, will give you even greater safety for your new baby.

alexsmum · 07/04/2006 18:47

as i said mothercare said ours was fine-they wouldn't do that if it wasn't ok-it would be bad for business.

NannyL · 07/04/2006 18:55

no way

i also would not use a 6 year old baby seat (as most of the new ones are so much safer)

particularly would not use a M&P 6 year old car seats, as all the which reports over the years (and i have them all since 1996, im sure M&P baby ones have been very unsafe...

why not go and get the mothercare travel tot car seat.... it only costs about £40 and apart from isofix is one of the safest. (Unlike mothercares predecesors!)

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