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Original poster

Do I need to replace 9yr old baby car seat? If yes, need puchchair help too then!

37 replies

ernest · 10/02/2008 10:12

Was hoping to avoid it. What's the verdict? The baby seat will be 9 years old when I need it. Never been in accident or anything. Still looks great. But it is 9 years old. I've read should replace after 5 or 6 years. Is this really necessary. Asked in baby shop yeatserday. She said if 5 years old was Ok, I said it's more like 8 and she said then I should replace it.

Do I need to replace it?

If I do, the pain is, it was part of a travel system. I don't need a new pushchair as such, but I'd love to have a chassis to put car seat on if I'm popping into shops for a short while.

So if I need a new car seat, I'd need a new chassis. I see maxi cosi can fit on a Quinny Zap, tho I'm not keen on this. Is there a cheap, small compact chassis I could get?

OP posts:
LIZS · 10/02/2008 10:18

hmm , probabbly . Was told by MC that ds' seat ideally should be replaced as it is over 5 years old , only wanted a cover ! What chassis do you have , I expect there is still one to fit.

TheBlonde · 10/02/2008 10:23

I guess it depends... does a similar seat still exist? if so I probably wouldn't bother with a new one

It is in the manufacturer's interests to get you to buy a new one
Just like they discourage resale of them in the UK whereas in Sweden I have seen 2nd hand ones on sale in shops

Original poster
ernest · 10/02/2008 10:27

it's bebe confort and the new one bares no resemblance whatsoever to the one I have!

If it was only the car seat I wouldn't mind so much. But basically a new bloody pushchair too, sigh.

OP posts:
avenanap · 10/02/2008 10:29

It's recommended that no one buys second hand ones incase they have been in an accident and there is a weakness in the frame that cannot be seen. It should be ok as long as you've not had a bump in your car, I'd get a new one anyway, better to be safe.

MrsDandOllie · 10/02/2008 10:32

I'd get a new car seat (maybe a Graco or mamas and papas one that will fit on several different pushchair models as a travel system) and then get the matching pushchair cheap as you can second hand!
The maxi cosi fits on the Buzz, the Zapp and all bugaboos, but none of them cheap (except the Zapp) so I'd go for a Graco or a M&P!

sazm · 10/02/2008 17:55

hiya,i would change it too,i also read somewhere that carseats have an 'expiry date' however what about the seats that say they do from 9m up to 12y?????
how about the maclaren XLR with the recaro carseat travel system?it folds small,

3madboys · 10/02/2008 18:00

i would change it to, we bought a new car seat when we had ds3, as the one we had was 5yrs old from ds1 (used it for ds2 as well) but i read something about how the plastic could degrade over time, so even tho the car seat could look fine, in an accident it may not be.

we got the maxi cosi as we also bought a new pushchair with ds3 (bugaboo) and wanted it to fit on that.

mothercare do some cheapish travelsystem pushchairs with a first stage car seat.

Original poster
ernest · 10/02/2008 18:38

ok, thanks, have decided I will change it. SHame, cos it looks perfect, but obv don't want to take any chances. Thanks also for the ravel system ideas. I guess I need to look at that now.

There is a chance I might be able to borrow Maxi Cosi off sil. dn is only 7 months, but she's really big, so by June she might well have outgrown it (she'll be 11 months now. at 7 months she's already something like 9 kilos, )

So I guess a travel system to go with Maxi Cosi.

I don't want to spend ££££££££ cos I've already got a (well, 2 ) pushchairs. Must recline and fold as small as possible, so Zap out cos doesn't recline, otherwise would do.

OP posts:
sazm · 10/02/2008 18:42

either that or you can get graco travel systems really cheap,we got one for our dd for £90 and the buggy was really well made,and we bought a base for the carseat which turned out to be the best thing ever!

Original poster
ernest · 10/02/2008 18:57

sounds promising,£90 sounds reasonably healthy) but are graco not realy big & bulky? I've already got 2 big and bulkies, would like a teeny slim thing for holidays as travel quite a bit and that's always been bit of a pain....

OP posts:
sazm · 10/02/2008 19:03

not all of them,they do a new one called a mosaic which is a stroller one but the carseat clips on and off it

NAB3wishesfor2008 · 10/02/2008 19:05

I woiuld replace it tbh. What is it made from?

Original poster
ernest · 10/02/2008 19:08

er, just a normal car seat, so plastic & ploystyrene (sp?) as far as I can tell. It's a bebe confort elios or something like that.

I will change it. just pain as I said cos it was really useful or popping onto (v. small/compact chassis) so now need a small, lightweight chassis too

OP posts:
NAB3wishesfor2008 · 10/02/2008 19:08

If it polystyrene it needs to replaced every 3-4 years.

sazm · 10/02/2008 19:10

NAB3 how come there are carseats suitable from 9m-12y then??? surely they arent going to last that long if you should replace them that often??

sazm · 10/02/2008 19:10

how about this one??
www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3761504/Trail/C%24cip%3D1500012028.Baby%2Ban d%2Bnursery%3EC%24cip%3D1500012038.Pushchairs.htm

NAB3wishesfor2008 · 10/02/2008 19:14

I think a 9m to 12yr car seat is a bad idea tbh.

NAB3wishesfor2008 · 10/02/2008 19:15

YOU ALSO NEED TO CHECK IF THE ORIGINAL SEAT HAS BEEN RECALLED. OOPS, sorry for caps. Texting at same time!

sazm · 10/02/2008 19:16

NAB, why do you think it is a bad idea?

NAB3wishesfor2008 · 10/02/2008 19:19

Because a 9 month old needs something a lot different than a 12 year old.

sazm · 10/02/2008 19:24

hmm,lol,it depends on a lot of things,but
my lo is 22m but she has outgrown her birth-4y seat(her head is way over the top) but im at a really problem as to which one to get her,we go on lots of long journeys and she needs to be able to sleep in it,i also want it to be really safe,help!lol

CantSleepWontSleep · 10/02/2008 19:34

Here's an article about car seat expiration, for anyone who hadn't heard this before.

Original poster
ernest · 10/02/2008 19:39

well it's academic really if it's been recalled, cos i guess you great people have convinced me I need to buy a new one.
sazm, we've always had britax, and we occasionaly do very long journeys and the boys have been fine and never complaned. we had Britax explorer then evolva 2-3. Is your dc particularly big? maybe you could consider evolva 1-2-3? It looks very comfy and secure.

OP posts:
kindersurprise · 10/02/2008 19:40

Was there not a thing about car seats older than a certain date being illegal now?

Ernest
Since you have decided to replace it, I would recommend either the Graco or the buggy thing for the MaxiCosi. We had a Graco and it was really good. I liked the fact that you can fold it with one hand.

Aargh. Still googling for the Maxicosi thing. I have seen people with them, just a very simple frame wiht wheels where you pop the car seat on. Why can I not find it?

sazm · 10/02/2008 19:42

thanx for that cant sleep,you really dont think about how long the car seat has been sitting in the shop when you buy it,especially if you are getting a bargain,