Used car seats

PrairieMom wrote: I know that you aren't supposed to use used car seats that you would buy at a garage sale or a 2nd hand store, but anyone know if it is safe to reuse your car seat from your previous child?

mckayleesmom replied: I reused Mckaylees car seat....but then again it is still sold in stores and meets the safety guidelines...Mckaylee and Russell arn't that far apart in age. I would think that Bens carseat would probably meet the guidlines as well since he isn't much older then the new baby coming.

Insanemomof3 replied: I did with mine, I am not sure if THAT is bad or not, but I did anyway. It had not been in a wreck, nothing at all was wrong with it, so I used it.

C&K*s Mommie replied: there is a 5 yr expiration on car seats. that is what I would go by. Being that it is your own, and not from a used baby items store.

kayla's mama replied: I personally don't see anything wrong with it. When we have #2 I plan on using Kayla's old car seat.

I think as long as it hasn't been in a wreck and still works properly then go for it

BAC'sMom replied: I don’t see why not, however I would make sure there has not been a safety recall on seat before I use it again.

Here’s a link to find out. http://www.cpsc.gov/

coasterqueen replied: I made sure there were no recalls on Kylie's infant car seat and use it for Megan.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: You aren't supposed to reuse carseats bought second hand because if they have been in an accident you wouldn't know. Anytime a carseat is involved in an accident you need to replace it. So, if you know the Boy's carseat was never in a accident, go for it.

kimberley replied: i have but to be sure you are meeting current standards, your local police station can inspect it and advise you what you need.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Most newer car seats have an expiration date on them somewhere. The standard life cycle of them varies by manufacturer. My Cosco Eddie Bauer seat was warranted for 7 years FROM DATE OF MANUFACTURE(the clock starts ticking the day the seat is born, not purchased), all the Fisher Price Seats are 8 years, most everything else is 6. Definately check the CPS website for recalls~otherwise you are good to go!!

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
Yep, my infant seat says not to use it after Dec, 2010 and my convertable carseat says do not use after 2011. It's totally fine to re-use your own as long as its not old and hasn't been in an accident or damaged another way.

CantWait replied: Absolutely. There are restrictions though. Some car seats can not be older then 8-10 years of age. I'd say you don't have much to worry about considering your boys age.

TeagansMom609 replied: I learn something new everyday. I had no idea that carseats had expiration dates. I thought if there weren't any recalls and it was never in an accident then it would be fine too use no matter how old it is. Interesting...

Cece00 replied: Yeah, like everyone else said...

Car seats have an exp. date & if its yours its fine to use until that date (its on the back of carseats...)

And you arent supposed to buy used ones b/c they may be too old or they may have been in an accident and have cracks you cant see, or other damage you cant see.

I reused carseats with my kids...of course I've had 3 kids in 4 yrs so I've still not reached the exp date on one of them.

5littleladies replied: We used the same one for the first three girls and then got a new one for Lissie because the old one is 7 years old and I was told you shouldn't use them for longer than that-In fact the hopsital wouldn't have let us leave with her if we tried to use the old one.

MamaJAM replied: We've reused our own carseats. Though I do have a limit I set for myself (over the expiration date on the seat and barring any accidents).....3 kids in a seat is my limit. Our first carseat was used by DD#1 - nephew - DD#2. When preg with DD#3 we bought a new one that we used for DD#3, DS#1 and DS#2 - then we hacked it up so it was unusable and threw it away.