What Do I Do with It?

Hi K.-

Maybe donate to a local women's shelter? Often the families flee there with nothing...

Best Luck!
michele/cat

Someone brought up a good point. Carseats do have an expiration, but a carseat is better than no carseat. I taught at a high school where many of my students were parents. While walking to my car in the parking lot, I glanced in the back seat of the car next to me. There was an infant carrier (without the base) in the back seat with the seatbelt wrapped around it in all directions in an effort to secure the carrier in the car. I was horrified. The baby would have been decapitated at best if that car was in a wreck. However, that was probably the best the parents could do (afford).

I donated our infant car seat and base to one of my students. I would try a women's shelter or a local high school that has a high student pregnancy rate.

Plastic, metal and the fabric used in car seats does not expire! That is a gimmick the manufacturers have come up with to get mommys to buy more car seats. It is a crock of $**t! As long as there hasn't been an accident (and even then that is questionable), you can resell or reuse the car seat. They may go out of style and have new ways to attach the seat, but they will all still work. Only if they are around a decade old would I get rid of it. Trust me, I am all about safety - my husband says I am too much of a safety geek, but regarding car seats expiring - peeshaw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Donate it to a church or domestic violence shelter.

You don't have to get a new carseat as long as the carseat hasn't expired. They usually last 4-5 years, so you should be able to use it on your next kid (if you are having one). My newborn carseat got us being used by a 3rd kid right now. It had a 5 year expiration on it.

as long as you never had an accident with it you can re-sell it. I see it on craigslist all the time. Sell it for what you think its worth. There is no law and they dont expire or go bad after time. I had a Graco Snug fit Infant carrier/car seat and it went through 3 kids of my own with only one cover change because my 3rd was a boy.
The expiration is a guideline, they dont "go" bad, its cause they may have made changes to the saftey protocol or the way the belt is made. Be sure to check if your model has been recalled before donating or selling and if its LIKE way old then its possible that seat doesnt fit standards of today. Common sense.

Just a note on donating car seats. I had trouble finding a place to donate mine. Goodwill won't take it, some baby charities won't take it. The rule of thumb is if they are going to try to sell it (like Goodwill), they can't take it; but if they will actually use it, they can take it. I finally gave mine to a DV shelter.

I agree that car seat expiration is questionable, at best. Manufacterers do want to sell more product, and if the materials they use become unsafe in such a short time, there are probably other products, like those used in cars themselves, that would last much longer. But I think the whole thing is highly questionable, and a sturdy little carseat that has not had any high-impact use should be usable for years.

But because of the expiration, it's virtually impossible to sell carseats, from what I hear from other young families. Women's shelters can often use them, though, or community banks and churches that help the poor.

I have sold ever car seat we've outgrown, for a very reasonable price. I keep them clean to begin with, but I still washed the cover and cleaned them up first. If I could afford to give everything away, I would, but selling old stuff is how I afford new stuff. :)

Yes, car seats expire, and you won't be able to sell it (maybe on craigslist, but that still a long shot)... I'd donate it :)

You can clean it up and sell it at a garage sale or donate it. Ask around maybe someone can use it. When we moved we donated all of our son's
baby things to a organization for single moms. I was sad letting go, but happy to help someone else.

I KNOW all that blah, blah, blah safety stuff but I see kids NOT in car seats ALL the time. Usually at the gas station when the parent is in getting beer and cigarettes.

I hope to be able to donate ours to a shelter in hopes SOME kid gets to use it and be safer than sitting in the backseat with NO car seat or buckle. Seeing that totally ruins my day and I stress just THINKING about kids not buckled in.

i sell all my old car seats on craigs list