my turn with the carseat questions

[mamaalysson]

Does anyone know where to find the expiration date on a Britax Marathon?  I found the sticker with the serial number, manufacture date, etc., but it doesn't have the expiration date...is that in some super secret location that I'm missing?  It's got a manufacture date of 01/2011, if that helps.

ETA:  According to the lovely lady at Britax, it's 7 years.  So, I'm golden.  Thanks, ladies.

[gastro]

I think britax expires 6 years after manufacture date

[louiej]

My understanding is that it expires 5 years after the manufacture date.

Wait....5? It's 5 except for radians, right?

[mamaalysson]

Awesome. Then I'm good for a little while anyway. Okay, follow up question, what do you do with an expired seat? Would you feel comfortable using it as say an occasional back up seat in a grandparent's car? Or do you just not chance it and get rid of it?

[penguingrrl]

Jul 15, 2015 11:03:26 GMT -5 louiej said:

My understanding is that it expires 5 years after the manufacture date.

Wait....5? It's 5 except for radians, right?

Few if any seats expire at 5 years. I think there were seats that used to, but manufacturers have changed materials to increase the useful life. Some expire at 6, radians last 8 and I think there are some seats that now have a 9-10 year life! It's not even brand specific, it varies by model.

[penguingrrl]

Jul 15, 2015 11:14:29 GMT -5 mamaalysson said:

Awesome. Then I'm good for a little while anyway. Okay, follow up question, what do you do with an expired seat? Would you feel comfortable using it as say an occasional back up seat in a grandparent's car? Or do you just not chance it and get rid of it?

Get rid of it. It stinks, but you really can't use an expired seat. Even if you firmly believe that carseat companies set the limit unrealistically early and build in time for people to abuse the expiration date and use it safely (which wouldn't surprise me in the least) it's not a risk I would take. If nothing else, your car insurance company can weasel out of paying for injuries if you're using an expired seat, so you could be left paying OOP for injuries sustained in a crash because both your health and auto insurance won't cover it due to the expired seat. Also, if the seat did fail, even if it wasn't related to the plastic becoming brittle, you would have no recourse.

[penguingrrl]

And as far as your original question, I believe most britax convertibles have a 6 year date from date of manufacture, but I would call britax with your model # and other info and confirm with them!

[quesyrah]

Jul 15, 2015 13:13:17 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Jul 15, 2015 11:03:26 GMT -5 louiej said:

My understanding is that it expires 5 years after the manufacture date.

Wait....5? It's 5 except for radians, right?

Few if any seats expire at 5 years. I think there were seats that used to, but manufacturers have changed materials to increase the useful life. Some expire at 6, radians last 8 and I think there are some seats that now have a 9-10 year life! It's not even brand specific, it varies by model.

I don't know if the new ones have changed but my peg perego infant seat expired after 5 years. I hadn't looked at the manufacturer date until DD was born. It was manufactured in 2008 and I got it at my shower in Oct 2009 and started using it in Jan 2010 when DS was born. Since it had sat on a shelf a whole year before I even used it, it expired when DD was 6 weeks old :/

Now I check DOM before I buy

[penguingrrl]

Jul 15, 2015 14:32:46 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Jul 15, 2015 13:13:17 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Few if any seats expire at 5 years. I think there were seats that used to, but manufacturers have changed materials to increase the useful life. Some expire at 6, radians last 8 and I think there are some seats that now have a 9-10 year life! It's not even brand specific, it varies by model.

I don't know if the new ones have changed but my peg perego infant seat expired after 5 years. I hadn't looked at the manufacturer date until DD was born. It was manufactured in 2008 and I got it at my shower in Oct 2009 and started using it in Jan 2010 when DS was born. Since it had sat on a shelf a whole year before I even used it, it expired when DD was 6 weeks old :/

Now I check DOM before I buy

Ugh, how intensely frustrating! I forgot about pegs. I don't know their current life, but I forgot that their infant seats did expire in 5 years. There are very few on the market with that short a lifespan.

[mamaalysson]

Jul 15, 2015 13:15:42 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Jul 15, 2015 11:14:29 GMT -5 mamaalysson said:

Awesome. Then I'm good for a little while anyway. Okay, follow up question, what do you do with an expired seat? Would you feel comfortable using it as say an occasional back up seat in a grandparent's car? Or do you just not chance it and get rid of it?

Get rid of it. It stinks, but you really can't use an expired seat. Even if you firmly believe that carseat companies set the limit unrealistically early and build in time for people to abuse the expiration date and use it safely (which wouldn't surprise me in the least) it's not a risk I would take. If nothing else, your car insurance company can weasel out of paying for injuries if you're using an expired seat, so you could be left paying OOP for injuries sustained in a crash because both your health and auto insurance won't cover it due to the expired seat. Also, if the seat did fail, even if it wasn't related to the plastic becoming brittle, you would have no recourse.

These are really good points. Thank you. I will call britax to be sure, but it sounds like we'll be in good shape. Even if it's the start of this next year, DS will be nearing 3, probably front facing, and I think can go into the extra Pioneer we have in DH's car. My kids are so damn small, though. Ideally DD would be ready for a HBB so that we could just buy a cheapy one of those for her in DH's car, but I don't think she will be in 6 months.

[penguingrrl]

How big is your daughter? How often does she ride in your husband's car? Is she mature? There are a lot of factors that go into when a child can use a booster, so it might be quite safe for her when you need!

[mamaalysson]

Jul 15, 2015 14:41:35 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

How big is your daughter? How often does she ride in your husband's car? Is she mature? There are a lot of factors that go into when a child can use a booster, so it might be quite safe for her when you need!

She just turned 5, and is (roughly - well child is next week) 38 inches and 35 lbs, so I think she's still too small to convert her Pioneer from harness to HBB.  Maturity wise, I think she would probably do fine with a belt - she sits up tall, doesn't mess around with buckles, and rarely falls asleep in the car any more.  DH used to take her to school at least once a week, but she'll be on a new schedule this year, so I'm not sure how often she'll be in his car during the week.  On weekends, we try to give the kids some one-on-one time, so whoever has just her takes DH's car.  We can work around it, and obviously we have time to figure it out...my mind just went down one of those rabbit holes this morning, you know?  Maybe she'll grow a whole lot in 6 months...

[mamaalysson]

Edited above. I called Britax and it's 7 years from the date of manufacture. So 2018 for my seat. So, we should be good. Thanks for the help, ladies.

[penguingrrl]

Okay, so it will be a while before she can use the frontier in booster mode since she's petite (my understanding is that the frontier doesn't give a great belt fit until the harness is mostly outgrown). However, there are quite a few boosters that are rated down to 30 lbs. The intent isn't that you can put any kid who is 30+ lbs in them (my son is 36 lbs at 2.5 and no way he could safely ride in it!) but that a kid who is 5+ and has the skeletal structure of a 5+ year old can very safely ride in one. If she doesn't mess with the belts, doesn't seem to slump out of position and doesn't often sleep she can likely ride in a booster, especially in a secondary vehicle. Some techs feel differently and are pretty hardline on a child being 40 lbs before using a booster at all ever, but I haven't seen much good evidence that an older but petite child is unsafe in a booster that's designed for their size.

I would look at the high back graco turbobooster for her. It's rated for children 30 lbs and up and is known to give a great belt fit for most children, especially petite children.

[mamaalysson]

Jul 15, 2015 15:10:59 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Okay, so it will be a while before she can use the frontier in booster mode since she's petite (my understanding is that the frontier doesn't give a great belt fit until the harness is mostly outgrown). However, there are quite a few boosters that are rated down to 30 lbs. The intent isn't that you can put any kid who is 30+ lbs in them (my son is 36 lbs at 2.5 and no way he could safely ride in it!) but that a kid who is 5+ and has the skeletal structure of a 5+ year old can very safely ride in one. If she doesn't mess with the belts, doesn't seem to slump out of position and doesn't often sleep she can likely ride in a booster, especially in a secondary vehicle. Some techs feel differently and are pretty hardline on a child being 40 lbs before using a booster at all ever, but I haven't seen much good evidence that an older but petite child is unsafe in a booster that's designed for their size.

I would look at the high back graco turbobooster for her. It's rated for children 30 lbs and up and is known to give a great belt fit for most children, especially petite children.

Thank you, this is awesome to know!  I think we'll keep her harnessed for now - she fits great, she doesn't mind being harnessed - but this is awesome to know as she starts kindergarten and maybe wants to be more like a "big kid".

[penguingrrl]

Jul 15, 2015 15:21:07 GMT -5 mamaalysson said:

Jul 15, 2015 15:10:59 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Okay, so it will be a while before she can use the frontier in booster mode since she's petite (my understanding is that the frontier doesn't give a great belt fit until the harness is mostly outgrown). However, there are quite a few boosters that are rated down to 30 lbs. The intent isn't that you can put any kid who is 30+ lbs in them (my son is 36 lbs at 2.5 and no way he could safely ride in it!) but that a kid who is 5+ and has the skeletal structure of a 5+ year old can very safely ride in one. If she doesn't mess with the belts, doesn't seem to slump out of position and doesn't often sleep she can likely ride in a booster, especially in a secondary vehicle. Some techs feel differently and are pretty hardline on a child being 40 lbs before using a booster at all ever, but I haven't seen much good evidence that an older but petite child is unsafe in a booster that's designed for their size.

I would look at the high back graco turbobooster for her. It's rated for children 30 lbs and up and is known to give a great belt fit for most children, especially petite children.

Thank you, this is awesome to know!  I think we'll keep her harnessed for now - she fits great, she doesn't mind being harnessed - but this is awesome to know as she starts kindergarten and maybe wants to be more like a "big kid".

That sounds like a plan! 

[quesyrah]

Is 7 years new? I thought it was 6. I don't have my manual anymore but I thought my boulevard was 6 years.

[mamaalysson]

Jul 15, 2015 16:56:10 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Is 7 years new? I thought it was 6. I don't have my manual anymore but I thought my boulevard was 6 years.

Not sure. That's what Britax Lady told me based on the type of car seat and manufacture date. I also couldn't find my manual, but hopefully their customer service folks and whatever database they are using is accurate!