1. Baby car seat does expire and where you can find the expiry date of the car seat, it is located on manufacturer label on the sides or the base of the baby car seat. If you can't find the expiry, at least you can find the manufacturer date and count six years from the manufacturing date.
2. There isn't actually a government regulation that dictates an expiration date must be shown on baby car seats, but it is the manufacturer themselves who put there for the safety of the babies using it. Typically expiration period is between 6 to 10 years.
3. Technology improvement and change of car seat standards means that you could miss out on the new safety features if you continue using the old car seat. The addition of a new lower anchor and tethers system was some of the new features added to newer models of baby car seat.
4. The hard plastic base of the car seats may develop hairline fractures and belts can become less strong after many years of use, and also due to the extreme hot and cold temperature fluctuation especially in countries like Canada. In times of emergency crash, the older baby car seat may not function as well as when it was new.
5. An older baby car seat may have been on a recall list by the manufacturer and if you bought an old used car seat, then you may not have been notified by the manufacturer about the possible recall.
6. If you are ever in need of some replacement parts for the older baby car seat which is past the expiry date, you probably won't be able to get them, since the manufacturer could have already discontinued the production of those older parts.
7. Buying the more expensive model of baby car seat doesn't mean longer lifespan. Most of the baby car seat model have similar lifespan and be warned about buying used baby car seat. That old car seat could very well have been involved in a car crash and the owner may be trying to sell it off cheap because of that reason.
