My mom and I went to Babies R Us today to use the 15% coupon and buy two more car seats. We got one we registered for but need another one for Adam's truck and my mom's Durango. I found out thanks to Nicki yesterday that car seats expire! Did you know this? Apparently they can't guarantee them after a certain amount of time and it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Every seat is stamped with the date it was manufactured.
Now is this just a big hoax to get you to buy more car seats or an actual thing? According to Britax they last 6 years. There things are at least 200 bucks a pop. So they will only last through two kids at the most? I also couldn't decide if I should get my mom the Britax too or go with a cheaper one. I ended up getting the Graco Comfort Sport for her car. Which is not rated on Consumer Reports so I hope its good.
Anwho that was my day today. We are going over to my mom and dad's tonight to put a crib together for Luke because he is going to start going to my mom and dad's next week. Did I mention that my mom is going to teach the rest of the year for a 3rd grade teacher who has cancer. Yup, that means my dad, home alone, with TWO babies.
I think Grace is teething. I don't see anything but she has had a low grade fever, been kinda grumpy, and has diaper rash. She is yelling in her crib right now. She was a trooper through all the shopping at Briarwood and Babies R Us today. I am passing the shopping torch to the next generation :)
Hey Jane-
ReplyDeleteCarseats. Oh my... I am obsessed with carseats. I actually have done a few posts on them awhile back. Anyhow... yes, they do expire. Most seats have a date on them somewhere (my MIL's was hard as heck to find!).
There is a message board that is full of very knowledgable carseat-technicians (people trained in carseat safety and installation) and they have all sorts of advice to give. The website is car-seat.org. Check it out, they are very helpful there.
While Britax is a great, versatile seat, there are also a few others on the market that have higher harness weights. I am very adamant that Porter (and Hudson) will be in a seat, harnessed, until they are at least 5 or 6. None of that 4 years/40lbs babble for me. I feel its a zillion times safer for children (if in an accident) to be harnessed. Right now Porter is in a Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe. Its essentially the Britax Marathon body (it was designed by the person who designed the Britax marathon) but is marketed by Fisher Price. The seat goes both rear facing and forward facing, and the harness is good for up to 55lbs, which should suit most kids until 6ish. (The height of the child, and the height of the shoulder straps is another thing you have to consider... the shoulder straps should always be above their shoulders in a forward facing seat. Rear facing, I believe they should be just below the shoulders... however, don't quote me on that. I should probably find out before Hudson is here LOL!)
Anyhow... the Fisher Price seat is about $130... HALF the price of the Marathon.
If I were to do it over again, I'd have purchased two of the FP seats for Porter now, and Hudson will move into those when he's about 5/6 months old. And then we'll get two new seats for Porter (I'm leaning towards the Graco Nautilus... forward facing only, but harness is good for up to 65lbs and then it transitions to a booster seat).
Anyhow... i could go on for days about carseats LOL! If you have any questions, drop me an email. Or check out car-seat.org.
Isn't it insane how much carseats cost? They are so necessary though. We have the Britax and absoutely love it. We upgraded after buying one of the Eddie Bauer ones that I ended up hating.
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