Has Your Car Seat Expired? Graco Review + Giveaway

Did you know that Car Seats have expiration dates? I just learned this interesting fact while reading the Graco Heart to Heart Blog. Six years is the general recommended life for a car seat. Although, each manufacturer determines the specific useful life for its seats. The reason for these limits involve possible degradation of the plastic shell or other parts, the possible loss/breakage of parts, and the fact that older seats sometimes do not meet current government safety standards

 our old unsafe car seat

As soon as I learned this information I check our hand-me-down car seat that we used for Jude and learned that we needed to upgrade before baby 2 arrived. Here's how you can check to see if your car seat is expired. I checked the Manufactured Date on the bottom of my seat and base and learn that our car seat was manufactured on June 29, 2005. Which means it will expire on June 29, 2011. (That's right around the corner.)

the manufacture date is found on the bottom of the seat

Graco sent us the SnugRide 35 Infant Car Seat in the Rittenhouse pattern for baby boy. The Graco SnugRide 35 has been thoughtfully constructed and rigorously tested for safety, including side-impact testing, to help keep your baby secure up to 35 pounds and 32 inches tall. Its LATCH-equipped, stay-in-car base has a one-hand dial adjustment to ensure the proper installation angle, and an integrated belt lock-off to further simplify installation. Add in the removable infant head support and the EPS, energy absorbing foam, and it’s easy to see why this infant car seat is one of America’s favorites.

Since we now have a new car seat for baby 2 (who is due any day now!) we need to properly dispose of our old car seat. Although it may be tempting to sell or donate an expired car seat remember you never want to put any other baby in danger. So to ensure that no one tries to use the car seat Graco recommends cutting the straps before discarding it. (Babies-R-Us occasionally has the great trade-in event where you can bring in your old, outdated baby gear and save a percentage on new purchases.)


GIVEAWAY

Win - One lucky reader will win a Graco Snugride 35 Infant Car Seat

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Please leave a valid email in the comments if your Blogger profile is private so that I can contact you if you win. Giveaway ends 6.21 at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. See giveaway rules for more information. 

I received the featured product in exchange for my honest opinion. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and not influenced by the company.