I Had a Car Seat Destroyed Today!

[Cassieniccole]

Today I went to Goodwill. While walking around I noticed an old looking car seat for sale. walked over and had to check it out. It was gross! It looked like it had been stored in some body's garage for a long time. The underside of it was covered in spider webs and it was filthy. I started checking out the stickers, they were curled up on themselves and when I un-curled them they crumbled! I finally found the expiration date on the back side. "DO NOT USE AFTER JAN. 2007" !!!

I was pissed.

Putting a child's safety at risk for $3.99. I walked up and talked to a manager. Told her that the seat was expired and the straps needed to be cut and the seat needed to be thrown away. I said is she wasn't willing to dispose of it properly I would gladly buy the seat and do it myself. She said she would take care of it.

My husband said when we should have gotten a knife from the kitchen section and cut the straps ourselves before giving the seat to a manager. I wish he had said that sooner! Next time I will for sure.

Don't buy used carseats. If you must buy a car seat used, please check the expiration date.

[abouttownmom]

Oct. 11, 2009 at 9:32 PM

Good for you!

[awelling]

Oct. 11, 2009 at 10:41 PM

I don't know why people buy used anyway, you never know if they have been in an accident. You can get a car seat for $40- $50, and know it is safe.

[lovemybabygirl7]

Oct. 12, 2009 at 9:46 AM

Good for you, that always irritates me when I see used car seats at Goodwill or garage sales.

[LokisMama]

Oct. 12, 2009 at 11:15 AM

The extent of 'used carseat' for me is that my daugher (9 months now) is going to use the convertable carseat that my son used when he was small.

I don't know about other states, but at least in Florida, the health department has a program that if you take an hour long car seat safety class, you can get a brand new carseat for 15 dollars.  That's how we got the infant carseat for my son, because we couldn't afford the 50 dollars for the cheapest evenflo carseat at Wal-Mart.  IT's a great program, but I don't know if there are similiar programs in other states.

[momandytai]

Oct. 12, 2009 at 11:21 AM

i'm glad you did what you did.  i'm surprised at the amount of moms that don't know car seats expire and you shouldn't buy used ones anyway to be safer.  you could have just saved a childs life, good for you.

[mtnmama111]

Oct. 12, 2009 at 12:34 PM

Plastic rots, especially after being exposed to heat/sun... what is the majority of a car seat made from... PLASTIC!!!

Not worth a *bargain*!!

[grooveybabe004]

Oct. 12, 2009 at 5:06 PM

Good for you.  That's just crazy. 

[sgr123]

Oct. 12, 2009 at 7:25 PM

That's awful.  Our Goodwill won't even take that stuff in as a donation.  I tried to donate a changing table pad, one of the nice contoured deals, and they wouldn't even take that.

[Krystal.Ingalls]

Oct. 12, 2009 at 7:46 PM

WooHoo!  Good for you!  I didn't know carseats expired until after my son outgrew his.  We were so lucky we didn't get in an accident.  Apparently it expired the year before he used it.  We got it from my cousin.  I'm glad you got it destroyed!  =)

[evwsquared]

Oct. 13, 2009 at 1:00 AM

Good for you, and thanks for posting this.  A lot of moms don't realize that car seats---infant car seats, convertible car seats, and forward facing car seats---have expiration dates.