well you know to check the expiration
dates on milk or eggs but what about the
one that the one thing that keeps your
child or baby safe 22news i-team
reporter Ryan Walsh reveals the hidden
dangers of car seats their own
expiration date if your car seat is
expired that plastic may not hold up at
an accident putting your child in danger
every time you go for a drive when you
put your child in a car you want to make
sure he or she stays safe you put her in
a car seat make sure the seat clicks in
check the straps make sure she's buckled
in but do you ever check the small print
and see when this car seat expires do
you know that baby car seats have
expiration dates Paula Reyes has six
grandchildren finding those expiration
dates aren't always easy so this one's
on the label itself this car seat has it
embossed in the plastic some of them
have it don't have it lifted from their
car seat but we'll have a listed in the
manual Mandy summers is the safe kids of
Western Massachusetts coordinator
why do car seats expire it is the
plastic you think about a car street in
New England suffering through the winter
months and then the summer heat so that
plastic expands and contracts several
times car seats usually expires six
years after they were made although it
varies by brand and if you were in a car
accident with the car seat or base in it
you're never supposed to use that car
seat again for those reasons
summers doesn't recommend buying a used
car seat the 22news i-team went to
several children's secondhand stores
some won't carry car seats like Hannah's
closet and Granby
why don't you sell car seat it well
because it's hard to tell the expiration
date I can't guarantee my customers that
something has happened like a car
accident
so I just choose to stay away from it
others like Hurley's children's cottage
in Wilbraham will their owner didn't
want to go on camera but did say they'd
make an additional label for the
expiration date
Craigslist is another place where you
can easily find used car seats we
for being sold in Western Massachusetts
during one search there's no way to
guarantee that those seats haven't been
in an accident and the expiration dates
aren't listed on the ad I prefer to buy
new one to be sure about the safety even
if a car seat has never been used it
doesn't mean it's new we went to Babies
R Us and found this car seat that's been
sitting on the shelves for more than a
year which shortens the lifespan of a
car seat car seats are expensive yes
this isn't a marketing ploy this is a CD
these are safety issues yes definitely
it's not it's not that they're trying to
sell you more items it's when you hit
that expiration date summer says you
should stop using it on wwlp.com we have
information on how you can trade in your
old car seat and also ways you can check
that your car seat is installed
correctly
I'm Ryan Walsh working for you with the
22news i-team