Are used car seats safe?
Absolutely not. I would never advise any parent to but a used car seat, or even accept one as a gift. Let me explain why. First of all, if you buy a used seat at a garage sale or from Craigslist you know nothing about it. What if it was in an accident before? It could look as if it came right out of the box and you would think it is perfectly safe. But there could be unseen damage that would make it a death trap for your little one. Manufacturers recommend discarding any car seat that has been in even a minor car accident. Here’s another problem with using a used car seat. Manufacturers give each seat an expiration date (usually 6 years) and add the date to the labels on the seat itself. But many used car seats are missing labels and if that’s the case you won’t be able to verify its age. It could be well past the expiration date but you won’t even know it. Missing labels could cause another issue too. If you don’t know the exact model number and date of manufacture you can’t verify if
