We like to read parenting forums to see what parents are saying about car seats. Forums are a tremendous resource for parenting information, but when it comes to car seats... forums can sometimes be misleading.
Recently, we found a discussion about expiration dates that referenced an entry on our site. The original poster in the discussion rightly tried to raise awareness of the expiration date issue and pointed readers in the right direction for correct information.
In the next comment, a different poster said that her specific car seat was manufactured at a certain date and was good for 10 years. She then said
that the rule is to find your car seat's date of manufacture and add ten years to see how long you can use it for.
If you follow our blog, you know the above statement to be incorrect. Our readers know that car seat expiration dates are manufacturer and model specific. And, If you don't know the specific date, you should assume that the seat has 6 year lifespan from the date of manufacture.
What's disturbing is that the second poster is a moderator of the forum and will be viewed as a credible source by many readers. Additionally, she may have invalidated the altruistic efforts of the initial poster.
I urge all parents to be wary of incorrect or outdated car seat advice on parenting forums.
Always check your sources.
Check out the "Sites We Like" section in the left column. These are reputable sources for car seat safety information.
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