Car Seat Expiration

I just got back from a play date and while talking to the moms I found out that car seats expire!  I knew that they can get old and break and that you shouldn't use one that is used because you don't really know what happened before you got it.  But I had no idea that they actually expired.  I just looked it up online and it is true!  It seems like they just are trying to come up with reasons to get you to buy more car seats.  But the plastic and the straps can wear out along with the fact that they are always updating and using better technology.  Most seats have an expiration date on the bottom.  I read online that if you can't find the expiration date then you should just assume it expires 6 years after the manufacture date.  I went and checked our infant one and it was manufactured in 2002.  That is way expired.  We were going to buy a new one anyway because one of the straps is starting to tear.  I thought about just buying new straps instead of a whole new seat but I guess I don't need to make that decision anymore.

One time my parents tried to put Tucker in a car seat that they kept around from when i was a child.  It looked kind of like this one on the left.  Now I have proof to show them that they really need to throw it away if they haven't already.

It is kind of funny because being naive I thought because we already have a boy and a girl we wouldn't need to buy much this time around.  But we do need/want to buy a swing because ours broke, a new bed not for the baby but so that Penelope can move out of the crib, another dresser and now a new car seat.

The weather is being crazy today.  It was very sunny and warmish all morning and then all the sudden it started to hail and rain a bunch.  I can't wait till we have more sunny days that last.  It is supposed to be nice tomorrow so maybe the kids and I will get a chance to head outdoors.