Support

Expiration Dates FAQs

• How can I update my product registration information?

  To update your product registration information, visit our Product Registration page or call the Britax Consumer Services Department at 888-427-4829. Please have the model number and serial number for your product available.

• My car seat is expired. What should I do with it now?

  We recommend that expired car seats be discarded. When discarding a car seat, be sure to cut off all of the webbing, cut the cover, remove or blackout the serial number and manufacture date, and write “trash, do not use” on the car seat shell.

• Why do car seats have expiration dates?

  There are several reasons why car seats have expiration dates:
  
  

  1) The materials that compose the seat (plastics, fabrics, webbing, etc.) all degrade over a period of time due to environmental factors, such as sunlight and heat.
  

  
  2) Car seat manufacturers have the ability to perform “life cycle testing” in an environmental chamber. This chamber allows us to perform tests replicating an expected life span of the seat. The materials the seat is made from, the process by which the seat was made, the design of the seat, and the size and weight of the child using the seat are all designed in accordance with the life cycle test requirements.
  
  
  

  A car seat has to meet government standards that are in place at the time the seat is manufactured. Safety standards are constantly changing and new technologies are being developed.

• When does my car seat expire?

  The expiration date varies by product and from the date of manufacture. For information relating to your particular car seat, please refer to your user guide.
  
  Britax Car Seats manufactured June 2010 or after:

  • • Infant car seats have a useable life of 6 years.
  • • Convertible car seats (excluding the Classic line) have a useable life of 7 years.
  • • ClickTight Convertible car seats have a useable life of 10 years.
  • • Harness-2-Booster seats have a useable life of 9 years.
  • • Belt-Positioning Booster seats have a useable life of 6 or 10 years. Refer to the user guide of your specific belt-positioning booster seat.

  
  Britax Car Seats manufactured through June 2010:

  • • The useable life for most Britax infant car seats (including the base), older infant/child car seats, youth seats, and belt-positioning booster seats manufactured through June 2010 have a service life of 6 years. Frontier Harness-2-Booster seats manufactured from 2008-2010 have a service life of 9 years.
    
    To prevent injury due to deterioration or hidden damage, do not use car seats or booster seats older than their useable life or if it has been in a moderate or severe crash. You can find the date of manufacture on the car seat/booster seat serial label.