The infant infant seat that you have purchased brand new six years ago for your first baby still looks brand new.  You wanted to use it again for your second baby who is due in a month.  So you took it to the infant seat inspection center and asked them to help you install it properly.

The infant seat inspector searched the infant seat database, and told you that your infant seat has expired.  The inspector refused to help you install it in your car.  In fact, s/he might have taken the infant seat from you all together!

You are frustrated, you are confused, you are angry!  That was your infant seat and they just took it away.  And for what?  To destroy it?  It was a perfectly fine infant seat which had never been in any accident and not in recall.  Why?

Child seats do expire

Unfortunately, the infant seat inspector was right.  A infant seat do expire, and most infant seats have an expiration date about six years from the manufacturing date (some could be as long as ten years).  The expiration date is normally listed as a label or provided in the owner's manual.  If not found, you can always call the manufacturer and ask for the expiration date of your infant seat model.

The reason is that most infant seats are made of plastic (or other materials) which do degrade over time and under the sun.  The fact that you cannot see any visible damage or degradation does NOT mean there isn't any.  Structurally speaking, the plastic in the child seat becomes more brittle passed the expiration date, and thus could no longer be assured to protect your child in an accident.

So do pay attention to the expiration date on the infant seat, and refrain from using an old infant seat passed expiration.