Expired car seat collection to take place at BCHC on May 18

As a parent, you wouldn’t give your child expired milk or medicine…it’s time to check and make sure their car seat isn’t expired, too. Car seat manufacturers give an expiration date—generally 6 years after the seat was manufactured—because the plastic used to make the seats can become brittle over time from daily use and exposure to heat and cold.
“Even though an expired car seat may look perfectly fine, it may not protect your child in the event of a crash,” said Nicole Levander, Certified Car Seat Technician. Parents can find the seat’s expiration date (or sometimes the manufacture date) on a sticker about the size of a mailing label or stamped into the plastic of the seat. Car seats (including boosters) should also be recycled and replaced if they have been involved in a crash, even if the child was not in the seat at the time of the accident.
“Make sure you know the entire history of the car seat before purchasing or borrowing a secondhand car seat,” cautions Levander.
If you have a car seat that is past its expiration date or no longer usable, you can bring it to the North side of the Boone County Health Center, next to the Kvam Room entrance on Thursday, May 18 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The seats will be transported to Offutt Collision Repair in Omaha where they will be disassembled, destroyed, and recycled.
“Sometimes disposing of car seats in the trash can be dangerous because someone might try to reuse that seat even though it’s no longer safe. Recycling them keeps them out of landfills and also prevents reuse,” said Levander. The Health Center also has a limited number of new car seats available for purchase at a discount if parents cannot afford a new seat for their child. Contact Nicole Levander for more program information.