There are many expenses when becoming a parent and at times it can seem overwhelming. There are a lot of opportunities to save money with hand-me-downs especially with clothing and every opportunity to save is welcomed. Hand me down car seats or trying to save a couple dollars on a used seat is not a good idea. There are underlying risks and concerns that you should be aware of.

Consider how a car seat works, a secondary seat that is secured to the vehicles primary seat usually by the vehicles seatbelt. The day to day usage may seem benign but in reality the sun and different contaminates slowly eat at the plastic structure that makes up the seat. Because of this the plastics slowly become brittle and no longer perform the way they should and so most manufacturers place an expiration date on the seat. This information could be obtained by looking at the manufacture date on the seat its self. A good guess would be about six years after that date.

The other issue is that you don't know the history of the seat. It may only be 1 year old but if it was involved in an accident already, it should have been discarded. You also don't know how it was handled. The seat may have been stored in an inappropriate manner or excessive abuse which could have caused accelerated damage to the plastics.

Other issues to consider are safety recalls and unsafe designs. Every year new models come out for seats. Some early models may have had recall notices for safety issues. There also may be known issues with some seats that were never addressed. Because of this you may get a structurally sound seat but one that was sold with a defect and later recalled, but never was. There may not be a way to know this or get a replacement at this point.

If you are unable to afford a safe new car seat, often you can find opportunities to get one for free from charitable organizations or through your health care provider. Consider how priceless your newborn is and you will quickly see the benefits of a new car seat.