Despite that article's assertion, I think it is mostly an excuse to sell more car seats. I can buy the changes in technology (but the manufacturer has no idea when new technologies will be discovered and hence couldn't put in a valid date at time of manufacture), but I think the materials wearing down is pretty much a crock (unless we are talking about multiple decades)

My son tugs at his straps, puts his feet on the back seat and kicks at it, he chews the straps too. I think there are valid points to the theory and I hope I never have to find out how his seat holds up in an accident. It's better to play it safe.

I don't doubt that THAT can make the materials wear down, but the manufacturer has no idea if and how much your baby will do that. Plus the article state the expiration date was from date of manufacture not from date of use, so It could expire without ever being used. I just don't buy it.

With all due respect, I find that very hard to believe. I'd even go so far as to say that I don't believe that anyone, anywhere, has ever been ticketed for having an "expired" car seat in their vehicle. I'd need to see a specific example to be convinced otherwise.

I'm an admitted cynic, but this sounds like shameless fear-mongering on the part of the marketing department of car seat manufacturers, designed to sell more car seats and discourage people from using perfectly good "hand-me-downs" from friends and family members. "It's expired! You'll get a ticket! It'll burst into flames! Buy new!"

That is complete crap! The only one of the reasons given that has any basis in fact is that regulations change. Who cares if a bunch of politicians change the law. It won't make your baby safer. I hope nobody falls for that garbage.

There is nothing that will make the materials degrade except your baby r if you leave the seat too close to a nuclear reactor for too long. And if you do that, how would the manufacturer know, as bpqui asked? Also, if you do leave it near a neutron source then it's probably better to not have the baby in it.

People's minds seem to turn to mush when they think about a baby. That is exactly the time when you ought to be thinking most critically!

FWIW, plastic hardhats (and other plastic safety gear) have expiration dates as well.

Talking about car seats.

Google on 'superfreakonomics' and car seats (or get the book if you can it's a good read).

According to statistical research, car seats, expired or not, do basically nothing to protect your child if (s)he's older than 2.

Yes, and that is equally BS.

Plastics decay with time due to exposure to ultraviolet light, cosmic rays, ozone, and chemicals. So there is SOME basis for putting expiration dates on things like hardhats that are used in construction. But the science is exceedingly slim and the "right" date should be after DECADES rather than years.

This is a case of public stupidity and fear. In the case of hardhats, car seats, and related stuff like that the manufacturer is simply putting a limit on their liability. The date has absolutely nothing to do with safety. Basically, if they put a date on that says the hard hat expires after 5 years (which is the typical number) then they will thwart 95% of the possible lawsuits that arise from any failure.

The reality is, if you wanted to set a realistic expiration date then you would need to know a LOT more about the use environment. In the case of a car seat, using one in a large city will raise exposure to ozone by several orders of magnitude which will decrease lifetime dramatically. The same can be said for the other plastics in your car. Yet cars in LA are not falling apart.

And guess what, if you write your name on your hard hat with a marker you have destroyed it. If your baby has lotion on it when you put it in the car seat you'll be exposing the seat to chemicals that will break down the plastics.

Bottom line is, expiration dates are nothing more than a marketing gimmick and a way to get out of lawsuits when a parent drives recklessly, kills a kid, then wants to blame the manufacturer. Don't fall for it!

One thing that is not often mentioned about cloth diapers: you have to change the baby more often. Modern disposable diapers use a gel that soaks up quite an impressive amount of liquid. Typical cloth diapers do not do that. So, you have to change the baby more often. Many disposables also have a (somewhat controversial) "stay dry" layer on top.

Another difference is that you may not want to use most diaper rash creams. Almost all have an ingredient in them (I don't know what it is off the top of my head) that doesn't wash out completely. There are a few specifically formulated for cloth diapers. Most cloth diapers include in the instructions "our diapers are so super awesome that you will never need to use diaper rash cream" (which is of course baloney).

Between those two factors, you have to be quite diligent about changing diapers when you are using cloth.

I also had the same experience as another poster, as far as getting day cares to use cloth. All of the institutional day cares would not do it without a doctor's note. If you have a relative (including one of the parents or nanny presumably you can get them to use whatever you want. Otherwise, you might have more luck finding a small, home day care that will do it.

I'm also pregnant with my first, so I've been looking at/pondering most of these things as well.

We'd also like to use cloth diapers, but not sure we're going to be able to find a daycare amenable. And I recognize we could just use cloth part time, but if that's the case, I'm not sure it's worth it.

Start a 'daycare' search as soon as you can.

We both worked 3rd shift when our son was born, which is rough without a kid. As her maternity leave drew to a close we were screwed. I had been searching but no one would put up with the hours we worked and going down to one income was going to be too tight, especially with the new medical bills and baby stuff to buy.

I contacted every day care -- too pricey, day hours only, etc... I considered a nanny service -- which would just negate my salary. No family in the area, I contacted co-workers on different shifts, neighbors etc, all dead ends.

We found someone at work whose wife would watch the kid. We thought everything was good until about 10 days before she was to come back to work. She told us she could not do it. In a rush, I answered a lot of craigslist ads, care.com, etc and specifically gave our scenario. From Email, I narrowed things down to 5 possibliities and called each of those and then narrowed it down to two who, out of their home, we willing to accomodate our schedules.

It was a rough go the first few months due to our hours but i managed to get a new job on day shift. Our son still goes there but during 'normal people' hours and it's working out a lot better.. but I had to really push things to find someone.