In the March issue of ShopSmart, put out by the publisher of Consumer Reports, experts analyzed used baby gear to determine “when you can gratefully say yes and when you should gracefully say no thanks.”  I am devoting several posts to discussing their findings.  (I wrote about used  baby bath tubs here.)

ShopSmart has this to say about hand-me-down car seats:

Safe: A car seat that has all its original parts and labels, has never been in a crash, and fits your car and child is OK.

Not Safe: Products more than six years old are outdated, and most likely too run down to be considered safe.

Now for my own story: We found a car seat in a dumpster, dusted it off, buckled it in, and used it ever since.  Kidding!  I had heard all the warnings about using a secondhand car seat, so we got a brand new one.   If someone I trusted had offered me a car seat, I would have happily borrowed one.  Unfortunately for me, I did not have many (actually, any) friends with kids who lived nearby.  But, to assuage my eco-guilt, I did pass the infant car seat along to a friend’s baby.  That baby outgrew it in just eight months, and by then my cousin had a baby, so now she’s using it.  I hope that as many babies as possible use the seat before it “expires.”  (This idea really worked for me.  For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks in My Dryer!)

If I had to do it all over again, I may have considered the car seats that work for infants and convert to boosters for older kids.  The whole car seat issue was so overwhelming.   Does anyone else have some green ideas for car seats?  Let us know!