“She is off the chart”, after examining numbers on her chart, the doctor told us.

At week 18, DD was 15.5 pounds and 27 inches long, falling into the 90th percentile in weight and 100th percentile in height. She is a big girl!

“We need to buy another car seat for her”, I told M, “very soon she will outgrow that infant car seat.”

I checked online and soon focused my research on Britax Decathlon Convertible Car Seat.

During the weekend, I found out one fabric pattern, Cappuccino style, was much cheaper than other patterns of Britax Decathlon: Cappuccino is $199, while others are all $294.

First I got very excited and was ready to purchase it. Then a question popped up in my mind: why this particular pattern is almost $100 less than others?

The next thing I did, as usual, was that I went to Yahoo Answers and posted my question: Why Britax Decathlon Convertible Car Seat- Cappuccino is much cheaper than other patterns? ?

Here is my question: I notice Britax Decathlon Car Seat – Cappuccino style is much cheaper than others, like Hungtinton, Onyx, Sahara and Tiffany. In some websites, Cappuccino is not even listed as Britax Decathlon Car Seat styles, only the other four. Any particular reason that this pattern is cheaper?

Soon one lady named Tina gave me an answer: The pattern / fabric has probably been discontinued. At this point of the year, most baby manufacturers are releasing new patterns and versions of their products.

There is also the possibility that it did not sell as well as the other styles and that the brown tones are similar to the Huntington colors which may sell better.

Then my favorite community member littleangelfire81 posted her idea: Usually when any Britax seat is cheaper and it is not one of their annual sales (Sept and Feb) It is b/c that cover has been discontinued. It means that you are getting an older seat, most likely, though not always. It is a toss up. My guess is the date of manufacture will be at least 1 year old, but can’t be sure b/c occasionally Britax will put a few random left over discontinued covers on brand new of the line seats. But the case usually is that’s its cheaper b/c it is older.

The reason this is important is b/c car seats are only good for 6 years from the date of manufacture. It doesn’t matter when you buy it – only when it was made. So if you get a 1 year old car seat brand new, you’ve already lost 1 year of its life before you even open it! Make sure the price is discounted enough to make it worth it to you. Or call the site you’re ordering from and ask for a DOM before ordering so you will know for sure.

DOM of car seat?! I have never thought about it! Certainly I don’t want to trade one year of valid usage time with $100, especially as this rate DD is growing.

Therefore, my fellow new mothers, if you find a good deal of baby car seat, check its DOM. Don’t just see the lowered price.

Tags: Baby car seat | Baby's Growth, First Year, From Lina | Lina | November 5, 2008 5:10 pm | Comments (0)