Cosco car seat expiration
Cosco states the useful life of its seats as 8 years (convertible seats, as stated in the Scenera NEXT user guide effective 07-16-19) · 8 years (infant seats, as stated in the Light 'N Comfy 35 user guide dated 8.26.20) · 10 years (booster seats, as stated in the Rise and Rise LX user guide dated 9.26.22). The date of manufacture on your seat's label plus that figure is the expiration date.
Cosco publishes no single useful-life number. Its brand-level support article states only a range — "expiration dates that range between 6 to 10 years, depending on the model" — written for Dorel Juvenile's restraints generally, and the one example it names is a Maxi-Cosi, a sibling brand rather than a Cosco. The Cosco-specific figures sit in the user guides and follow the seat type: 8 years in the convertible and infant guides read here, 10 years in the Rise booster guide. The 8-year convertible figure is steady across guide generations — the 02-07-17 guide, the 07-16-19 guide and the Canadian edition all carry it — but Cosco scopes its guides by date: "The manufacture date located on the car seat must be equal to or exceed the user guide effective date". Read the guide that matches your seat's date of manufacture. The 2014 Scenera NEXT guide could not be retrieved, so seats made before 2017 are not covered here, and the statement on the seat itself settles it either way.
Cosco's stated figures
| Useful life | Applies to | Cosco's own words |
|---|---|---|
| 8 years | Convertible seats, as stated in the Scenera NEXT user guide effective 07-16-19 | On the side of the child restraint there is a date of manufacture label as shown. Do not use this child restraint more than 8 years after the date of manufacture. |
| 8 years | Infant seats, as stated in the Light 'N Comfy 35 user guide dated 8.26.20 | On the side of the car seat there is a date of manufacture label as shown. Do not use this car seat more than 8 years after the date of manufacture. |
| 10 years | Booster seats, as stated in the Rise and Rise LX user guide dated 9.26.22 | On the bottom of the booster seat there is a date of manufacture label. Do not use this booster seat more than 10 years after the date of manufacture. |
Read from Cosco's own page, checked 2026-08-27.
Where the date is on a Cosco seat
Cosco puts the sticker carrying the model number and the date of manufacture on the side or the bottom of the shell. The user guides are more specific by seat type: the Scenera NEXT convertible and the Light 'N Comfy 35 infant seat both show the date-of-manufacture label on the side, and the Rise and Rise LX booster guide puts it on the bottom of the booster.
To find your car seat’s model number and manufacturing date, check the sticker on the side or bottom of the car seat shell.
Cosco's own wording — source, checked 2026-08-27.
Cosco models
Recalls and support
Check any Cosco seat against NHTSA's recall lookup — the label's model number and date of manufacture are what the lookup asks for. Registering with Cosco means they can contact you directly.
The label on your seat is authoritative; this page is a reference.