@Kathy -- Actually, in most states, an adopting family has to produce a receipt from the past 48 hours of the car seat when they pick up a child. The car seat must still be in its original packaging. Many states have similar laws for taking home a child from the hospital. For adopting parents, at least, it's not negotiable. The car seat must be brand new.

As a pediatrician, I encourage families to buy new car seats. A car seat involved in even a minor traffic incident may not be appropriate for further use. The American Academy of Pediatrics' parenting magazine "Healthy Children" ran a good article about car seat safety, which mentions that "Most manufacturers recommend that car safety seats only be used for a certain number of years... older seats may be missing important parts, labels, or instructions. Secondhand seats may have damage that you cannot see, or may have been recalled." This especially applies to car seats found at yard sales or thrift shops. The AAP has a good fact sheet about car safety tips at http://www.aap.org/publiced/br_carseatcheckup.htm.

Borrowing baby items is great; parents just need to ensure that the items meet current safety standards and are not on a recall listing; check www.cpsc.gov for recall information.

Totally fiction.