My baby is no longer an infant (time flies!) but I had to post this here. I work at a day care center and often see parents placing their kids in appropriate car seats. The other day a parent whizzed through the parking lot and I noticed the child (a ten month infant) was in the front passenger seat AND turned around facing the windshield! The safest place for your child IN THE BACK SEAT! And infants shouldn't be turned around until they are 20 lbs. Make sure you let other mother's and care givers know this. As mothers, we assume other parents and child care workers (ie, Nanny) know this and sometimes they don't realize the importance of keeping kids in the back seat. I saw one mother, years ago, with her babies car seat turned the right way but in the front seat. I confronted her, nicely, and she said it was easily with the baby in front because the baby cried alot in the car and she could easily soothe him.
Please let parents know if you encounter a similar situation. You might think you'll come off as pushy, but your intervention could save a babies life.
I know how you feel. I once saw a NEWBORN, and he was seated in the back, in a HUGE carseat...just didn't look like it fit him right....facing FORWARD! I just about lost it. He didn't even have the head supports around him, the poor thing! I was a lot younger than, and wasn't a mom yet. So, I didn't say anything. I wish I had. I regret not saying something, especially if something were to happen to him. I am a sub teacher, and I am a mom, with another on the way. The other thing I wanted to add it that they either have to be 20lbs AND a year old or one or the other ( I cannot remember) but I made sure my daughter was BOTH before I switched her to forward facing. I also don't think people are aware that their local police or fire stations should have carseat safety that is COST FREE!! This should also be expressed to people who just have no clue! I would rather spend some time learning than to just guess what is safe. Thanks for this post, hopefully it helps some parents that aren't sure of what is safe!
I believe a baby can be in the front seat when the car does not have air bags. It wasn't until cars had airbags installed that we started to put babies in the backseat.
I have seen babies in a front seat (facing away from the dash) in older model cars.
No babies in the front seat is because of the airbags. But all the latest model cars have a switch so you can turn the front air bag off. My car is an '05 and it has a sensor in the front seat so that when the weight is inbetween certain pounds on the front seat the airbag automatically turns off. With nothing on the front or a bag or 2 or an adult sitting there, it is on. But if I load my groceries or were to set my children on the front seat it would turn off. It has to do with the fact that when the air bag inflates it will push something that is not heavy enough to counter the pressure. So it would push a rear facing infant carrier seat up and into the back of the seat or it would sufficate a smaller child.
No babies in the front seat is because of the airbags. But all the latest model cars have a switch so you can turn the front air bag off. My car is an '05 and it has a sensor in the front seat so that when the weight is inbetween certain pounds on the front seat the airbag automatically turns off. With nothing on the front or a bag or 2 or an adult sitting there, it is on. But if I load my groceries or were to set my children on the front seat it would turn off. It has to do with the fact that when the air bag inflates it will push something that is not heavy enough to counter the pressure. So it would push a rear facing infant carrier seat up and into the back of the seat or it would sufficate a smaller child.
I'm not sure if you are saying it is ok to put an infant seat in front because of the sensors? This does not seem safe to me. In order to install the seat correctly you need to put pressure on the seat, that would probably be enought to turn it on. I wouldn't take the chance. The safest place for anyone is in the rear seat.
Last edited by Mom22greatkids; 05-24-2007 at 09:07 AM.
I am not saying that it is okay. But if some one out there has no choice but to use the front seat, they should be able to turn the airbags off. For instance, a regular cab pick up has only front seats. My husband had no choice but take my DS in his work truck one time, so he went in the front seat and DH turned his airbags off.
My dh has to take our daughter to his mothers when i work as she looks after her for us, dh only has a van thing now with three seats in the front so dd has to ride in front,, but of course the airbags are off. when she was very young she used to choke alot, so if he was alone he used to have her in the front of our car where he could see her rather than in the back where he couldnt. obviously the airbags were switched off but sometimes you have no choice than to have them in the front, so try not to judge people for having a car seat in the front cause most sensible people will know to turn the bags off
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Mia-Louise jan '04
Jacob april '07
i dont believe in having ababy in front seat, or toddler maybe until about ehhh 8 years old? maybe im wrong...but when my first son was about 9 months old we did face him foward in the back seat and it seemed perfectly safe, if you get hit/or you hit someone bad enough the seat will do nothing!
The safest place is the middle rear seat, with a rear-facing car seat until (at a minimum) baby is 20 lbs. AND 1 year old. I've seen recommendations that baby stay in rear-facing position until 18 months or more. Baby's body is just not strong enough to withstand the forces of ANY sort of car accident, which is why the seat is rear-facing -- it takes the brunt of the forces. When forward-facing, baby's neck, chest, and abdomen take the brunt of it...
That being said, there are times when it is not feasible to put baby in the middle rear seat. IF you have to put baby somewhere else in the vehicle, it should only be done if the air bags can be turned off. If not, DO NOT TAKE THE CHILD ANYWHERE IN THAT CAR! You could potentially kill the kid with the force of the airbag deploying. Sorry if it's inconvenient.
If your car's seats turn off the airbag by pressure switch, make sure that you lean on the seat or something EVERY time you put baby in the car seat, especially if you don't take the car seat in and out every time. This will ensure that the air bag turns off.
Otherwise, kids under 12 should always be in the back seat unless there is an air bag that can be turned off. And if your 12 year old is slight and not of an "adult size" then he/she should be in the back seat until more growth occurs. It's all about the air bag.
Last edited by xinerevelle; 05-29-2007 at 06:39 PM.
