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Car seats in the passenger seat

Hi Girls,

I have never had to think about this before as we have always had a car with the airbag in the passenger seat so Amber could never go in it!

My KA has no airbag in the passenger seat so I am thinking is it ok to put her in that seat or is she still safer in the back?

What do you do?

Thanka xxxxx
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Replies

  • I think they're safer in the back, although I'm not sure why.

    xx
  • Hi Amy.
    I had ISOFIX especially fitted in my car so that I could put the maxi cosy car seat in the back. However, I had a c-section in the end and have a 3-door car and it proved difficult getting it in and out and so I had the passenger airbag disabled and have had Ruby in the front with me ever since birth. She is 7 months on Saturday.
    I don't see any harm in it whatsoever. Cars nowadays have safety features all over them.
    I like to be able to see her as well.
    I will be putting her big seat in the back when the time comes but the convenience of the maxi cosy in the front is brilliant!.
    xx
  • They are safer in the back but i have lo in the front with me - i have a 3 door and it's murder getting the car seat in and out the back especially now he's so heavy. Plus if he's in the front he chats to me whilst i'm driving and i quite like it. If he was forward facing i would never have him in the front though. x
  • Hi,
    I've got a ka with no passenger airbag same as you and Callum is always in the front with me. I prefer to keep an eye on him and there can be hell if he loses his dummy and he's in the back seat!!! I would agree about only doing this with a rear facing seat though
  • My lo was in the front when in a rear facing seat but now in the back as he is in a forward facing seat
  • There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that they are safer in the back. My hubbie works in the industry and I am telling you now there is no way in the world he would let me put her in the front even if it was only 1% less safe than the back!
    Hubbie just explained that if there is a front impact then the front passengers take the force but likewise, if it is a rear shunt, the back passengers take the force. It's 50/50 although I would like to imagine that we always think ourselves the safer driver and are therefore more likely to be shunted from behind?!!

  • and yes, not with a forward facing seat though! x
  • My two both go in the back and always have. The heaviest thing in a car is the engine and in a frontal impact that is pushed straight torwards anyone sitting in the front. I have read in several palces that it is safer to have them in the back, although I couldn't tell you why, or in fact where I read it :lol:
    xx
  • I've always heard that the back is safer, but we dont drive, but whenever we have gone out with my mum or OH's mum (god forbid any time soon) they always go in the back. But it would make sense seeing as the engine is heavier.

  • I always thought they were safer in the back, again not sure why??

    I have only just passed my driving test so I will be driving like a granny anyway lol!! xx
  • hi ladies interesting topic ....i have jack in the front at the moment in a front facing seat because ....we have an air bag so sophia cant go in and if he is in the back he has his legs over the seat cos oh has long legs and sophia goes behind the passenger or her seat wont fit :roll: our car is 3 door but its ok cos oh has put it in the trader this week :cry: although its impractical i love that car !!

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • My car has no airbag in the passenger side but i always put her in the back because its meant to offer more protection if you have an accident xxxx
  • If you had an impact big enough to shift the engine, I don't think it would matter WHERE you had the car seat or where anyone else was sat for that matter!
    Plus, the distance from the engine and bonnet to the front seat is greater than that of the rear end and the boot to the rear seat, so again, I stress my point that neither is safer! Equal probabilities!
    Also, if you have a VW beetle, then with the engine theory, the seat WOULD be safer in the front!
    Hehe...
    Just making a point. Love u all. xxx
  • The new Beetle has the engine in the front like any normal car!! Only the old ones have them in the back and they are so unsafe that I wouldn't put a baby in one at all!!
    xx
  • This is a really interesting post as our baby is due soon!

    I'd not heard the back was safer either - we were going to put baby in the back seat of my car as it a) has isofix and b) I was worried if baby was in the front I'd get more distracted by it? But we are selling my car and only using hubby's. Baby will still go in the back as again its got isofix, but also his passenger airbag can't be disabled.

    Interestingly... (or not!) a man at the Honda garage said even if you disable passenger airbags, he wouldn't recommend baby's going in the passenger seat in case the disabled airbag fails and still pops up?!?!?!

    Hubby, who hates me driving his car, has now said I can drive his car ALL of the time so he can sit in the back with baby Angus!!!

    Joo xxx
    (serial gatecrasher!)
  • In the very early days, Poppy used to go in the front seat in her infant carrier - but only because I had a MINI and it was a pain to get her in the back! I did turn the airbag off though. She is now in the back in a forward facing seat although, I have sat her in the front (also with the airbag off) when I took her on my own to Scotland.
    xx
  • hey,

    Louise has always travelled in the back behind the drivers seat.

    We had a talk from a surrey child seat safety person at an antenatal group session. She tols us that the safest place is in the middle in the back though this depends if there is enough space and the seat belt is long enough. 2nd is being the driver, 3rd behind the passenger.

    She told us that even if the airbag in the front is turned off there is a small chance it could still go off so it should be removed by the car manufacturer (sp?!)

    We were also told that in an accident you naturally steer towards the last thing you were looking at - so I try not to worry that I cant see Louise. If she is upset for too long I find somewhere to stop.

    Site we were given with info -

    http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/choosing/position1.htm
  • When lo was in rear facing seat he was always in front with me as the seat didn't fit in the back of my tiny little fiat panda - obviously we had the airbag switched off. Now he is forward facing he goes in the back.

    Hubby has 2 classic cars though and likes to take lo out in them, and as there is no proper back seats lo has to go in the front. Air bags aren't an issue though as they havn't got any. I do worry a bit though as I know the old cars aren't as safe as the new ones.

    I too have heard that babies are safer in the back, but I don't know why or where I heard it. What Mrs E says makes sense though and it is what my oh has always argued when I insist lo should be in the back.
  • I used to have cameron in the front in his infant carrier becuase i had a 3 door car and found it loads easier after my section. it didnt have an airbag though. In my new, 5 door car cameron has always been in the back. he's been in a fitted car seat more or less since i bought this car though as i got a 0+1 seat.
    when we had our parentcraft sessions when i was pregnant a woman from our local council came to talk about seats...she said that even when you switch off the airbag in a front seat they have still been known to go off in accidents. now i dont know how true that is cos iv only ever heard it off her but it stuck with me which is why cam has never been in the front of my new car.
    i would think lo would be safer in the front of a 3 door car cos surely if you had an accident it would be easier to get them out of the front.
    x
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