Car seat in front seat of car?

[ODog]

Hope someone can shed some light on this as googling has thrown up some vague responses.

Where I live I have to park close to my house as we have no pavements (very old house in a very old village). I can squeeze out of the drivers side but I always park with my toddler facing the road side so I can easily get him in/out. It's an extremely quiet road so no safety issues. He is 20mo and still rear facing in the back of the car. No problems here.

I am due to have my second baby in May and initially assumed I would put her in the back on the other side but I would struggle to open the door wide enough to get either of them in/out on the side parked closest to the house.

My options are:

1. Teach toddler, almost two by then, to climb out and across the car to the other side. Not sure if this will be possible or whether he will be compliant enough.
   
2. Put toddler in the front seat (no isofix in front) as his base can be secured with seat belts whereas the base for the infant carrier we have is isofix only. But is this safe? We can turn airbags odd so he can continue to rear face.
   

Any experience/advice welcome. TIA.

[Quoteunquote]

Before you start check your insurance details carefully, insurance companies are not daft, because the front of a car if far more dangerous than the rear, a lot of insurance companies state that under 14 must travel in the back if seat available with full seatbelt, only after the back seats are full can you add under 14s to the front.

[Buttercup27]

My ds has just turned 2 and is happy to climb over his brothers car seat to reach his own they are both identical but they both know their side of the car and refuse to sit in each others. I can then lean over and strap him in from the front. This may be a bit more awkward for you as he is rear facing, my ds is forward facing.

[ODog]

That's good buttercup. I could probably open the door enough to do the buckle up just not haul him in/out. Worth a shot I guess.

quote - I'll have a check but does that still apply if child is in a car seat? Obviously if it is much more dangerous then I'd rather avoid and keep them both in the back.

[Buttercup27]

Why not give it a go for a few weeks. If it doesn't work our you can have a re think before baby is here and it becomes a problem.

[cranberryx]

You must make sure that you disable your airbag if you put a car seat in the front. However, doing this actually invalidates your MOT and therefore your insurance should you get in an accident (the garage told me when I asked)

I would advise putting both car seats in the back.

[Pollyputhtekettleon]

I have 3 very little ones. The newborn goes in the front with the airbag off. It's the easiest as the maxi cosi comes into the house leaving the front seat free when needed by another adult. Also I can check her when stopped at lights etc.

[Frazzled2207]

Worth checking insurance but I regularly put my baby in front passenger seat, rear facing in his infant carrier, no isofix but use the belt.
Most important thing is to disable airbags.

[Frazzled2207]

Think the insurance issue is to do
With deactivating airbag rather than putting a baby in front.
Some cars you have to pay to get them deactivated whereas in our toyota its easily done so when an adult is there can easily switch it back.

[moggle]

If the air bag is deactivated it's not more dangerous. Read this from a rear-facing car seat blog. Sounds like they do it a lot in Sweden and Volvo say the front seat is just as safe as anywhere else. If you look in the comments on the page there are lots of links to research and car and car seat manuals confirming this.
However with the larger rear facing seats you would need to check your visibility of the passenger side mirror and out of the window. May be easier to put the infant carrier on the front seat - you don't have to use the base, you should be able to strap it in with the seat belts. I'm sure all infant carriers allow you to do this?

[KatharinaRosalie]

If it's a rear facing seat then you don't have to open the door that wide to let the toddler squeeze through and climb in. If you can open the door wide enough to get into the driver's seat yourself, you should be able to open the back door on the same side wide enough so the toddler can get in. Or did I misunderstand the parking arrangement?

[ODog]

Thanks for the link moggle. That's the sort of reassurance I was after. I will check insurance/MOT/airbag implications.

katharina - I may be able to squeeze him in/out I've never tried to be honest.

I would like to avoid the squeezing and/or climbing over though as he still falls asleep a lot in the car and I can normally transfer him in the house to finish his nap without waking him. I feel like I will defo want to keep this up for as long as possible with a new one about. . Only if it is safe for everyone though.