..to ask why you allow your child to sit in the front seat of the car?

[schooltripwoes]

By child I mean one small enough to need a car seat / booster (under 11s or thereabouts).

All safety advice I've ever read clearly states that children are generally much, much safer sat in the back of the car if there were to be an accident.

Passenger seat safety features such as airbags are designed to protect an adult body, and as such may not work well for a young child.

Yet many of the children arriving at my children's school / hobbies travel sat in the front of the car (I notice this mainly for ages 5-8). In some cases it's because the rear seats are occupied with several siblings / lift shares, but in most cases it's not.

If you let your child sit in the front, why?

I hate this too, but you're very brave op!

Because dd vomits in the back.
Walk to school so car trips aren't v frequent.

Ideally I'd rather she sat in the back but she vomits every 20 mins. Even with sturgeron she vomits (though less frequently).
In the end the GP advised us to sit her in the front for her own sake.

I wish there was a cure for car sickness. I was the same and my parents made me sit in the back repeatedly vomiting. I still resent them for it.

I am with you OP. I do not say it to anyone who does it though .

Absolutely hate this! This and seeing idiots smoking in cars with children in really riles me x

Like you said, it’s full with other children 🤷‍♀️

I didn't even know this one

Travel sickness / child anxiety / SEN / fight with sibling causing distraction.

I can imagine a few reasons people would do it.

I bet youll get a lot of “but we do it and nothing bad has ever happened so it must be fine” type answers

But really there isn't a reason, apart from they've decided their child's safety isn't the top priority.

@DontFundHate I know. I did think twice before posting

@dameofdilemma understandable. I used to suffer dreadfully as I child and it's hideous. Luckily my DC are ok.

My dc fighting in the back feels dangerous when I’m on my own; the one least in the wrong gets to sit in the front. It’s not ideal I know.

As far as I am concerned, severe and difficult to treat car sickness are the only reasonable excuses. DD2 gets very car sick but responds to medication - she travels in the front now it's just the 3 oof us but is almost 16 and 5'9''.

I had to sit DS in the front of the car for around a week because every time he was in the back he just screamed. I sit too far forward to keep leaning back so I had to pull over constantly because it way beyond distracting, he would scream so much he coughed then coughed so much he was sick I did turn the airbags off and move the seat as far back as it would go and it was only for short journeys (10min to nursery for example). I also hated every minute of it.

And the amount forward facing so soon

I had DD in the front seat of my car when she was small... but... it was a Volvo we specifically ordered when I was expecting without a passenger airbag and with a Volvo fitted rear facing car seat - at the time (20 years ago) it was about the only way to get an RF seat beyond stage I.

Someone once stopped me at traffic lights to check I knew about the danger of front airbags, which I thought was commendably brave! (And obv was happy to reassure her).

Just to clarify my DD in a baby rear facing seat in the back, I didn't realize children shouldn't sit in the front. What do people with 4 kids do?

I think saying someone has decided their child's safety is not a priority is a bit silly. By driving your child in a car they are more at risk than walking or trains etc and therefore you are saying safety is not a priority if you drive!

We all make risk/benefit judgements including when we get in the car. I strongly believe a distracted driver is the most unsafe option. DD doesn't get a choice in DH's car -anyway it only has two seats!

For me it's car sickness. There's no other way.

My parents allow my 7 year old in the front I hate it but they are doing me a favour by taking her/us places so don't feel like I can say anything. My mum sits in the back so she can sit in the front which annoys me too. I'm still learning to drive and both my children will sit in the back when if I pass.

@SnuggyBuggy If you have more children than there is space in the back, then one child would naturally have to go in the front. Not sure who though. Maybe the oldest as they're bigger, maybe the youngest as they'd probably have a more protective car seat (or maybe the one you like the least ). I asked the question really for people who choose to sit a child in front when there's space for them in the back.

You can absolutely say something Pivot do it tactfully but of course you can! Imagine if something happened, none of you would ever forgive yourselves and it’s such a simple fix.

Also is the middle lap belt only seat safe for kids?

@SnuggyBuggy I have four kids. We got a seven seater.

I'm too shite a parking for one of those , probably best to have a small family

We only allow it for space reasons.

But I'm a rear facing to 18kgs person (well....with DD1 until 16kgs as it just made her chunder)