carseat in front with airbag?

[DonnaLouise]

The instruction manual or our Vectra (which was a sod to get a carseat for - ended up with a Britax clubclass) states that if the front passenger seat is as far back as possible, one can put the carseat there without having to disable the airbag.
Does anyone do this with their own car?

This is an absolute no if it's a rear facing seat but for forward facing seats, the government's advice here is that it's OK if your vehicle manufacturer confirms it is safe to do so - look at the Pocket Guide (apdf file)

Personally, I wouldn't be happy about it - the safest spot is in the back, in the middle. Not ideal if you have more than one child though!

I totally agree with your view SoupDragon, that the safest place is in the back. However, because I regularly go back 'home', a 180 mile journey, I find that the boy (8mth) gets very bored, very quickly and hope that sitting him at the front would give him more to look at and keep him more occupied.
Views on this, anyone?

I have 2 boys aged 2 and 3 3/4 who constantly fight so always have the eldest beside me in the front, but we always have an oldish car with no airbag. Just returned from a weekend away with a hire car with airbag and it was a nightmare as they had to sit together in the back. Yes, I'm sure it is safer to have them in the back but it's a small risk I'm prepared to take to stop me screaming at them!

I dont even allow my 9 year old in the front with seat pushed all the way back. My 12 year old just recently started sitting in the front. He is at a height where I feel comfortable with this. I would never put a baby carseat in the front. Honestly I dont think I have in a long while since all those airbag deaths of children were made aware of. Some were pretty gruesome. Those airbags are a lot bigger then you would think.

Sorry I meant to say I dont think I have seen any carseats in the front of anyones car since those accidents. I am in a bit of a rush to start dinner.

Interesting what you say threeangels. My perception is that here in england people are much less strict about seatbelts/carseats etc. for children than in the usa. I see people in london all the time with babies in their arms in the front seat and no car seat to be seen! Or young children without seatbelts in the front/back seats of cars. I don't think I've seen that in the usa in years.

Message withdrawn

SofiaAmes I might not have said my message in the right way. What Im saying is that I never see anyone putting carseats in the front because there have been so many deaths and people are more afraid now. I also dont see many kids in the front either (young kids). Even when its one kid and one adult in the front. It sounded like you thought I meant the US people were not as strict. I hope Im not confusing everyone. I typed two different messages here. There are people who dont use seatbelts but if your caught by a police officer you willprobally get a good fine.

SofiaAmes, Im just curious is there a law about children being in carseats or seatbelts and also adults in seatbelts like there is in the usa?

SofiaAmes, Im just curious is there a law about children being in carseats or seatbelts and also adults in seatbelts like there is in the usa?

The pocket guide on the government site I mentioned below has a summary of the law:

Driver: Seat belt must be used if fitted.
This is the responsibility of the driver

Child under 3
Front seat : Appropriate child restaint must be used
Rear seat : Appropriate child restaint must be used if available
Responsibility : Driver

Child aged 3 - 11 & under 1.5m (5ft) in height
Front seat : Front seat : Appropriate child restaint must be used if available. If not, an adult seatbelt must be used
Rear seat : Appropriate child restaint must be used if available. If not, an adult seatbelt must be used if available.
Responsibility : Driver

Child aged 12 or 13 or older child taller than 1.5m (5ft)
Front Seat : Adult seatbelt must be used if available.
Rear Seat : Adult seatbelt must be used if available.
Responsibility : Driver

Adult passenger (from 14 years)
Front Seat : Adult seatbelt must be used if available.
Rear Seat : Adult seatbelt must be used if available.
Responsibility : Passenger

Hope this helps!

Responsibility : Driver

I was surprised to read your post, DonnaLouise, as dh's car is a Vectra and the instruction manual clearly states that a car seat should NOT be used in the front seat where there is a passenger airbag. We investigated getting the airbag disabled, but were told that this was not possible, mainly for insurance reasons. I'm sure it is possible to find a cowboy garage who would do this, but how confident could you be that the work was carried out properly?
I was also concerned that dd would get bored just looking at the back of the car seat in front, which is why we decided to put the car seat in the middle in the back, where she has an unimpeded view to the front. I can also see her more easily in the vanity mirror than if she was either behind me or behind the front passenger seat. It's a bit of a killer on the back putting dd in the car seat, but worth it from the safety point of view, imo.

this is quite interesting
airbags

thanks for all your messages guys.

activity hanging thing will be no use as he has the attention span of a nat, as you'd expect of an 8 mth old. driving to La Rochelle and back for our hols a couple of weeks ago, husband and I took it in turns to keep him occupied on the backseat. that worked ok. the upshot is that I will try the journey with him in the front and hope for the best!

BTW, not being au fait with this website, I'm wondering what the abbreviations dd, dh and dp mean? I see them on all the chat boards and feel left out!

DonnaLouise, the abbreviations are:

DD = Darling/dear daughter
DS = Darling/dear son
DH = Darling/dear husband
DP = Darling/dear partner
MIL = Mother In Law, also SIL, BIL etc
IMO = In My Opinion
IME = In My Experience
GF = Gina Ford (Childcare writer)
LOL = Laugh out Loud
IYKWIM = If you know what I mean
IIRC = If I remember correctly

To type a smiley face use : followed by ) =
For a grin type : followed by O =

The Mumsnet instructions, including how to do links are here!

HTH (Hope This Helps)

Sorry, threeangels, it was me who was unclear (i was typing at 1am as I have pregnancy induced insomnia)....I always felt that the usa was much stricter, but thought that it was only my own idea, and it was good to see that from what you said that someone else had the same perception as I did. To answer your question, as SoupDragon has pointed out, there are seatbelt/carseat rules in the uk, but they are not as strict as in the usa (or at least calif.) and in my experience they are rarely enforced. I have never met or seen anyone stopped by a policeman because their children were improperly restrained. I think they'd be a lot better off policing that than giving out parking tickets in suburban neighborhoods.

By the way, those teensy mirror that they sell so that you can see your baby in his rear-facing car seat from your rear view mirror are really great. My son always slept in the car and in the days before he started snoring I kept imagining that he was dead so I got really paranoid and kept pulling over. I finally bought one of those little mirrors and it saved a lot of worry. And when they are facing forward you move the mirror and attach it below your rearview mirror so you can just glance back without adjusting your rearview mirror. Much safer for you and the baby.

Soupdragon, have you seen thegovernment leaflet sumarising seatbelt laws and advice?
It shows a fairly young infant (5-6 months ?) forward facing in a car seat. My US carseats recommend rearward facing for this age, and as long as possible. What do you think?

Message withdrawn

Somewhere I saw a suggestion that babies should be rear facing until they are 1. When I saw this, DS2 (nearly 1) had been forward facing since about 7 months as he was too heavy for his 0 stage seat.

I agree The picture in the leaflet is definitely of a baby under 1.

I think you just have to go by the instructions with your seat. Mine said it could be used rear facing (was actually sutable from birth) but didn't suggest that this was the safest thing for under 1s. I think it said that it could be forward facing from a certain weight and sitting unaided.

I guess safety advice changes and varies from country to country. When we hired a car in the US with car seats, DS1 was 2 1/2, DS2 7 months and they gave us forward facing seats for both, refused to fit them for us for "insrance" reasons and didn't even give us instructions! These fitted with the seatbelts and a long tether fastened to the rear shelf - something I've not seen in a UK seat.

yes that rear thether is great, it came with our fisher price us carseats, it makes you feel extra safe in an accident.
I used to work in an AE dept and once saw a mother escape unscathed from a crash with a lorry but her 1 year old killed in a car seat which wasnt fastened properly and went through the windscreen from the back seat.