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Pregnancy

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Original poster

can you put a baby car seat in the front?

14 replies

slowangels1 · 17/04/2011 06:53

I was going to put this under car seats but thought more people might help me here

I know the reason not to put car seats in front is due to air bags. Am buying a new car which apparently has a button where you can turn off front air bags. Salesman claims this means it's perfectly safe for me to put my LO in the front in her car seat (she's 7 weeks) as he says they will not accidently go off if the button has disabled them. Does anyone know if this is true? I'd much rather use the front seat to put DD in but don't want to put her in an danger by doing so.

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geordieminx · 17/04/2011 06:56

She is safer in the back.

You can disable airbags, but I would only ever put a baby/child in the front if there was no other option.

Why do you want her in the front?

washnomore · 17/04/2011 07:00

The reason not to put babies in the front is due to there being a much greater likelihood of injury if you are in an accident.

Switching the airbags off will not remove this risk.

Her car seat should go in the back seat on the nearside.

Original poster

slowangels1 · 17/04/2011 07:03

want her in the front so I can see her easier, but, if she is safer in the back I'm perfectly happy for her to be in the back. I just thought the only reason not to put her in the front was the airbag thing and if this car stopped that problem. We have one of those mirrors in the back so I can see what she's up to so will have to keep using that to keep an eye on her . Thanks for that - knew mn would come to the rescue :)

OP posts:

geordieminx · 17/04/2011 07:10

I know what you mean about keeping an eye, and there have been times when ds (4) and I have been going on long journeys and I have been tempted to put his seat in the front but I know necks far safer in the back, and if anything happened I would never forgive myself. Plus if I did it once he'd want to sit in the front all the time!

shmoz · 17/04/2011 07:27

Please also be aware that extended rear facing seats where the child stays rear facing until approx 4yo see here are the safest seats.

nannyl · 17/04/2011 09:39

so long as airbag is off (or not present) its legal

typically the front passenger seat is the least safe seat in the car.

however, that is only an issue if in a 'typically' bad crash.... until the crash happens (and hopefully it never does) you wont know where the safest seat would have been until after the event..... ok its less likely to be the front seat, but at the time it might be

JBrd · 17/04/2011 11:05

We were told that although the airbags can get switched off with the button, no car manufacturer will absolutely guarantee that the airbag won't go off anyway in case of an accident. Which makes sense to me - if it's a bad impact and lots of the car gets damaged, who is to say it won't affect the airbag mechanism which might then go off after all due to all the damage that is happening to the car?

It's better to be safe than sorry in this case, I think!

Original poster

slowangels1 · 17/04/2011 21:23

jbrd that's what i thought only this salesman said it is completely guarenteed turnedd off with this off button

OP posts:

Cattleprod · 17/04/2011 21:29

I drive a van so DS has to go on the front seat - there's no other option. Back seat placement is generally safer, although I know someone who crashed her car (not a serious crash) because her DD started choking in the back seat.

Tangle · 18/04/2011 10:34

slowangels - hes a salesman. He is probably working on commission. He is unlikely to be an expert in car seats. At best he has a conflict of interests as using a car in the safest way may make it impractical which could loose him a sale.

I think most Japanese cars do not give you a mechanism to disable the front airbag precisely because it cannot be guaranteed to prevent the airbag activating.

We were looking at a new car once, and were asking about underfloor storage (you have to be very careful with car seat support legs if a car has underfloor storage chambers - the lids are rarely strong enough to take the strain in an accident and so they're assumed not safe, although a couple of cars do have solutions). The salesman told us that if the car seat used ISOFix then the support leg wasn't required.... Dread to think what the car seat manufacturers would say to that!

WalterFlipschicks · 18/04/2011 10:38

OP I had a mirror which you positioned on the back windscreen, I could then glance at DS through my rear view mirror, got it from amazon, it was only about a fiver, but I did find it useful.
It is legal to have them in the front and I did at first as we had a tiny 3 door car and it was easier on my back than reaching into the back seat, we did however change our car soon after he was born and I got the mirror thingy.
I did look in it less than I thought though, but it was there if I needed it

Insert1x50p · 18/04/2011 10:47

One other thing to be aware of is that if you buy a car with an Isofix base, the base doesn't normally fit on the front seat as there aren't the hooks that it clips into so you'd have to use the seatbelt to attach it to the car.

Other than that, one advantage is that they cry less if they're in the front and can see you, and a crying baby is not conducive to concentration.

On balance, I have DS in the back, passenger side.

StiffyByng · 18/04/2011 12:17

We've just bought a new car and asked about Isofix. The salesman immediately said yes, in all seats. Anyway, it turns out that it has the underfloor compartment mentioned upthread so no Isofix for us. They say what you want to hear!

nunnie · 18/04/2011 12:34

Neither of my cars have an off button for their bags, and I was advised not to put a car seat in the front, as even if they are switched off they can still go off in an accident.
If it is any help, my two have rarely cried in the back unless hungry or nappy needs changing, which they would probably cry for in the front anyway. I was also worried that if I did have them in the front I would concentrate more on them that I safely should if that makes sense.
Much safer for me if they are in the back.

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