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Original poster

Baby carseat in front passenger seat

19 replies

mumtobe23 · 14/05/2009 15:51

Not too sure where to post this so thought 2nd times could help me out!
I drive a Fiat Punto 03 that can have the airbags on the front passenger side turned off by a key.
I know it is illegal to have one in the front if you have air bags on.

My question is would this be safe to have the baby in the front seat for the first few months when im driving on my own (when with passengers or i am more confident it will go in the back)

Please let me know what you did/think or even if i am allowed to have a maxi-cosi car seat in the front at all!

Cheers

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Tamarto · 14/05/2009 15:52

Why do you want it in the front?

alittleteapot · 14/05/2009 17:40

i've always had dd in front - much prefer being able to keep an eye, chat etc. as long as airbags off is fine

alittlebitshy · 14/05/2009 17:42

i got a little mirror that attatches to the headrest above baby so i can keep an eye on him from my rear view mirror. Much safer imo....

diedandgonetodevon · 14/05/2009 17:46

Perfectly fine having a rear facing seat in the front and lovely to be able to see and talk to your baby next to you.

differentID · 14/05/2009 18:00

the safest position for any child to travel is in the back of the car.

Nekabu · 14/05/2009 18:10

"and lovely to be able to see and talk to your baby next to you. "

With all due respect you're supposed to be concentrating on the road, not looking at your baby!

KingCanuteIAm · 14/05/2009 18:13

Mine were always in the back, it is far far safer, I think, statistically, the front passenger seat is the most dangerous in an accident.

spicemonster · 14/05/2009 18:21

I put mine in the front in a rear facing seat. Not because it was lovely to be able to talk to him but because I could comfort him if he were upset, put his dummy back in etc.

Not sure about the confidence thing though - what do you mean? Confident about being a mum I hope - if you're not confident about your driving, it'd be better off in the back!

gizzy1973 · 14/05/2009 20:01

Personally I would use the back seat having read that even if you turn the airbag off there is still a very very slim chance it can activate in an accident

LittleCheese · 14/05/2009 21:36

i am trained to fit car seats in customers cars and would never advise fitting any type of child seat in the front, firstly it is definitely not as safe as the back seat and secondly having a baby in the front is a distraction you can do without.

Chynah · 14/05/2009 21:59

I drive a 2 seater car so have no choice but to put him in the front! He does seem to like it more then when he's in the back in hubbys car - thinik it's cos he can see what I'm doing more!

Tamarto · 14/05/2009 22:02

And this is why babies should be in the back, talk about distracting

fucksticks · 14/05/2009 22:04

popping a dummy in at a red light far less distracting than having screaming baby in back that you cant see and wondering all the while till you can stop whether they are ok/been sick/ill etc

onadietcokebreak · 14/05/2009 22:06

Agree with littlecheese.....much safer in the back

manyhatson · 14/05/2009 22:41

There's nothing more distracting than a screaming unhappy baby in the back when you're driving IMHO. DD1 hated the back seat, even with that mirror thingy, which I could never get in the right place anyway. She used to scream and scream and it was really awful. I used to dread driving anywhere. Really traumatic.

Next one is due shortly and I will be putting it in the front seat this time (now that I have a turn-off-able front airbag) if it hates the back as much as DD did.

KingCanuteIAm · 15/05/2009 09:55

I disagree manyhats, I found that, with the baby in the back I could kind of switch off to it, I knew they were not going to get hurt, I knew they were not hungry, dirty or whatever as I had taken care of that before leaving so I could accept that they were ok until I could pull over safely and sort them out - or get where I was going if it was a short journey. If they had been in the front I would have been trying to sort them out, trying to distract them and so on which would have taken my attention away from the road far more than just the noise of a crying baby.

We are all differnet though so I understand if you work differently to me, it just makes my toes curl when I see a baby in the front, off switches for air bags are not 100% reliable and there have been cases of babies being injured and killed by airbags that were supposedly off.

barnowl · 15/05/2009 22:00

I had my 1st and 3rd in the front seat with my 2nd the airbag wouldn't turn off so he had to go in the back and it was awful he used to scream for ages then suddenly go quiet and I was forever having to pull over to check he was still breathing and that he was ok. I would definately reccomend having them in the front it's much more reassuring I could concentrate much better knowing they were ok, plus it's easy reach for dummy popping in.

suiledonn · 15/05/2009 22:03

I had a car with no airbags when I had dd1 and had her seat in the front until she went into a forward facing seat. It was a 2 door car so it was difficult to get the seat in securely in the back. Only used the car for short trips though and it always felt safe.

differentID · 15/05/2009 22:07

Manyhatson- I work within the nursery goods industry. When I had my most recent refresher course with a leading manufacturer I asked if it was just ok to switch the airbag off yourself.
I was told that if you could get a car manufacturer to give a letter guaranteeing 100% that it would never switch on by accident, then you could use the seat in the front. Otherwise, have the airbag removed by the garage so that it no longer presents a danger.

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