Do you let your child sit up front in the car?

[ADisneyQueen]

DD and I have recently noticed a lot of children her age sitting in the front. I would not let my kids do this until they are older. We also have airbags in the front, and there is a warning label on the visor about this.. Even if you don't have airbags, it is still unsafe for children under 12 or 13 to sit in the front, especially if they are small for their age.

 

[beattyfamily]

No, I don't and I probably won't till they are at least 13 - 15, depending on how tall they are.

Mine are 7 and 10 and the 10 year old is always asking to sit in the front. No way, not yet. She still doesn't sit right for the seatbelt (it chokes her sometimes).

 

[Hannathy]

Yes as soon as they were as big as I am which for most was about 5th grade! My DD's best friend was 5'8" at 11 so her parents and myself had no problems with allowing her.

 

[feedindy]

My DD is 9 and tall for her age. In a pinch (i.e. Girl Scout field trips short on drivers) I have let her sit in front, but only because our air bags disable when the passenger is underweight. In my old car, the airbags did not disable and I was hesitant to let my 15 year old sister ride in front as she was small for her age. I used to make her push the seat all the way back so she would be a little further away from it if it deployed.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

No. My ds is 9 (you have to either be 8 or weigh 80 lbs. in MA), and although he is technically old enough, he weighs about 60 lbs. I think that's a better predictor for safety, so he's going to have to pack on some weight if he wants to sit up front LOL

 

[meandtheguys2]

My 10 year old and my 12 year old are both over 5'5"! They sit up front. DS7 is only 4'11". Not yet for him!

My SIL, however is 4'8"...we allow her to sit up front if she promises to behave!

 

[mlraabe]

Most of DS11's friends sit up front and a good amount of DD8's friends. My kids know better than to ask. They always sit in the back. Our good friends, who always allowed their DD10 to sit in the front were just in an awful accident a couple of weeks ago and she was hurt - air bag injuries and a broken foot. My friend told me the other day that her DD would no longer be in the front. She would have been much safer in the middle seats.

 

[mnasmom3]

9, 7, and 5 and they all sit in the back.

 

[lindakmonty]

I won't let ds6 until he's at least 12! he does in the truck, of coarse. no other choice. you can turn the airbags off, just for that reason. in the car,its just not worth the risk.

 

[CampbellScot]

Nope...my step daughter is going to be 8 this Saturday. She will be old enough to get rid of the booster seat. That is transition enough for now. We still are so sure about even that...she's only 67 pounds. We probably won't even attempt front seats until she is in Middle school. Also, there are four of us and grown ups are in the front!

 

[perdidochas]

DD and I have recently noticed a lot of children her age sitting in the front. I would not let my kids do this until they are older. We also have airbags in the front, and there is a warning label on the visor about this.. Even if you don't have airbags, it is still unsafe for children under 12 or 13 to sit in the front, especially if they are small for their age.

IMHO, until a kid is 12, they should sit in the back.

 

[jakoky]

in canada(at least BC) they say 12 and under should not ride in the front, i believe you need to be at least 5 ft...my almost 16 year old(of course) and my almost 14 year old are allowed in the front...my youngest, she is 11 1/2 has never been in the front as we have an airbag...she is actually just out of the guidelines here in bc to come out of a booster..under 80 lbs still calls for one here and she is about 82....another scary thing to me is seeing kids in a seatbelt that have put the shoulder part in behind there back or under their arm...very dangerous...me daughter is friends with a little girl who was in an bad car accident(she was 9) and she had done this with her belt and it tore her aorta (she also broke her back in the accident)...she is very lucky that she is alive, let alone can still walk....if too small to sit comfortably in a seatbelt, they must be in booster....safer is better
sharon

 

[Starr W.]

My DS is 5'2" and 112 lbs. He sits up front when it's just him and me. My sister is 4'11" and I worry more about her and her height sitting up front.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Absolutely not. Kids are 9, 8 and 6. Ds is still in a booster seat and the girls are really small for their age. I am amazed at the school parking lot though when I see some kids as young as 1st or 2nd grade getting in the front seat!

 

[all4fun]

Well, my ds is still riding in a car seat in the back seat however dh and I both agree that the back seat is where he will ride until he is at least 13yrs old. When we took our older nieces and nephews places they always requested to ride in the front however we always said no. They learned to live with it and eventually just quit asking, lol. OTOH I see lots of people in our area driving around with little kids that look like they're about 5-6 yrs old in the front seat - and most of these are newer vehicles that probably have passenger airbags in them (never mind they are still little enough they technically should still be in booster seats). I guess some people just don't care about all those silly warning stickers on their visors.

Here's some info about children and airbags from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (leading researcher of car safety) if anyone is interested
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=77979

 

[Merriwind]

DD9 still sits in back (at 55"). She has a backless booster to help with seatbelt placement, otherwise it chokes. Once she's as tall as me, 5'1", I might let her, but I'd rather her be in back for as long as possible. It's so much safer.

 

[Michigan]

My 55 pound 9 year old can ride in the front seat of the minivan if she is sitting in a booster seat. The airbags shut off when she sits there because she doesn't weigh enough for them to stay on.

 

[MSSANDRA]

My car manual says 12 years and 80 lbs so that was when I started letting DS but when we went for his 12 year old physical a few weeks later the Dr asked if he ever sat in the front seat and told us absolutly not till he was 13 and 100lbs.

 

[rhonhod]

My DD will be 14 on Saturday(4/14) and she sometimes sits in the front. She bigger than me! I'm 5 ft she's 5'7, DS will be 13 in 2 weeks from Saturday (4/28) and he's small for his age, plus with his c.p. he doesn't have leg control, So he sits in the back. DD does not sit in the front when DS is in the car.

 

[tmarquez]

Obviously I'm the minority here, but DD (4) does sit in the front (in her carseat with the air bag disabled). She has developed severe car sickness and the only way we can go anywhere further than about 5 minutes is to have her in front so she can see out facing forward and have her window cracked open.

Her Dr says she will outgrow this, but I have my doubts as DH also suffers from motion sickness and becomes violently ill unless he is actually the one driving (no buses or taxi's for him).