When did you let your child sit in the front seat of your car?

[luvmy3]

At what age or height/weight did you let your chikd sit in the front seat?

 

[3prettyprincesses]

I actually was googling this last week. According to my state, the safest place for kids under 12 in the back. Supposedly the air bag can cause them serious injury in an accident. However, they just 'recommend' that, not require it. Even still, my oldest DD is 10 (56", 75#) and is still in the backseat. I'll be interested to see what others say.

 

[Chelley00]

Our state also recommends 12, however I think I let both my DSs at 10 or 11, but he was bigger than most adults at that age (They were both 6 foot at age 13)

 

[Darsa]

The day my DD turned 12 we let her ride in the front; she's a very "careful" kid (my fault, heh) and wouldn't have ridden in the front if you let her before then, unless it was necessary. I still feel more comfortable with her in the back middle, even though she's 14. Yeah, I'm one of those moms

 

[NAB]

Well for us our son is pretty tall for 12 so he started maybe when he was 11. He is taller then I am at 5'10 so he likes the leg room up front.

My dd will be longer in the back because of the air bag and her height. She is 10 . They are safer in the back middle anyway. So I am fine with that and so is she.

 

[mjkacmom]

I think dd13 was 11, ds11 was 10. They were both over 5' and over 100 pounds. I admit I let dd8 sit there a few times, in emergency situation (well, ran out of seats). I pushed the seat as far back as it can go, and leaned it back a little. My oldest always sit in the front now, and they're 5'2" and 5'4". It's great - I can fit another kid in my van!

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

I think the issue would be that the younger children's head wuold be at a lower point. This could lead to neck injuries when the child's head wuold hit too low on the airbag.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

My older son was 13 and my younger son was just under 11. I went by their build. The older one has always been small, and the younger one has always been tall and broad. Once their head and shoulders were above the airbag's top point, I let them sit up front.

Now my older one is 16, and old enough to drive, I am wishing he was too small to sit up front, I am so afriad to have him get behind the wheel, there are too many crazies on the road.

 

[Khill]

My DD9 is 4'10". I let her ride in the front going to the store, and on short errands.

If we are going to be driving for longer than 15-20 minutes though, I make her ride in the back seat buckled up.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

In Minnesota the recommended age is under 13 sits in the back, so on my son's 13th birthday, that's when I let him graduate to the front. I know I could have done it earlier, but I'm a bit of an overprotective mom. Ask anyone.

 

[mickeylove2]

I have let both of my DDs (6 & 8) ride in the front on short 10 minute trips and such, but my airbag won't deploy unless there is 100 pounds in the front passenger seat and I always slide the seat back.

 

[NMAmy]

I think dd was around 9 or ten but the guidelines were more lenient then. She was about 5'2" at the time.

She has a friend who is only about 4'10". We used to tease her that she wouldn't be able to drive when she turned 16 because she still needed the booster seat.

 

[nmmom95]

My DS just started last summer. He was 11.5. He's 5'2" and 100 lbs. My DS6 is only 45" tall, so he probably won't sit in the front until he drives!

 

[klj27]

I have not let my kids until they turn 12. My middle child just turned 11 and is 5' 2" and 110 pounds. I still won't let him sit in the front for another year. I just don't think there is a reason to.

 

[karenos]

My DD9 is 4'10". I let her ride in the front going to the store, and on short errands.

If we are going to be driving for longer than 15-20 minutes though, I make her ride in the back seat buckled up.

I'm not trying to offend you or cause trouble, but statistically most accidents happen a few miles from home - so the "short trip" is usually where an accident will happen.

My DD is 11 and at 56" and less than 70 lbs is still in the back seat.

Just my 2cents....
karenos

 

[agnes!]

When DD hit the legal weight, certainly not before, I think it was a while *after* she was age-legal because she still wasn't weight-legal. Our state has something like "12 years old or (a certain weight)" as the law but most folks seem to only go by their child's age.
The age-restrictions are there for a guideline to the approximate weight/height of the child to be in the front seat, there are some adults who technically shouldn't be there either.

agnes!

 

[okeydokey]

My DD will be 12 in a couple of weeks and then she can start riding in the front. It's funny, though, because she has been as tall as me for a few months now!

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I think dd was 9 when she first sat in the front seat, but she's always been tall for her age, and that was only a couple of times, when I was driving a ton of kids around and wouldn't have been able to fit all of them in the car if one wasn't in the front.

When she was around 11.5, we realized that, at over 5 feet tall, she was bigger than many 12yo's, and even some adults, and we let her ride in the front seat on a regular basis.

Now she tries to get in the front even when there are two adults in the group! She says she can't help it, it's a habit! How can it be habit for her already when to me it still feels weird seeing my "little girl" sitting next to me in the front?

 

[my3sonsagn]

We let DS15 sit up front at 12. I now wish we hadn't since drives were much more enjoyable before he could reach the radio controls. lol

On a similar note, we keep our kids in carseats until 5 and boosters until 8 plus they have to meet the height/weight recommendations, too.

Jennifer