What do you do if you have 4 kids and only 3 backseats?

[janellesmommy]

Is it okay to have a baby or young child in the front seat if the airbag is turned off? Is it possible to turn off the airbag? Next year I'll have 2 kids, (newborn and 4 year old) and am thinking of doing an activity that requires carpooling with 2 other kids. Do I really need to buy a minivan? Or can this work with an SUV with only 3 backseats?

[JBaxter]

You can disable the air bag yourself but I dont think I would advise it. From what I have heard its almost impossible to find a dealer/mechanic to do that for liabilty reasons. And I definately wouldnt put someone elses child in the front seat.

I just started to allow my 5ft2in 12yr old to ride in the front.

[janellesmommy]

I would NOT want the airbag to be permanently disabled. Is it possible to turn it off for just one ride then turn it back on again?

[Ruthla]

When I had my Honda Civic, I never took more than 3 child passengers (ok, I did a handful of times in 1995ish but I know better now.) When I had 2 kids and a Civic, I wouldn't take more than 1 extra child as a passenger. When I had 3 kids, I wouldn't take any child passengers (besides my own) at all. I did more driving because I couldn't participate with any carpools. Now that I have a minivan, I'm able to do less driving overall.

Basically, I see two safe choices for you:

1) get a larger vehicle

or

2) don't participate in the carpooling. Either make entirely different plans, or do the same activities but only drive your own children.

[Lady Madonna]

Depends on the make/model/year of the car. My DH's car, a 2006 Saab sedan, has a weight sensor in the passenger seat. If the passenger isn't over a certain weight, the air bag won't deploy at all.

I know some trucks with only front seats have a mechanism for turning off the passenger side air bag manually. Some require manual re-activation of the air bag and some activate it again the next time the vehicle is turned on.

Check the owner's manual for your vehicle and see what it says about air bags.

[famousmockngbrd]

Originally Posted by JBaxter

And I definately wouldnt put someone elses child in the front seat.

If it's not good enough for someone else's child, it's not good enough for mine either.

Personally, I would not put a young child in the front seat if I could avoid it. If driving 4 kids around was something I really wanted to do, I would get a minivan or something. Otherwise I wouldn't do it.

Side note, small brag - this is why I my Volvo wagon - it has a rumble seat in the far back that folds up out of the floor - it's like a built in booster seat for kids in the 4 -8 yr. age range. I think it's safe up to 60 lbs. So I can potentially carry 5 kids in the car and everyone would be strapped in and safe.

[Tinas3muskateers]

No child under the age of 12 should be in the front seat of a car, bag or no bag imo. It's mini van time mama. I LOVE mine. I can seat 7 in that bad boy

[chann96]

Short answer is that no it is not safe to have a small child in the front seat with or without the airbag.

[kangamom]

ITA, I love my minivan. Of course, we only had it for a year before it was full, lol

[janellesmommy]

Can someone tell me why it is not safe for a child to be in the front seat when there is no airbag? Weren't those front seat rules put into place only because of the airbags?

[famousmockngbrd]

http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm

Q: What if my car has air bags?
A: All new cars come equipped with air bags. When used with seat belts, air bags work very well to protect older children and adults. However, air bags are very dangerous to children riding in rear-facing car safety seats and to child passengers who are not properly positioned. If your car has a passenger air bag, infants in rear-facing seats must ride in the back seat. Even in a low-speed crash, the air bag can inflate, strike the car safety seat, and cause serious brain and neck injury and death.

Toddlers who ride in forward-facing car safety seats also are at risk from air bag injuries. All children up to age 13 years are safest in the back seat. If you must put an older child in the front seat, slide the vehicle seat back as far as it will go. Make sure your child is properly restrained for his age and size and stays in the proper position at all times. This will help prevent the air bag from striking your child.

Air bag on/off switches are available in the few cases in which an infant must ride in the front seat. Most families don't need to use the air bag on/off switch. Air bags that are turned off cannot protect other passengers riding in the front seat. Air bag on/off switches only should be used if all of the following are true:

Your child has special heath care needs.
Your pediatrician recommends constant supervision of your child during travel.
No other adult can ride in the back seat with your child.
On/off switches also must be used if you have a vehicle with no back seat or a back seat that is not made for passengers.

Q. What if I drive more children than can be buckled safely in the back seat?
A: Avoid having to drive more children than can be buckled safely in the back seat, especially if your car has passenger air bags. However, if necessary, a child in a forward facing car safety seat with a harness may be the best choice to ride in the front seat. This is because a child who is in a booster seat or using a regular seat belt can easily move out of position and be at greater risk for injuries from the air bag.

It doesn't really say why not to use the front seat even with the airbags disabled, though. I imagine it might have something to do with all the heavy machinery under the hood that could get pushed into the front seat in a head-on crash. It's probably not the safest place for adults, either.

[janellesmommy]

Thanks for that info. I just finished reading some info from nhtsa.dot.gov, and it looks like even with airbags, it is safe to put a child in the front seat in a forward facing carseat if you slide the passenger seat as far back as possible. This would only be if the carseat harness totally restrains a child so that the child cannot lean forward, (which they can't in a 5 point harness car seat). I haven't looked into side airbags yet, although those would be an issue in the rear seats as well.

[famousmockngbrd]

You might encounter some trouble pushing the front seat back far enough if there is another car seat behind it.

[janellesmommy]

Originally Posted by famousmockngbrd

You might encounter some trouble pushing the front seat back far enough if there is another car seat behind it.

But only if the one behind it is rear facing.

[famousmockngbrd]

That will definitely make it worse. But even with a FF one, their feet have to go somewhere... they can't stick them under the seat like an adult passenger can.

[PajamaMama]

Originally Posted by janellesmommy

Is it okay to have a baby or young child in the front seat if the airbag is turned off? Is it possible to turn off the airbag? Next year I'll have 2 kids, (newborn and 4 year old) and am thinking of doing an activity that requires carpooling with 2 other kids. Do I really need to buy a minivan? Or can this work with an SUV with only 3 backseats?

What kind of SUV do you have that has only 3 backseats?

I wouldn't put anyone smaller than an adult in the front. I have only recently allowed my 11yo dd to ride up front on occasion, and she is as tall as some of my adult friends. In fact it was when she pointed that out to me that I let her ride up front sometimes!

I hope you can work something out that keeps kids out of the front seat.

[JBaxter]

Originally Posted by famousmockngbrd

If it's not good enough for someone else's child, it's not good enough for mine either.


Side note, small brag - this is why I my Volvo wagon - it has a rumble seat in the far back that folds up out of the floor - it's like a built in booster seat for kids in the 4 -8 yr. age range. I think it's safe up to 60 lbs. So I can potentially carry 5 kids in the car and everyone would be strapped in and safe.

I have the XC90 and we have the same booster.

[becoming]

I wouldn't put a small child in the front seat, even if you could turn the airbag off. But just because you need extra seats doesn't mean you have to buy a minivan. I have a 2006 Ford Explorer with third row seating and it.

[kyndmamaof4]

Keep the Kiddos in the back Mama...

I have been riding around in an older Jeep Cherokee(no air bags at all) for 7 months with a little in the front seat, because we have 4 kids. I was so paraniod, that I actually had a couple of Panic attacks We have a Minivan now, and I swear it is the absolute nicest car I have ever owned. I it. Leather seats a tv in the back for long trips, 7 passanger seating...Nice sound system. If ya wanna know the truth, I am a tattooed up 27 year old rockin mama!!! I don't feel at all like a soccer mom. I still ride with the music loud, and I am gonna start collecting great bumperstickers to let everyone know that I'm a "cool activist mom" Do what is safe for your kids. Keep em in the back seat, or get a bigger ride!

Kaara-a happy minivan driving mama!

[janellesmommy]

My research has shown me that kids in the front seat are unsafe because of the airbags. If there are no airbags, or if you have an airbag on/off switch installed, or if it is possible to get the seat far back enough that the airbag cannot reach (and the kid can't lean forward--(5 point harness), then there are no safety issues with the front seat. (Absolutely never rear facing car seats in the front seat with an airbag).

There certainly has been a successful education campaign against kids in the front seat! It's understandable that they don't tell people the exceptions, because if you tell the masses any exceptions, there will be a lot of people who get confused and get it wrong.