car seat safety

U

Unregistered

Guest
hi,
i have a two month old baby and a 4 year old kid, my four year is very naughty and does something to the baby when they are put together in the car. Is it okay to carry my 2 month old in the front seat?

Thx
 
ADS

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA, ESPECIALLY IF YOUR STATE LAW MANDATES KIDS IN THE BACK ONLY

There are likely some underlying motivations to your 4 year old's behavior & I'd be more inclined to put the older child in the front seat with a booster {assuming there's no passenger airbag} ... in order to provide the opportunity for us to share conversation: fun singing, teach the rules of the road, talk about school, etc.

With a new child in the picture, your older child might be wantING more attention & affection ~ which, given along with appropriate & reliable consequences for both good & bad behaviors will most likely diminish the child's desire to act out against the younger sibling.

You might want to check out some discipline links based on methods reccomended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Here are some from my local parenting support group >

http://www.stophitting.org
http://www.naturalchild.org
http://www.nopunish.net
http://www.positivediscipline.com/articles/index.html

& the dad's usual favorite Timeout: Insights From Football :cool:

When my stepdaughter {then 3-4} behaved this way with my baby, I would pull over, explain briefly what was inappropriate & why, then explain in a much nicer tone how much better off we'd all be if acceptable behaviors were followed ~ it's important to give examples of what is acceptable, not just what isn't. Instead of punishing the bad behavior {as this is often counter-productive in more ways than one}, it's helpful to reward the good behaviors ... so, after a short trip with no problems I'd buy us icecream to eat while the baby slept or later that night I'd let her stay up a bit longer to play a game of her choice with me without the baby, etc. etc.

Hope this helps ~ I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of helpful ideas that were useful to me in a similar situation, but maybe this will start you off on a good foot??? *GOOD LUCK!*
 
Last edited:

jhelperin

New member
Absolutely not. Here's an excerpt from my article on Edmunds.com

...don't put your kids in the front seat. Since the most common type of crash is frontal, the rear seat is the safest place for children to ride. A study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) showed that children under 13 are up to 36-percent less likely to die if they are seated in the rear seat. Despite this, an estimated one-third of children ride improperly restrained in the front seat. Front airbags don't protect children, either, because they were designed for adults. According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, 141 children have been killed by passenger airbags as of January 1, 2004. The federal government now requires auto manufacturers to begin phasing in "advanced," or third-generation, airbags that deactivate if the front passenger is too light. But this is intended more to protect smaller adults. So don't give in to the whining of your "I'm too big to sit in the back" kid.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
jhelperin said:
So don't give in to the whining of your "I'm too big to sit in the back" kid.

Yes, your article is true & I don't argue against that ... but, I didn't see this ^ as the particular issue at hand ~ the issue being that her older child is hurting the newborn. The author & her older child definitely seem to need some more "quality" time together {& if she's a single mom I know how hardpressed it can be to find the time for quality interactions} to make the car trips a safer experience for the newborn as well as a healthy learning experience for the older child, which is the reason I suggested that the older child be able to sit in the front with a booster if there's no airbag & if their state law allows it. It is always possible to move the older kid back to the back once the stage of endangering the newborn has passed....
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
OTHER OPTIONS

I'm not sure if this mom is still checking the thread, but I woke up this morning remembering it & thought to add something.

I might be wrong in assuming that the infant is in the rear-center position with the 4 year old next to him/her {with/without a booster?} ... but, since my 6 year old stepdaughter {who wears size 8/10} only just outgrew the Marathon, I think the best solution would be to get such a seat for the older child & move the infant to the opposite outboard position ~ this way the older child will be less able to reach the infant to cause "trouble".

On the other hand, if there are other family issues mom should try her best to be very positive in her approach so that the older child doesn't rebel further & in the end form a lasting negative feeling about car safety AND a more lasting negative feeling toward the new baby. If mom could pleasantly convince the older child that the new seat is for his/her safety because mom loves him/her & is NOT a punishment, then all should be well.

The Marathon is a rather expensive seat, but would fit the older child & then be perfectly suitable for the baby when s/he outgrows the infant carrier ;) It's a valuable long-term investment that would help to end the "problem" at hand as well as keep both kids safer longer! {After the Marathon, the older child should move into a booster, though, regardless of whether or not s/he sits in the rear or front}.
 

lovinwaves

New member
Hey Tiff, as a CPS Tech that you are...I have a question..Would it be safer for the older child to stay in the backseat with the infant as long as they are both outboard. I am wondering if it would be safer that way then to have the infant center and the older child upfront. Statisic wise isn't a front passenger always in more danger than even a rear outboard passenger. If the older child is maybe in a harnessed seat and does not have anything to throw at the baby, so to say, then that arrangement should be fine. I would assume with a seatbelt the older child could still reach over to the infant. Maybe the mom could just make sure the older is harnessed with nothing in his or her possession?
 

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