Why do you have to have your baby in the back seat?

Question

I have a camper type van and I only have a passenger seat in the front and one bench in the back that is sideways. Would I want the car seat in the front seat or can you even have it facing side ways?

Answer 1

The law is that you have to put your baby where he is safest.  The back seat in the middle is where your baby will be least likely to be injured during an accident.  You can't put your baby sideways, he has to be backwards because of the way impact will affect the neck and spine.  The only times that you can put a baby in the front is when there is no back seat like in a truck.  

Answer 2

Are you planning on giving birth in your car???

Answer 3

The main reason for a baby to be in the back seat is the airbag.  Plus the back seat is just safer incase of a front end crash. I would think in your case unless there is a passenger air bag, the front would be safer cause if the baby was in the back, the impact would jerk its head sideways.  http://forum.carseatdata.org/  Go here and find the right forum and ask this question also, and a registered carseat tec will probably be able to help you.

Answer 4

Most car seats are suitable for front or back seats, though it's generally more convenient not to mention safer to have baby in the back.  The main thing to bear in mind is to check whatever car seat you have is suitable for your vehicle, and get it properly fitted and NEVER have a car seat in the front if you have airbags - if they inflate they can be fatal.

Answer 5

Because if you are in a head-on collision the child will not survive. A child under the age of 12 will not survive a head-on collision in the front seat with a car seat and or seat belt. The average child over the age of 12 is above the dash board which allows the seat belt to better restrain you in an accident. Under the age of 12 children need that extra cushion of the front seat to protect them in a head-on collision.

Answer 6

You can't place a car seat on a vehicle seat that does not face forward.  You can place it in the front passenger seat IF there are no airbags.

http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_up...

Seating position

The front seat is a more dangerous environment than the rear seat for two reasons. First, recent crash data show that children 15 years and under have a 40% lower risk of serious injury in the back seat compared to the front seat (Durbin et al., 2005). This increased risk occurs because the front passenger compartment is more likely to have intrusion than the back seat area in frontal crashes, which are the most common type. Consequently, FMVSS 213 requires manufacturers to say in their instructions “that, according to crash statistics, children are safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the front seating positions.”

Second, air bags can cause serious or fatal injuries to children in the right-front passenger seat. Because "properly restrained" infants have been killed by air bags, even in low-speed crashes, a rear-facing infant must never be restrained in a seat with an active air bag. Many unrestrained older children have also been killed because they were too close when the air bag deployed. Vehicle manufacturers are phasing in features that will turn off the air bag when a child is in the front seat or allow it to deploy with less force. However, because these systems that detect a child in the front seat are new, they have not been demonstrated to be foolproof, and, because it may not be clear whether a vehicle is equipped with these sensors or with a less aggressive air bag, the universal recommendation to avoid placing children in the right-front seat still stands.

If there are more children than rear seating positions, the most appropriate child to put in the front seat is the one in a forward-facing CR with internal harness, which will keep the child well back and away from the instrument panel and/or air bag. The harness must be snug, the CR firmly installed, with top tether if possible, and the vehicle seat moved as far rearward as possible. A child in a rear-facing CR should never be placed in a front seating position with an air bag.

In general, the single safest place in the car is the center rear seat, because it is farthest from the outside of the vehicle. In any given crash, however, a different seat may be the safest, such as a left outboard seat in a right side impact. There are several reasons the center seat may not be an option. Many small cars do not have center seats; it is sometimes not possible to tightly install a CR in the center rear; belt-positioning boosters require lap-shoulder belts, which may not be available in the center; and, if there are two children, it may be necessary to separate them for behavioral reasons or because two CRs cannot be installed next to each other. The left and right seating positions are very similar in injury risk, but the right side might be a better choice for one child with one adult. The child can see the driver and can be taken or get out of the car on the side where there is no traffic. Using the center or right rear seat will also minimize the chance of injury to the child from driver seatback collapse in a severe rear impact. Although most vehicles do not have LATCH anchors for the center seating position, CRs equipped with LATCH can still be installed in the center with the vehicle belt and a top tether, if appropriate.

A difficult choice for an older child is when the seating positions available are a lap-only belt in back or a lap-shoulder belt in front, with or without a belt-positioning booster. The child in the lap-belt has an increased risk of injury because there is no upper torso restraint, while the child in the front seat has an increased risk of injury because she is sitting in the more dangerous seating position. Overall, field data suggest that the injury risk for a child properly restrained in the front seat is about the same as the child improperly restrained (lap-belt only) in the back seat. Both choices are riskier than a properly restrained child in the rear seat. (7/06)

http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_up...

In some vehicles where a rear-facing restraint cannot be installed in a rear seat (such as some pickup trucks), manufacturers have installed on/off switches for passenger air bags, so they can be deactivated when a rear-facing restraint has been installed. Users must be vigilant to turn the air bag “off” when a rear-facing child is placed there and “on” when an adult passenger is seated there. In more recent vehicles without adequate rear seating, “smart” air bags have replaced the on/off switches.

Answer 7

U should never have a baby in the front seat. they are suppose to sit in the back rear facing. If can't but her in the back that need to figure something out with another car or something cause u should not have a baby in the front seat if that but her in the back sideways like the seat but if u but the kid in the front with our with out side bags that is really not safe at all. just my opinion and alot others. I know somebody who got a truck and their seats in back are side facing and when his kids where baby's they always sat back their.

Answer 8

i dont think you can! you can have your baby in the front seat as long as there isnt an air bag!