As your child begins to grow up, they might be getting too big to sit in the booster seat at the back of the car. This might get you wondering when the time is right to allow them to sit in the front. Here are some of the factors to consider for deciding when to move your kits to the front car seat as well as risks to consider if you do it too early.
What Age is Appropriate?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that all children aged 12 and under should sit in the back seat. For babies, however, it’s important to put them in a rear-facing booster seat. Once they grow out of it, it’s important for them to remain in a booster seat, albeit forward-facing, until the age of five.
How Much Should They Weigh?
There is no set weight that a child needs to be in order to sit in the front of the car. Rather, focus on age, as maturity is what is going to determine whether your kids’ pelvic bone development is at the right stage for their seat belts to be effective.
Risks From Doing the Wrong Thing
Because children are shorter than adults, an airbag could hit them in the head when deployed, causing them to suffocate. What’s also important to consider is that during a crash, your kids will be kept further from the impact if they sit at the back, meaning that you would be protecting them at a time when their bones are less dense.