The Front Seat
By Emily Mall —
Apr 26, 2024
Do you know what age your Pivotal kid gets to sit in the front seat?
This is a hot topic in our household with our 10 and 12 year olds. It’s not on our radar until it’s convenient, and we need to fit that giant couch we bought on Facebook Marketplace in our car and pick our kid up from a friends house. The minute we allow it, the requests to sit in the front seat every time we get in the car never stop.
Here’s what our quick, super-professional Google search has said about when it’s legal for your kid to sit next to you up front and put a Taylor Swift album on repeat:
Depending on where you live/drive, local laws and guidelines vary by age, weight, and height.
Curious about the laws where you live? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has a great list of the seat belt and child seat laws for each state.
If you’re still not sure about what to do and enforce with your child, the CDC recommends this general guideline: Make sure children ages 12 and younger are always properly buckled in the back seat in a car seat, booster seat, or seat belt—whichever is appropriate for their age, weight, and height.
After that, if the arguments about who gets to sit in the front are driving you nuts, perhaps a sticky-note schedule in your car can help your kids take turns. :)
This week: Check out the guidelines on what is appropriate in your area for your Pivotal kid (and let the law be the bad guy if necessary!).
Keep up the good work! You’re doing a great job!
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