Where do you sit in the car when someone else is driving?

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

I was thinking today about where other people sit in cars when there is someone else driving. I personally always sit in the front seat, either as a driver or passanger. If i am with someone else that i want to have the front i will sit in back with the baby but if there are 2 adults in the car we both sit in the front. I know that some people always sit in back with their baby/babies and some like me never do. I just was curious what everyone else does :-)!

Cant wait to hear what everyone does....

[hez]

I'm normally a front seat gal. Major carsickness otherwise :( However, I managed a few quick trips this weekend in the back since (no good way to put this) my rear fit in the seat next to Payton's carseat more easily than MIL's would have, and there was no point in taking 2 cars just so I didn't get queasy.

ETA: I sat in the back on the way home from the hospital-- forgot about that trip!

[mudder17]

Well, it's kind of hard to choose, because I could choose more than one answer. I usually sit in the front when DH is driving. If I drive then DH will sit in the front passenger seat. If there is a third or fourth adult, then I will let the "tall" one or maybe the "elderly or big" one sit in the front seat and I will sit in the back with DD. When we came home from the hospital, I did sit in the back with DD while DH drove and no one sat in the front passenger seat. Occasionally, if DD is really fussy or she needs feeding (while we're on the go), I might sit in the back to feed her while DH drives. Also, very occasionally, I might want to keep her awake for some reason, so I might sit in the back to keep her awake. But we rarely do that any more. Also, with DD in the back, I can sometimes hand her snacks and such from the front passener seat, so I'll often do that, even if she is hungry. For the most part, if there are two adults with DD, both will sit in front. DD's used to being rearfacing in the back by herself. :)


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif , 18 months & counting


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[kijip]

I did not vote cause I did not see my choice. I sit wherever I feel like it. Mostly, I drive since my husband did me the driving favor for years and he feels I owe him. But now often I choose the sit in the back, for no particular reason. Maybe the CPS training that EVERYONE is safest in the back sunk in.

[psophia17]

I always sit in the front, unless I'm in someone else's car, in which case I sit where they ask me to. Every once in a while, if DS is in the back and has had enough of being stuck in the car, and DH is driving, I'll sit with DS for a bit, but I hate it.

While I was PG, seeing women sitting in the back seat while a man drove was one of those things that set me off emotionally. There were neighborhoods between our apartment and the grocery store that DH would do anything to avoid, so that I wouldn't go flying off the handle...

[kaylinsmommy2]

I did a poll like this a while ago... http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=37&topic_id=177048&mesg_id=177048&listing_type=search

I will admit it: I still sit in the back with DD on about 1/2 the short trips in which DH drives. I have to say, though, that it is dependent upon which seat is "open." Meaning - which seat (front vs. back) as the least amount of trash/junk. DH does outside sales so he keeps a lot of stuff in the front seat (and back seats and trunk). Plus, his front seat folds down, so it's almost like a big open space... Yes, I'm making excuses, but I like siting with DD in the back! :)

I also do it to keep her awake during car rides that I think she might fall asleep.

Caroline
Kaylin 6/5/04

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[deborah_r]

Petra, I think I'm being clueless here, but what set you off about that? Are there men that force their wives to sit in the back?


In response to the OP, I often sit in the back with DS, sometimes I just feel like it, sometimes I know he will be having needs that are easier for me to tend to from the backseat. Sometimes DH sits in the back with him while I drive. Honestly DS does fine by himself almost all of the time and is generally very easy in the car, but we sometimes feel bad that he's back there alone, rear-facing and all.

[ellies mom]

I sit in the front unless someone taller than me is riding with us, or in the case of DH's two door civic, if someone would have a harder time getting out of the back seat. My knees aren't the best, so I really need the leg room, and DH's seat is just too far back for me to be comfortable for any length of time.

I will move to the back seat if we are on a long drive and DD just isn't coping, but that is rare. I didn't even sit in the back on the way home from the hospital. We had DH's car and there was no way I was getting in or out of the back seat after my C-section.

[Wife_and_mommy]

I've sat with DD since she was born. It became a habit when she was an infant and needed me for whatever reason. After the thread in the carseat forum, I thought about it and have made an effort to sit up front with DH instead of automatically sitting in the back. He actually noticed and likes that I sit with him sometimes.

I'm not sure what I'll do with two little ones. DD was pretty needy in the car as an infant and I won't be able to sit back there anymore.

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]

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[sarahsthreads]

I sit in the back with Carrie if DH is driving, he sits in the back if I'm driving. I tend to drive for all the shorter trips because we take my car (with the better car seat) and I hate having to adjust the seat and mirrors every time I have to run to the post office or something. But I let him drive for the longer trips because there's a lot of good knitting time in a long drive. ;) (Oh, and he *likes* to drive, I just do it out of necessity.)

Once Carrie is no longer rear-facing (which may not be for another couple of years) or she has a sibling (again, not planning on that for a couple of years!) we'll go back to both sitting up front, but in the meantime we both agree that it's nice for her to have company that she can see. When she and I are in the car alone she does just fine by herself in the back, but she also tends to fall asleep more easily, which wreaks havoc with her naps!

Sarah :)

[amp]

I don't know where I fall, but that could be my mommy brain at work.

I rode in the back w/ DS on the way home from the hospital.

I ride in the front w/ DH almost all the time, unless we are taking other adults along. I'm the short person, so I squeeze into the back to let someone else be more comfortable in front.

I also will ride in the back when necessary or convenient (ie - calling Gramma and want DS to talk too, feeding DS during travel, etc).

[psophia17]

I think what set me off was how it looked like the women in the back seat might be back there because they weren't seen as good enough to sit in front. This is not something that usually sets me off, although usually if I see a woman alone in the back I hope that she chose to be there, but while I was PG and had my baby radar going, to see a woman in the back alone without a child it was instant fury on my part, as in "how dare that slimy misogynist man force his wife/sister/mother to sit in the back like she wasn't good enough to sit beside him."

That kind of attitude ticks me off in general, but to see it in practice while I was hormonal was too much...

[KrisM]

I sat in the back on the way home from the hospital. We've done a couple of 14 hour car trips and I'll get in the back and play with DS a few times then. I only stay an hour or so and then move to the front for a while.

[aliceinwonderland]

I don;t drive, so it's always passanger side up front for me. I did sit with DS in the back a handful of times when he was tiny, but I much prefer sitting up front with DH :) Only when my parents visit do I sometimes relinquish my seat to Dad, so "the guys" can talk. Then I sit in the back with my mom and DS.