After doing a 500 mile round trip this weekend with horrendous traffic and the children driving me mental I am wondering whether I can put B in his booster seat in the front of the car if I do this journey again?

I have actaully come home and gone mental at the pair of them for their behaviour in the car and I think they were surprised at how cross I was.

I think it's safer for them in the back, but it's not illegal in the front, looking at ROSPA it just says they need the correct restraint.    I personally would rather have them screaming from the back rather than distract from the passenger seat though.

From ROSPA:

It is safer for your children to travel in the rear seats than the front, and if you can fit a child car seat into the centre seat, then this is the safest option.

The middle rear seat is the safest because it is the furthest away from the sides of the car. If it has a three-point (lap and diagonal) seat belt, this is the safest place to put a child restraint (unless the manufacturer's instructions say it fits better in one of the other seats).

However, it can sometimes be difficult to fit a child seat into the middle rear seat if there is only a lap belt, or because of the way the vehicle seat is moulded. If you cannot fit the child seat to the manufacturer’s instructions with little or no movement forward and back, or side to side, then one of the other rear seats is the safest.

The rear seat behind the front passenger will allow children to get out onto the pavement, rather than the road.  

You should never put a rearward-facing baby seat in the front if there is an active passenger airbag. It is illegal to do so, as if the airbag goes off, it will hit the baby seat and fling it forward with considerable force.

If the car does not have airbags in the front, or if they can be deactivated, or if the car has sensors which does this automatically when you fit a child seat, then you can legally carry a rearward-facing baby seat in the front.

If you must fit a forward-facing seat in the front, make sure that the car seat is as far back as it will go so your child is as far away from the dashboard as possible. Double check that the child seat is very securely held by the seat belt and your child is securely held by the child seat's integral harness (if fitted).

Cheers Catrina - they were actually draggin each other out of their car seats hence me getting to the stage of thinking the front might have been safer. They thought it was a hilarious game but I felt physically sick at the thought of someone hitting the car and the kids dyign because they were pullign each other out of their seats. At leasdt if they can't touch each other that can't happen. Bound and aggged int he boot is possibly the best option. Unfortunately thats not allowed.

They just have no concept of how dangerous they were behaving and I actually ended up crying otu of frustration of not knowing what to do

Oh QI, that sounds like a journey from hell x

It was really scary. I just didn't know what to do because they just didn't get that it was so dangerous they just thought it was funny.

Well my friends plug the kids into dvds or their own music to keep them quiet on very long journeys.

Pull the older brother thing on B, and give a concrete punishment if he dares to do it again.

I only let j in the front if we are going round the town. I wouldn't be keen having him in the front.  I've actually been wondering when e can stop using a booster?

SW - Look at the ROSPA website, it has all the info you need on there.  But in brief, it's here:

www.childcarseats.org.uk/.../index.htm

I sometimes put one of the kids in the front yo separate them for the same reasons.  They distrCt me so much I think I'm more at risk of having an accident when they are arguing/messing around.

I tend to put the oldest one (6) at the front if I have both in the car

Mine have done this too and also got well and truly told off. Eldest understood. Youngest still plays up but eldest at least now tries to convince her to behave. I pull over and re do seat belts and take away toys/privledges. Doesn't help at the time though, and its so scary and distracting. I now use the front seat for mine on occasion (but then get arguments about who!).

Thanks Cat, she's a couple of cm under the 135cm so she'll need one until she grows a few cm.

Zoe goes in the front if we are doing a long journey just the two of us (probably won't know we have Orla too).  I weighed up the risks of it being less safe in the front vs the increased risk of me crashing with constantly trying to pass things to her, deal with whinging etc.  

'Pleased' to knwo that other people have gone for this solution. If I could afford DVD players or tablets or soemthign like that for them both I would, although I would worry it was another missile for them to throw! The big borther thing is difficult terriotory as too many people have gone on at B about being the man of the house and it was too much for him so I am currently very cautious at saying that.

JB - it reassures me to know that you have Z in the front. Is she still in a five point harness as well though? I wish B was.