Can I travel with my newborn baby in my morris minor?

[Humph1970]

I have a 3 door Saloon (1970) which is my main car. I have just had a baby and I trying to find out if it is safe for me to travel around with her in the car. I've had a modern seat belt fitted for the passenger seat so the baby car seat can be secured. The pram would have to sit on the back seat as it wouldn't fit in the boot obviously.
Or should she be traveling in the back?
Or is it just not a good idea at all?
My parents used to travel around with me and my brothers in their Traveler when we were small, but there is much more traffic on the roads now.
Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

Emily

[simmitc]

Congratulations I hope that you have years and years of joy.

Babies and Minors do mix very well, just as long as the correct baby seats are used and fitted properly. I'm afraid that I don't know the current regulations on whether baby should be in front or back, but new style seat belts can be fitted to either, so the baby seat should fit OK. With the pram in the back. make sure that the pram is secured so that im the (God forbid) case of an accident, it can't fly around like an uncontrolled missile.

Whilst there is a lot of traffic about, you would have to contend with the idiots in other vehicle regardless of which car you were driving. Yes, modern cars have all sorts of extra safety features, but you need to avoid the accident in the first place, which you do by good driving.

BTW, when you say "3 door", do you mean 2 or 4?

[Humph1970]

Thanks for that!
I mean 2 door plus boot.
Emily

[LouiseM]

Welcome to the messageboard Emily. You might find this thread useful: http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... =baby+seat

As stated, if using the front seat ensure that it is fixed at the rear as standard seats on a '70 Minor tip forward. Baby seat fitting centres will be able to advise on the correct positioning of the seat.

[dantournay]

Congratulations and yes you can use the front seat of a Minor with a correctly matched child restraint in the front.

Rearward facing seats offer the best possible protection for smaller babies. In the event of a frontal impact the rearward facing car seat supports your babies’ head and neck. Ideally you want to use a rearward seat until your baby reaches the maximum permissible weight and can sit up unaided (IIRC that was around 9 months for my daughter)

Bear in mind that if it's used in another vehicle it is illegal to carry a child in a rear-facing child seat in the front, if it is protected by an active frontal airbag.

I'd recommend getting one of the isofix style clip in trays and leaving it in on the passenger seat as it saves time and lots of messing about. The drawback is that you'll have take the pushchair in or out from the driver's side which could be an issue in a tight parking spaces.

Mothercare give good advice and have a wide selection and this is the gist of the law http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/law/index.htm#under3

[ferret76]

Not too sure on the regs in the UK but here baby seats/capsules need to be on the back seat. I had my little boy in a rear facing baby capsule without any problem. You need to make sure that it doesn't touch the back of the passengers seat. In Australia you need an anchor point which I have on the rear parcel rack and a suitable seat belt to put through the seat to hold it in place. I have a lap belt which does the trick. I was somewhat dubious about the Mog being an appropriate vehicle and visited an organisation here called Kidsafe who did the installation to make sure it met all safety standards. At the moment he is 11 months and forward facing but still in the back seat. Being a two door I find it easiest to fold the passenger seat forward and then kneel on the floor while I strap him in, saves the back trying to do it all bent over. Plus it gives him the opportunity to chat with me and stick his fingers up my nose which for some reason is absolutely hilarious at the moment.

[Kevin]

Hi and welcome aboard Emily, just in case you need some more info the following link may help you
http://www.quickfitsbs.com/
Hopefully they will help you avoid Ferrets nasal problems (good job he doesnt have a ring there as well )