What's the recommendation now anyway?
Age-wise, it's 12. Size wise, as far as I know, it's at least 5' and 100lbs. The passenger-side airbag in our new car shuts off, and it hasn't been an issue for us yet anyhow (and Ben is not 12, but he is 5' and 100lbs).
From the CDC:
All children ages 12 years and younger should ride in the back seat, the safest part of a vehicle in the event of a crash. About one-third of the children ages 12 years and younger who were killed in 2000 were riding in the front seat. This is especially important for vehicles with front passenger-side airbags. Riding in the back seat is associated with at least a 30% reduction in the risk of fatal injury in cars without such airbags. Placing children in the back seat of vehicles reduces this risk by 46%.
Airbags and Children
The force of a deployed airbag can injure or kill a young child even in a slow-speed crash. Children ages 12 years and younger, including infants, should never be placed in a seat in front of an airbag. Riding in the back eliminates children’s risk of such injury.[link]
The American Academy of Pediatrics says age 13 for the front seat, rather than 12. [link] (the link mostly concerns infant car and booster seats, but about 1/2 way down, there's information about older children).
How about if I put him in the recline position?
I don't know why, but I have it in my head that that's dangerous. I would slide as far to the rear as possible, (you know, leg-room-wise, to keep him far from the airbag), but with the seat upright, or nearly so.
You'll probably see a pediatrician soon, for Matilda. Their office probably has hand-outs that can give better specifics.
Honestly Hec, I'd let him learn to sleep sitting up in the back, or deal with staying awake. My kids do it on the way home from Maine. Their necks are young. They can take the head-bob. I wouldn't put Emmett in the front seat with a passenger-side airbag. He's too small.
afraid the over-wifing tag close option is broken