I love all 4 doors off but I am not comfortable taking the rears off with my 4 year old son in the back. That's just my personal preference, each person needs to decide what works for them & their family.

 

Even a well disciplined child is curious and crafty. What happens when he figures our how to wriggle out of his car seat? What happens a rock or other debris is thrown into the vehicle? However unlikely something is to happen, it still can happen. Murphy's law is very real! Just unnecessary risk from my point of view.

 

Well, my son is 4 YO, and yesterday I took him out in the Jeep sans doors/roof for the first time. We stuck to the slow back roads and he had fun. No way I'd do it in the city, highway, etc... but where I can "control" the situation, no sweat.

He likes it best sitting in front going around the yard - with a seatbelt on in 4-Lo first gear (so what 1MPH?).

 

moron? stupid? dumb? piss off? what an awesome thread. no doors no top, 3 kids, all seatbelted because the youngest just got out of boosterseat age. no problem. oh yeah, and last time i checked, (probably just my opinion) but highway driving versus street/city driving? same thing as far as safety goes, cuz you morons, stupids dumbs and pissed off people are in both places. my parents drove me and my sibs around in the back of a p/u, no seats, let alone seatbelts until the law changed, and i would never consider them "unsafe, irresponsible, morons or anything else", just some loving parents.

 

I believe the title if this thread is infants and toddlers, not elementary age and junior high kids.

Once my son is old enough to react, hold on, tell me what problems he is having, and express to me that the 100+ degree temps are a little too much for him at this age, then the doors come when he is in it. Until then...nope. He's only 3 months old, that would be an infant who is just learning to control his head, I am cautious on rough roads because of that, the jeep isn't a caddy.

Yeah, I know all the things our parents did when we were young...don't care.

I, for one, am proud to live in a country where people can choose for themselves and their families, express their opinions, and all without fear of reprisal, verbal or otherwise.....okay, two out of three....

 

x1000, would never run doorless in the back with small kids on the highway. its just not worth the chance of something happening.

 

IMO do what you are comfortable with. You are their parent and you make the choice. Would I take the rear doors off with an infant? No but I would with my 11, 6, and 4 yr old in the middle. I also wouldn't go anywhere where the speed limit is greater than 55 if the doors are off. My concern is more towards road debris as the doors are not gonna do much good in a side impact. But thats my choice and if you see different than thats yours.
One good thing about taking the top and/or doors off. My kids now actually see the world and pay more attention to world around them then just looking at the headrest or what is on the radio. I can't tell you how many times before we had the Jeep that I would say "Look, there is a deer or turkey" and they would reply "Where?". Now they see them before me.

 

I will say that when my sone was an infant (actually until he was 4), I'd not only keep the doors and roof on, but I'd not go off roading on anything rough. Did not want to stress his little neck.

 

X2 on the road debris. I pulled a 12" piece of semi truck tire out of the grill on our Jetta after he blew a tire on the highway at 80 mph. I think I will at least wait until the kid can successfully defend himself.

 

People say it looks dumb when you have the rear doors on and fronts off. Well I guess me and my 3 year old girl can look dumb together. If there is any chance that your children can get get harmed, even a little bit, wouldn't you want to prevent that. As a parent if you would choose to take the way that makes you look more cool then I think your **********************. Fill in the blank.