Kevin Federline has given his wife Britney Spears permission to drive home with baby Sean Preston on her lap - if she feels the need to race away from the paparazzi.

Spears outraged parents when pictures of her driving with her baby son on her lap appeared in newspapers and magazines in February - but her supportive husband insists critics did not know the extent of the story.

The pop superstar claimed she was forced to take speedy and drastic action when she was swarmed by photographers after stopping to get a coffee at a Starbucks near her Malibu, California home - and Federline is happy with her explanation.

He tells GQ magazine, "What those magazines (that printed the damning photographs) don't tell you is that Starbucks is a minute from the house. If she feels like she gotta take the baby and put him on her lap and get out of there, so be it. I'd say she plays mama real well... She's a very good mother."

But Britney isn't taking the matter so lightly and, after publicly accepting the incident was a case of poor judgment, the pop star, who is pregnant with the couple's second child is getting serious about car safety - one of the items on her new online baby gift registry list is a car seat.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)