One contributing factor to head injury in restrained child occupants is pre‐crash maneuvers and active child human body models (HBMs) can be useful tools to design pre‐crash interventions with child safety in focus. This paper implemented postural control in the MADYMO human facet occupant model of a 6‐year‐old child using feedback controlled torque actuators. Control parameters were tuned and the active HBM was compared to experimental data from braking and steering events with child volunteers. The head and sternum displacements of the active HBM were within one standard deviation of the experimental data, while the original HBM did not capture the volunteer kinematics at all. By predicting biofidelic child kinematics, the developed model shows potential as a useful tool for the automotive industry to study the protective properties of restraint systems in pre‐crash scenarios. For autonomous steering events, it was illustrated that the shape of the acceleration pulse highly influences the peak head displacements of child occupants. This is an aspect that needs to be considered when autonomous interventions are designed, to ensure the safety of short forward facing child occupants.