1998 HONDA ODYSSEY Owners Manual

Protecting Children

3. The child seat should fit the vehicle seating position (or
positions) where it will be used.
Due to variations in the design of
child seats, vehicle seats, and seat
belts, all child seats will not fit all
vehicle seating positions.
However, Acura is confident that oneor more child seat models can fit and
be properly installed in all
recommended seating positions in
your vehicle. Whenever possible, we recommend
that parents test a child seat in thespecific vehicle seating position (or
positions) where they intend to use the seat before making a purchase. If
a previously purchased child seatdoes not fit, you may need to buy a
different one that will fit.
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Protecting Children

Placing a Child Seat
This page briefly summarizes Acura's recommendations on where to placerear-facing and forward-facing childseats in your vehicle.
Front Passenger's Seat

Infants: Never in the front seat, due to the passenger airbag hazard.

Small children: Not recommended,
due to the passenger's airbag
hazard. If a small child must ride in front, move the vehicle seat to
the rear-most position and secure a front-facing child seat with theseat belt (see page 32).
Back Seats
Infants: Recommended positions.
Secure a rear-facing child seat
with the seat belt (see page 28).

Small children: Recommended
positions. Secure a front-facingchild seat with the seat belt (see
page 32).
Driver and Passenger Safety
Airbags Pose Serious
Risks to Children
The passenger's airbag inflates
with enough force to kill or seriously injure an infant in a
rear-facing child seat.
A small child in a forward-facing child seat is also at risk. If the
vehicle seat is too far forward, or the child's head is thrown
forward during a collision, an
inflating airbag can kill or seriously injure the child.
If a small child must ride in the
front, follow the instructions
provided.
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Protecting Children

Installing a Child Seat

After selecting a proper child seat, and a good position to install the seat,
there are three main steps in
installing the seat:

1. Secure the child seat to the vehicle
with a seat belt. All child seats
must be secured to the vehicle
with the lap belt or the lap part of a lap/shoulder belt. A child whose
seat is not properly secured to the
vehicle can be endangered in a crash. See pages 28 and 30 for
instructions on how to secure child seats in this vehicle.
2. Make sure the child seat is firmly
secured. After installing a child

seat, push and pull the seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure. To provide security during normal
driving maneuvers, as well as during
a collision, we recommend that
parents secure a child seat as firmly
as possible.

However, a child seat does not need
to be "rock solid." In some vehicles or seating positions, it may be
difficult to install a child seat so that
it does not move at all. Some side-to- side or forward-and-back movement
can be expected and should not
reduce the child seat's effectiveness.
If the child seat is not secure, try
installing it in a different seating
position, or use a different style of child seat that can be firmly secured
in the desired seating position.
3. Secure the child in the child seat.

Make sure the child is properly
strapped in the child seat
according to the child seat maker's
instructions. A child who is not
properly secured in a child seat can be thrown out of the seat and
be seriously injured in a crash.

Storing a Child Seat
When you are not using a child seat, either remove it and store it in a safe
place, or make sure it is properly secured. An unsecured child seat can
be thrown around the vehicle during a crash or sudden stop and injure
someone.

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Protecting Children

Protecting Infants
Child Seat Type
To provide proper support for a baby's head, neck and back, infants
up to about one year of age must be
restrained in a rear-facing child seat.
Two types of seats may be used: a seat designed exclusively for infants,
or a convertible seat used in the rear-
facing, reclining mode. We recommend that an infant stay in
a rear-facing child seat as long as
possible, until they reach the seat
maker's weight or height limit and are able to sit up without support.
Infant Seat Placement

In this vehicle, a rear-facing child seat can be placed in any seating
position in the back, but not in the
front seat.

Never put a rear-facing child seat in
the front seat. If the passenger's
airbag inflates, it can hit the back of
the child seat with enough force to
kill or seriously injure an infant. If an infant must be closely watched, we
recommend that another adult sit ina back seat with the baby.

Do not put a rear-facing child seat in
a forward-facing position. If an

infant faces forward, they could be
very seriously injured during a
frontal collision.

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Driver and Passenger Safety
Placing a rear-facing child seat
in the front seat can result in
serious injury or death if the
airbags inflate.
Always place a rear-facing child seat in the back seat, not the
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Protecting Children

Installing an Infant Seat With a Lap/
Shoulder Belt

The lap/shoulder belts in the outer back seats have a locking mechanism that must be activated tosecure a child seat.
The following pages provide instructions and tips on how tosecure a rear-facing child seat with
this type of seat belt. See page 30 for how to secure a rear-
facing child seat with the lap belt.
1. With the child seat in the desiredback seating position, route the
belt through the child seataccording to the seat maker's
instructions, then insert the latch
plate into the buckle.

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Protecting Children

2. To activate the lockable retractor, slowly pull the shoulder part of the
belt all the way out until it stops,
then let the belt feed back into the
retractor (you might hear a
clicking noise as the belt retracts).
3. After the belt has retracted, tug on it. If the belt is locked, you will not
be able to pull it out. If you can pull
the belt out, it is not locked and
you will need to repeat these steps. 4. After confirming that the belt is
locked, grab the shoulder part of
the belt near the buckle and pull
up to remove any slack from the
lap part of the belt. Remember, if
the lap part of the belt is not tight,
the child seat will not be secure.
To remove slack, it may help to put weight on the child seat, or
push on the back of the seat while pulling up on the belt.
5. Push and pull the child seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure enough to
stay upright during normal driving

maneuvers. If the child seat is not

secure, unlatch the belt, allow it to

retract fully, then repeat these
steps.

To deactivate the locking mechanism in order to remove a

child seat, unlatch the buckle,

unroute the seat belt, and let the belt

fully retract.

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Protecting Children

Installing an Infant Seat With the

Lap Belt

Seven-passenger model only
To install a rear-facing child seat with the lap belt, follow instructionnumber 1 on page 28 for routing and
latching the seat belt. Then pull hard
on the loose end of the belt to
remove any slack (it may help to put
weight on the child seat while pulling on the belt). Finally, follow
instruction number 5 of page 29 to
verify that the child seat is secure. Infant Seat Installation Tips
For proper protection, an infant must ride in a reclined, or semi-reclined
position. To determine the proper
reclining angle, check with the baby's doctor or follow the seat maker's
recommendations.
To achieve the desired reclining angle, it may help to put a rolled up
towel under the toe of the child seat,
as shown above. When properly installed a rear-facing
child seat may prevent the driver or
a front-seat passenger from moving
their seat as far back as
recommended (see page 10 ). Or it
may prevent them from locking theirseat-back in the desired upright
position (see page 11).
In either case, we recommend that
you place the child seat in another
back seating position, or leave the affected seat unoccupied. If the
problem cannot be solved, you may
wish to get a smaller rear-facing child seat.
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Protecting Children

Additional Precautions for Infants Never hold a baby on your lap. If

you are not wearing a seat belt in a crash, you could be thrown
forward into the dashboard and crush the child.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
baby can be torn from your arms. For example, if the vehicle crashes
into a parked vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 20 Ibs (9 kg) baby
will become a 600 Ibs (275 kg)
force, and you will not be able to
hold it.
Never put a seat belt over yourself

and a baby. During a crash, the

belt could press deep into the child and cause very serious injuries. Protecting Small Children
Child Seat Type
A child who can sit up without support, and who fits within the child
seat maker's weight and height
limits, should be restrained in a
forward-facing, upright child seat.
Of the different seats available, we
recommend those that have a five-
point harness system as shown. We also recommend that a small
child stay in the child seat as long as
possible, until they reach the weight
or height limit for the seat.
Child Seat Placement In this vehicle, the best place to
install a forward-facing child seat is in one of the seating positions in a
back seat.

Placing a forward-facing child seat inthe front seat of a vehicle equipped
with a passenger airbag can be

hazardous. If the vehicle seat is too
far forward, or the child's head is
thrown forward during a collision, an inflating passenger's airbag canstrike the child with enough force to
cause very serious or fatal injuries. If a small child must be closely
watched, we recommend that another adult sit in a back seat with
the child.
Driver and Passenger Safety
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