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²Those with a high back.
If, with a backless booster seat,
you cannot find a seating position
that adequately supports your
child's head, a high back booster
seat would be a better choice.
Both can be used in any vehicle in a seating position equipped with
lap/shoulder belts if your child is over 40 lbs.
The shoulder belt should cross the chest, resting snugly on the center of
the shoulder. The lap belt should rest low and snug across the hips,
never up high across the stomach.
If the booster seat slides on the vehicle seat, placing a rubberized mesh
sold as shelf or carpet liner under the booster seat may improve this
condition.
The importance of shoulder belts
Using a booster without a shoulder belt increases the risk of a child's
head hitting a hard surface in a collision. For this reason, you should
never use a booster seat with a lap belt only. It is best to use a booster
seat with lap/shoulder belts in the back seat- the safest place for children
to ride.
WARNING: Follow all instructions provided by the
manufacturer of the booster seat.
WARNING: Never put the shoulder belt under a child's arm or
behind the back because it eliminates the protection for the
upper part of the body and may increase the risk of injury or
death in a collision.
WARNING: Never use pillows, books, or towels to boost a
child. They can slide around and increase the likelihood of
injury or death in a collision.
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SAFETY SEATS FOR CHILDREN
Child and infant or child safety seats
Use a safety seat that is recommended for the size and weight of the
child. Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's instructions with the
safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install and use the
safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden stop or
collision.
When installing a child safety seat:
²Review and follow the information
presented in theAir Bag
Supplemental Restraint System
section in this chapter.
²Use the correct safety belt buckle
for that seating position (the
buckle closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from).
²Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle until you hear a
snap and feel it latch. Make sure
the tongue is securely fastened in
the buckle.
WARNING: Do not install a
child seat in a center facing
jump seat.
²Keep the buckle release button pointing up and away from the safety
seat, with the tongue between the child seat and the release button,
to prevent accidental unbuckling.
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²Place seat back in upright position.
²Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer toAutomatic
locking mode(passenger side front seat).
Mazda recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether
strap. Install the child safety seat in a seating position which is capable
of providing a tether anchorage. For more information on top tether
straps, refer toAttaching child safety seats with tether straps.
WARNING: Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's
instructions included with the safety seat you put in your
vehicle. If you do not install and use the safety seat properly,
the child may be injured in a sudden stop or collision.
Installing child safety seats in combination lap and shoulder belt
seating positions
The rear seat head restraints must be removed when using a child
seat.
WARNING: Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active air
bag. If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front
seat, move the seat all the way back.
1. Position the child safety seat in
a seat with a combination lap
and shoulder belt.
WARNING: Children 12 and under should be properly
restrained in the rear seat whenever possible, the back seat
environment is generally safer.
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2. Pull down on the shoulder belt
and then grasp the shoulder
belt and lap belt together.
3. While holding the shoulder and
lap belt portions together, route
the tongue through the child
seat according to the child seat
manufacturer's instructions. Be
sure the belt webbing is not
twisted.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle
closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from) for that
seating position until you hear a
snap and feel the latch engage.
Make sure the tongue is latched
securely by pulling on it.
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5. To put the retractor in the
automatic locking mode, grasp
the shoulder portion of the belt
and pull downward until all of
the belt is extracted and a click
is heard.
6. Allow the belt to retract. The belt will click as it retracts to indicate
it is in the automatic locking mode.
7. Pull the lap belt portion across
the child seat toward the buckle
and pull up on the shoulder belt
while pushing down with your
knee on the child seat.
8. Allow the safety belt to retract
to remove any slack in the belt.
9. Before placing the child in the
seat, forcibly tilt the seat
forward and back to make sure
the seat is securely held in
place. To check this, grab the
seat at the belt path and
attempt to move it side to side
and forward and back. There
should be no more than one
inch of movement for proper installation.
10. Try to pull the belt out of the retractor to make sure the retractor is
in the automatic locking mode (you should not be able to pull more
belt out). If the retractor is not locked, unbuckle the belt and repeat
steps two through nine.
Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
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Attaching child safety seats with tether straps
Most new forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap which
goes over the back of the seat and hooks to an anchoring point. Tether
straps are available as an accessory for many older safety seats. Contact
the manufacturer of your child seat for information about ordering a
tether strap.
The rear seating positions of your vehicle are equipped with built-in
tether strap anchors located behind the seats as described below.
The tether anchors in your vehicle are located on the roof panel in the
cargo area.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions:
WARNING: Attach the tether
strap only to the appropriate
tether anchor as shown. The
tether strap may not work
properly if attached
somewhere other than the
correct tether anchor.
1. Position the child safety seat on the passenger seat cushion.
2. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.
NOTE:For vehicles with adjustable head restraints, route the tether
strap under the head restraint and between the head restraint posts,
otherwise route the tether strap over the top of the seatback.
NOTE:For vehicles with adjustable head restraints, route the tether
strap over the top of the seatback.
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3. Locate the correct anchor for
the selected seating position.
NOTE:There are three tether
anchors located on the headliner at
the rear of the vehicle.
WARNING: If the tether strap
is clipped incorrectly, the child
safety seat may not be
retained properly in the event
of a collision. If the safety seat
is not anchored properly, the
risk of a child being injured in
a collision greatly increases.
4. Clip the tether strap to the
anchor as shown.
The arrow in the above graphic
points toward the front of the
vehicle.
5. Refer to theInstalling child
safety seats in combination
lap and shoulder belt seating
positionssection of this chapter
for further instructions to
secure the child safety seat.
6. Tighten the child safety seat
tether strap according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
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Attaching safety seats with LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for
Children) attachments for child seat anchors
Some child safety seats have two rigid or webbing mounted attachments
that connect to two anchors at certain seating positions in your vehicle.
When properly installed, this type of seat eliminates the need to use seat
belts to attach the child seat. For forward-facing child seats, the tether
strap must also be attached to the proper tether anchor. SeeAttaching
safety seats with tether strapsin this chapter.
Your vehicle has LATCH anchors for child seat installation as shown in
the illustration. There are none in the front passenger seat.
The anchors closest to the center
rear seat are provided primarily for
child seats at the outboard seating
positions. These anchors are farther
apart than the pairs of lower
anchors for child seat installation at
the outboard seats.
While the anchors closest to the
center seat may also be usable, special precautions must be followed.
First, if those anchors are already in use by a LATCH equipped child seat
on either outboard seat,you must not attach two LATCH seats to
the same anchor pointÐ it will overload the anchor point. Either
spread the two LATCH equipped seats to the outboard positions or use
the regular lap belt on the center one (If the seat has a tether, be sure to
also attach it to the center tether anchor).
Secondly, those LATCH equipped child seatswith rigid LATCH
attachmentswill not latch in the center rear position because those two
middle anchors are too far apart. You can only attach the rigid LATCH
equipped child seats to the outboard seat LATCH anchors that have the
proper spacing for that type of child seat. If your child seat has flexible
LATCH attachments, be sure that the manufacturer's instructions say
that it can reach to anchors spaced at least 500 mm (19 in) apart.
WARNING: Never attach two LATCH child safety seats to the
same anchor. In a crash, one anchor may not be strong enough
to hold two child safety seat attachments and may break,
causing serious injury or death.
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