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Children and booster seats vary widely in size and shape. Choose a
booster that keeps the lap belt low and snug across the hips, never up
across the stomach, and lets you adjust the shoulder belt to cross the
chest and rest snugly near the center of the shoulder. The drawings
below compare the ideal fit (center) to a shoulder belt uncomfortably
close to the neck and a shoulder belt that could slip off the shoulder.
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.
Move a child to a different seating location if the shoulder belt
does not stay positioned on the shoulder during use.
Follow all instructions provided by the manufacturer of the
booster seat.
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.
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:
•Review and follow the information
presented in theAirbag
supplemental restraint system
(SRS) section in this chapter.
•Use the correct safety belt buckle
for that seating position (the
buckle closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from).
•Insert 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.
•Keep 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.
•Place seat back in upright position.
•Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer toAutomatic
locking mode(passenger side front and outboard rear seating
positions) (if equipped) section in this chapter.
•LATCH lower anchors are recommended for use by children up to
48 lb. (22 kg) in a child restraint. Top tether anchors can be used for
children up to 60 lb. (27 kg) in a child restraint, and to provide upper
torso restraint for children up to 80 lb. (36 kg) using an upper torso
harness and a belt-positioning booster.
Ford recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether
strap. Install the child safety seat in a seating position with LATCH and
tether anchors. For more information on top tether straps and anchors,
refer toAttaching safety seats with tether strapsin this chapter. For
more information of LATCH anchors refer toAttaching safety seats with
LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) attachmentsin this
chapter.
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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.
Rear-facing child seats or infant carriers should never be placed
in front of an active airbag.
Installing child safety seats with combination lap and shoulder
belts
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.NEVERplace 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.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
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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 move 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. 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 2
through 9.
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 seats of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether strap
anchors located behind the seats and below the rear window behind the
speakers (coupe) or rearward of the seatback in the convertible top sling
(convertible).
The tether anchors in your vehicle are either located under a cover
marked with the child tether anchor symbol (shown with title) or are
under a tag marked with the child tether anchor symbol in the
convertible top sling.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions
(shown from top view):
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 seat cushion.
2. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.
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.
3. Locate the correct anchor for the
selected seating position as shown
previously.
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For Coupe only:
4. Open the tether anchor covers.
5. Clip the tether strap to the
anchor as shown.
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For Convertible only:
The tether anchors on the
convertible are located rearward of
the seatback in the convertible top
sling.
Note:For easier access, attach the
tether with the convertible top up.
Note:The attachments for the
convertible boot located on the back
of the head restraints are not tether
anchors.
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