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GENERAL INFORMATION
See the following sections for directions on
how to properly use safety restraints for
children.
WARNINGS
Always make sure your child is secured
properly in a device that is appropriate
for their height, age and weight. Child
safety restraints must be bought separately
from your vehicle. Failure to follow these
instructions and guidelines may result in an
increased risk of serious injury or death to
your child. WARNINGS
All children are shaped differently. The
recommendations for safety restraints
are based on probable child height, age
and weight thresholds from National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration and
other safety organizations, or are the
minimum requirements of law. Ford
recommends checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician
(CPST) and consult your pediatrician to
make sure your child seat is appropriate for
your child, and is compatible with and
properly installed in your vehicle. To locate
a child seat fitting station and CPST, contact
the NHTSA toll free at 1-888-327-4236 or go
to http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov. In Canada,
check with your local St. John Ambulance
office for referral to a CPST or for further
information, contact your provincial ministry WARNINGS
of transportation, locate your local St. John
Ambulance office by searching for St. John
Ambulance on the internet, or Transport
Canada at 1-800-333-0371
(http://www.tc.gc.ca). Failure to properly
restrain children in safety seats made
especially for their height, age, and weight
may result in an increased risk of serious
injury or death to your child. Do not leave children or animals
unattended in the vehicle. On hot days,
the temperature in the trunk or vehicle
interior can rise very quickly. Exposure of
people or animals to these high temperatures
for even a short time can cause death or
serious heat-related injuries, including brain
damage. Small children are particularly at
risk. 14
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Recommendations for Safety Restraints for Children
Recommended restraint type
Child size, height, weight, or age
Child
Use a child safety seat (sometimes called aninfant carrier, convertible seat, or toddler seat).
Children weighing 40 lb (18 kg) or less (generally age four or
younger).
Infants or toddlers
Use a belt-positioning booster seat.
Children who have outgrown or no longer properly fit in a child
safety seat (generally children who are less than 4 ft. 9 in. (1.45 m) tall, are greater than age four and less than age 12, and between40 lb (18 kg) and 80 lb (36 kg) and upward to 100 lb (45 kg) if recommended by your child restraint manufacturer).
Small children
Use a vehicle safety belt having the lap beltsnug and low across the hips, shoulder belt
centered across the shoulder and chest, and seat back upright.
Children who have outgrown or no longer properly fit in a belt-
positioning booster seat (generally children who are at least 4 ft.
9 in. (1.45 m) tall or greater than 80 lb (36 kg) or 100 lb (45 kg) if recommended by child restraint manufacturer).
Larger children
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•
You are required by law to properly use
safety seats for infants and toddlers in
the United States and Canada.
• Many states and provinces require that
small children use approved booster
seats until they reach age eight, a height
of 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 meters) tall, or 80
pounds (36 kilograms). Check your local
and state or provincial laws for specific
requirements about the safety of children
in your vehicle.
• When possible, always properly restrain
children 12 years of age and under in a
rear seating position of your vehicle.
Accident statistics suggest that children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in a front
seating position. See Front Passenger
Sensing System (page 38). INSTALLING CHILD SEATS
Child Seats Use a child safety seat (sometimes called an
infant carrier, convertible seat, or toddler
seat) for infants, toddlers, or children
weighing 40 pounds (18 kilograms) or less
(generally age four or younger).
Using Lap and Shoulder Belts
WARNINGS
Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child
seat. Never place a rear-facing child
seat in front of an active airbag. If you
must use a forward-facing child seat in the
front seat, move the seat upon which the
child seat is installed all the way back. WARNINGS
Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child
seat. Children 12 and under should be
properly restrained in the rear seat
whenever possible. Depending on where you secure a child
restraint, and depending on the child
restraint design, you may block access
to certain safety belt buckle assemblies and
LATCH lower anchors, rendering those
features potentially unusable. To avoid risk
of injury, occupants should only use seating
positions where they are able to be properly
restrained. When installing a child safety seat with
combination lap and shoulder belts:
•
Use the correct safety belt buckle for that
seating position.
• 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.
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•
Place the vehicle seat upon which the
child seat will be installed in the upright
position.
• Put the safety belt in the automatic
locking mode. See Step 5. This vehicle
does not require the use of a locking clip.
Perform the following steps when installing
the child seat with combination lap and
shoulder belts:
Note: Although the child seat illustrated is a
forward facing child seat, the steps are the
same for installing a rear facing child seat. 1. Position the child safety seat in a seat
with a combination lap and shoulder belt. 2. After positioning the child safety seat in
the proper seating position, pull down on
the shoulder belt and then grasp the
shoulder belt and lap belt together
behind the belt tongue. 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 pulled out.
Note: The automatic locking mode is
available on the front passenger and rear
seats.
6. Allow the belt to retract to remove slack.
The belt will click as it retracts to indicate
it is in the automatic locking mode.
7. 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 5 and 6. 8. Remove remaining slack from the belt.
Force the seat down with extra weight,
for example, by pressing down or kneeling
on the child restraint while pulling up on
the shoulder belt in order to force slack
from the belt. This is necessary to remove
the remaining slack that will exist once
the extra weight of the child is added to
the child restraint. It also helps to achieve
the proper snugness of the child seat to
your vehicle. Sometimes, a slight lean
toward the buckle will provide extra help
to remove remaining slack from the belt.
9. Attach the tether strap (if the child seat is equipped). 10. 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 and back.
There should be no more than 1 inch (2.5
centimeters) of movement for proper
installation.
Ford recommends checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician
to make certain the child restraint is properly
installed. In Canada, check with your local St.
John Ambulance office for referral to a
Certified Passenger Seat Technician.
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Using Lower Anchors and Tethers
for CHildren (LATCH)
WARNINGS
Never attach two child safety seats to
the same anchor. In a collision, one
anchor may not be strong enough to
hold two child safety seat attachments and
may break, causing serious injury or death. Depending on where you secure a child
restraint, and depending on the child
restraint design, you may block access
to certain safety belt buckle assemblies or
LATCH lower anchors, rendering those
features potentially unusable. To avoid risk
of injury, occupants should only use seating
positions where they are able to be properly
restrained. The LATCH system is composed of three
vehicle anchor points: two lower anchors
located where seat back and seat cushion
meet (called the seat bight) and one top
tether anchor located behind that seating
position. LATCH compatible child safety seats have
two rigid or webbing mounted attachments
that connect to the two lower anchors at the
LATCH equipped seating positions in your
vehicle. This type of attachment method
eliminates the need to use safety belts to
attach the child seat, however the safety belt
can still be used to attach the child seat. For
forward-facing child seats, the top tether
strap must also be attached to the proper
top tether anchor, if a top tether strap has
been provided with your child seat.
Your vehicle has LATCH lower anchors for
child seat installation at the seating positions
marked with the child seat symbol. The LATCH anchors are located at the rear
section of the rear seat between the cushion
and seatback below the symbols as shown.
Follow the child seat manufacturer's
instructions to properly install a child seat
with LATCH attachments. Follow the
instructions on attaching child safety seats
with tether straps.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the child
seat only to the anchors shown.
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Child Seat Positioning for LATCH Lower
Anchors
All the LATCH lower anchors are equally
spaced, 11 inches (28 centimeters) apart,
allowing for the following child seat
positioning:
•
If a single child seat is installed using the
LATCH lower anchors, it can be installed
at any rear seating position.
• If two child safety seats are installed
using the LATCH lower anchors, they
must be placed in the outboard seating
positions only.
• If three child safety seats are installed,
you can install two using the LATCH
lower anchors by placing them in each
outboard seating position and the third
in the center using the lap and shoulder
belt, OR you can use the LATCH lower
anchors for the center child safety seat
and the lap and shoulder belts for the
other two child safety seats in the
outboard positions. Use the tether
anchors if applicable. Combining Safety Belt and LATCH Lower
Anchors for Attaching Child Safety Seats
When used in combination, either the safety
belt or the LATCH lower anchors may be
attached first, provided a proper installation
is achieved. Attach the tether strap
afterward, if included with the child seat.
Using Tether Straps Many forward-facing child safety
seats include a tether strap which
extends from the back of the child
safety seat and hooks to an anchoring point
called the top tether anchor. 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,
or to obtain a longer tether strap if the tether
strap on your safety seat does not reach the
appropriate top tether anchor in your vehicle.
Once the child safety seat has been installed
using either the safety belt, the lower anchors
of the LATCH system, or both, you can attach
the top tether strap.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are
in the following positions (shown from top
view): Perform the following steps to install a child
safety seat with tether anchors:
Note:
If you install a child seat with rigid
LATCH attachments, do not tighten the tether
strap enough to lift the child seat off your
vehicle seat cushion when the child is seated
in it. Keep the tether strap just snug without
lifting the front of the child seat. Keeping the
child seat just touching your vehicle seat gives
the best protection in a severe crash.
1. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.
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2.
Locate the correct anchor for the selected
seating position, then open the tether
anchor cover. 3. Open the tether anchor cover. 4. Clip the tether strap to the anchor as
shown.
5. Tighten the child safety seat tether strap
according to the manufacturer's
instructions.
If your child restraint system is equipped with
a tether strap, and the child restraint
manufacturer recommends its use, Ford also
recommends its use. BOOSTER SEATS WARNING
Never place, or allow a child to place,
the shoulder belt under a child's arm
or behind the back because it reduces
the protection for the upper part of the body
and may increase the risk of injury or death
in a crash. Use a belt-positioning booster seat for
children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a child safety seat (generally
children who are less than 4 feet 9 inches
(1.45 meters) tall, are greater than age four
(4) and less than age twelve (12), and
between 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and 80
pounds (36 kilograms) and upward to 100
pounds (45 kilograms) if recommended by
your child restraint manufacturer). Many
state and provincial laws require that children
use approved booster seats until they reach
age eight, a height of 4 feet 9 inches (1.45
meters) tall, or 80 pounds (36 kilograms).
Booster seats should be used until you can
answer YES to ALL of these questions when
seated without a booster seat:
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