2016 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE seats

Child Restraints
Everyone in your vehicle needs to be buckled up at all
times, including babies and children.
Every state in the United States, and every Canadian
province, requires that small children ride in proper
restraint systems. This is the law, and you can be pros-
ecuted for ignoring it.
Children 12 years or younger should ride properly
buckled up in a rear seat, if available. According to crash
statistics, children are safer when properly restrained in
the rear seats rather than in the front.
WARNING!
In a collision, an unrestrained child can become a
projectile inside the vehicle. The force required to
hold even an infant on your lap could become so
(Continued)
WARNING!(Continued)
great that you could not hold the child, no matter
how strong you are. The child and others could be
badly injured. Any child riding in your vehicle
should be in a proper restraint for the child’s size.
There are different sizes and types of restraints for
children from newborn size to the child almost large
enough for an adult safety belt. Always check the child
seat Owner ’s Manual to make sure you have the correct
seat for your child. Carefully read and follow all the
instructions and warnings in the child restraint Owner ’s
Manual and on all the labels attached to the child
restraint.
84 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

Child Size, Height, Weight Or Age Recommended Type Of Child Restraint
Larger Children Children who have out-grown their forward-facing child restraint, but are toosmall to properly fit the vehicle’s seat belt Belt Positioning Booster Seat and the
vehicle seat belt, seated in the rear seat of the vehicle
Children Too Large
for Child Restraints Children 12 years old or younger, who
have out-grown the height or weight limit of their booster seat Vehicle Seat Belt, seated in the rear seat
of the vehicle
Infants And Child Restraints
Safety experts recommend that children ride rear-facing
in the vehicle until they are two years old or until they
reach either the height or weight limit of their rear-facing
child restraint. Two types of child restraints can be used
rear-facing: infant carriers and convertible child seats.
The infant carrier is only used rear-facing in the vehicle.
It is recommended for children from birth until they
reach the weight or height limit of the infant carrier. Convertible child seats can be used either rear-facing or
forward-facing in the vehicle. Convertible child seats
often have a higher weight limit in the rear-facing
direction than infant carriers do, so they can be used
rear-facing by children who have outgrown their infant
carrier but are still less than at least two years old.
Children should remain rear-facing until they reach the
highest weight or height allowed by their convertible
child seat.
86 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

WARNING!
•Never place a rear-facing child restraint in front of
an air bag. A deploying passenger Advanced Front
Air Bag can cause death or serious injury to a child
12 years or younger, including a child in a rear-
facing child restraint.
• Only use a rear-facing child restraint in a vehicle
with a rear seat.
Older Children And Child Restraints
Children who are two years old or who have outgrown
their rear-facing convertible child seat can ride forward-
facing in the vehicle. Forward-facing child seats and
convertible child seats used in the forward-facing direc-
tion are for children who are over two years old or who
have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit of
their rear-facing convertible child seat. Children should remain in a forward-facing child seat with a harness for
as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height
allowed by the child seat.
All children whose weight or height is above the
forward-facing limit for the child seat should use a
belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle’s seat belts
fit properly. If the child cannot sit with knees bent over
the vehicle’s seat cushion while the child’s back is against
the seatback, they should use a belt-positioning booster
seat. The child and belt-positioning booster seat are held
in the vehicle by the seat belt.
WARNING!
•
Improper installation can lead to failure of an
infant or child restraint. It could come loose in a
collision. The child could be badly injured or
(Continued)
2
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 87

WARNING!(Continued)
killed. Follow the child restraint manufacturer ’s
directions exactly when installing an infant or
child restraint.
• After a child restraint is installed in the vehicle, do
not move the vehicle seat forward or rearward
because it can loosen the child restraint attach-
ments. Remove the child restraint before adjusting
the vehicle seat position. When the vehicle seat has
been adjusted, reinstall the child restraint.
• When your child restraint is not in use, secure it in
the vehicle with the seat belt or LATCH anchor-
ages, or remove it from the vehicle. Do not leave it
loose in the vehicle. In a sudden stop or accident, it
could strike the occupants or seatbacks and cause
serious personal injury.
Children Too Large For Booster Seats
Children who are large enough to wear the shoulder belt
comfortably, and whose legs are long enough to bend
over the front of the seat when their back is against the
seatback, should use the seat belt in a rear seat. Use this
simple 5-step test to decide whether the child can use the
vehicle’s seat belt alone:
1. Can the child sit all the way back against the back of the vehicle seat?
2. Do the child’s knees bend comfortably over the front of the vehicle seat – while they are still sitting all the
way back?
3. Does the shoulder belt cross the child’s shoulder between their neck and arm?
88 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

Lower Anchors And Tethers For CHildren
(LATCH) Restraint SystemYour vehicle is equipped with the child restraint anchor-
age system called LATCH, which stands for Lower
Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. The LATCH system
has three vehicle anchor points for installing LATCH-
equipped child seats. There are two lower anchorages
located at the back of the seat cushion where it meets the
seatback and one top tether anchorage located behind the
seating position. These anchorages are used to install
LATCH-equipped child seats without using the vehicle’s
seat belts. Some seating positions may have a top tether
anchorage but no lower anchorages. In these seating
positions, the seat belt must be used with the top tether
anchorage to install the child restraint. Please see the
following table for more information.
2
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 91

LATCH-compatible child restraint systems will be
equipped with a rigid bar or a flexible strap on each side.
Each will have a hook or connector to attach to the lower
anchorage and a way to tighten the connection to the
anchorage. Forward-facing child restraints and somerear-facing child restraints will also be equipped with a
tether strap. The tether strap will have a hook at the end
to attach to the top tether anchorage and a way to tighten
the strap after it is attached to the anchorage.
Center Seat LATCH
WARNING!
•
Do not install a child restraint in the center posi-
tion using the LATCH system. This position is not
approved for installing child seats using the
LATCH attachments. You must use the seat belt
and tether anchor to install a child seat in the center
seating position.
• Never use the same lower anchorage to attach more
than one child restraint. Please refer to Installing
Child Restraints Using the LATCH Lower Anchor-
ages in the section Installing Child Restraints for
typical installation instructions.
Pulling Down The Carpet Floor Panel To Access Top
Tether Strap Anchorage
2
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 97

Always follow the directions of the child restraint manu-
facturer when installing your child restraint. Not all child
restraint systems will be installed as described here.
To Install A LATCH-Compatible Child Restraint
If the selected seating position has a Switchable Auto-
matic Locking Retractor (ALR) seat belt, stow the seat
belt, following the instructions below. See the section
“Installing Child Restraints Using the Vehicle Seat Belt”
to check what type of seat belt each seating position has.
1.
Loosen the adjusters on the lower straps and on the
tether strap of the child seat so that you can more easily
attach the hooks or connectors to the vehicle anchor-
ages.
2. Place the child seat between the lower anchorages forthat seating position. For some second row seats, you
may need to recline the seat and / or raise the head
restraint to get a better fit. If the rear seat can be moved
forward and rearward in the vehicle, you may wish to
move it to its rear-most position to make room for the
child seat. You may also move the front seat forward
to allow more room for the child seat.Center Seat Position Arm Rest Tether Attached
2
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 99

Installing A Child Restraint With A Switchable
Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR)
1. Place the child seat in the center of the seatingposition. For some second row seats, you may need to
recline the seat and/or raise the head restraint to get a
better fit. If the rear seat can be moved forward and
rearward in the vehicle, you may wish to move it to its
rear-most position to make room for the child seat.
You may also move the front seat forward to allow
more room for the child seat.
2. Pull enough of the seat belt webbing from the retractor to pass it through the belt path of the child restraint.
Do not twist the belt webbing in the belt path.
3. Slide the latch plate into the buckle until you hear a “click.”
4. Pull on the webbing to make the lap portion tight against the child seat. 5. To lock the seat belt, pull down on the shoulder part of
the belt until you have pulled all the seat belt webbing
out of the retractor. Then, allow the webbing to retract
back into the retractor. As the webbing retracts, you
will hear a clicking sound. This means the seat belt is
now in the Automatic Locking mode.
6. Try to pull the webbing out of the retractor. If it is locked, you should not be able to pull out any web-
bing. If the retractor is not locked, repeat step 5.
7. Finally, pull up on any excess webbing to tighten the lap portion around the child restraint while you push
the child restraint rearward and downward into the
vehicle seat.
8. If the child restraint has a top tether strap and the seating position has a top tether anchorage, connect
the tether strap to the anchorage and tighten the tether
104 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE