2005 Dodge Stratus Owner's Manual - Page 44

44 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 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 seat back, should use the lap/shoulder belt in a rear seat. • Make sure that the child is upright in the seat. • The lap portion should be low on the hips and as snug as possible. • Check belt fit periodically. A child's squirming or slouching can move the belt out of position. • If the shoulder belt contacts the face or neck, move the child closer to the center of the vehicle. Never allow a child to put the shoulder belt under an arm or behind their back. LATCH - Child Seat Anchorage System (Lower Anchors and Tether for CH ildren) Your vehicle's rear seat is equipped with the child restraint anchorage system called LATCH. The LATCH system provides for the installation of the child restraint without using the vehicle's seat belts, instead securing the child restraint using lower anchorages and upper tether straps from the child restraint to the vehicle structure. LATCH-compatible child restraint systems are now available. However, because the lower anchorages are to be introduced over a period of years, child restraint systems having attachments for those anchorages will continue to also have features for installation using the vehicle's seat belts. Child restraints having tether straps and hooks for connection to the top tether anchorages have been available for some time. For some older child restraints, many child restraint manufacturers offer add-on tether strap kits or retro-fit kits. You are urged to take advantage of all the available attachments provided with your child restraint in any vehicle. All three rear seating positions have lower anchorages that are capable of accommodating LATCH-compatible child seats having flexible, webbing-mounted lower attachments. Child seats with fixed lower attachments must be installed in the outboard positions only. Regardless of the specific type of lower attachment, NEVER install LATCH-compatible child seats such that two seats