2010 GMC Acadia Owner's Manual - Page 105

Seats and Restraints The restraint manufacturer's instructions that come with the restraint state the weight and height limitations for a particular child restraint. In addition, there are many kinds of restraints available for children with special needs. 3-51 { WARNING A young child's hip bones are still so small that the vehicle's regular safety belt may not remain low on the hip bones, as it should. Instead, it may settle up around the child's abdomen. In a crash, the belt would apply force on a body area that is unprotected by any bony structure. This alone could cause serious or fatal injuries. To reduce the risk of serious or fatal injuries during a crash, young children should always be secured in appropriate child restraints. Child Restraint Systems { WARNING To reduce the risk of neck and head injury during a crash, infants need complete support. This is because an infant's neck is not fully developed and its head weighs so much compared with the rest of its body. In a crash, an infant in a rear-facing child restraint settles into the restraint, so the crash forces can be distributed across the strongest part of an infant's body, the back and shoulders. Infants should always be secured in rear-facing child restraints. (A) Rear‐Facing Infant Seat A rear-facing infant seat (A) provides restraint with the seating surface against the back of the infant. The harness system holds the infant in place and, in a crash, acts to keep the infant positioned in the restraint.