1999 Mercury Villager Owner's Manual - Page 141

Seating and safety restraints Installing child safety seats in the lap belt seating positions 1. Lengthen the lap belt. To lengthen the belt, hold the tongue so that its bottom is perpendicular to the direction of webbing while sliding the tongue up the webbing. 2. Place the child safety seat in the center seating position. 3. Route the tongue and webbing through the child seat according to the child seat manufacturer's instructions. 4. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle for the center seating position until you hear a snap and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is securely fastened to the buckle by pulling on tongue. 5. Push down on the child seat while pulling on the loose end of the lap belt webbing to tighten the belt. 6. Before placing the child into the child seat, forcibly tilt the child seat from side to side and in forward direction to make sure that the seat is held securely in place. If the child seat moves excessively, repeat steps 5 through 6, or properly install the child seat in a different position. Attaching safety seats with tether straps Some manufacturers make safety seats that include a tether strap that goes over the back of the vehicle seat and attaches to an anchoring point. Other manufacturers offer the tether strap as an accessory. Contact the manufacturer of your child safety seat for information about ordering a tether strap. Children should be placed in the rear in an appropriate child safety seat that is properly secured to the vehicle. Rear-facing infant seats must always be secured in the rear seat. In vehicles without a rear seat, a rear-facing infant seat should be secured in the front seat only if your vehicle does not have a passenger side air bag or your vehicle is equipped with a passenger air bag deactivate switch and the switch is turned to "OFF." When using forward-facing child safety seats in vehicles with only two seating positions so the forward-facing child safety seat cannot be placed in the rear of the vehicle, move the passenger seat as far back from the instrument panel as possible. 141