Your vehicle has the LATCH system. The LATCH system holds a child restraint during driving or in a crash. This system is designed to make installation of a child restraint easier. The LATCH system uses anchors in the vehicle and attachments on the child restraint that are made for use with the LATCH system
Make sure that a LATCH-compatible child restraint is properly installed using the anchors, or use the vehicle's safety belts to secure the restraint, following the instructions that came with that restraint, and also the instructions in this manual. When installing a child restraint with a top tether, you must also use either the lower anchors or the safety belts to properly secure the child restraint. A child restraint must never be installed using only the top tether and anchor.
In order to use the LATCH system in your vehicle, you need a child restraint equipped with LATCH attachments. The child restraint manufacturer will provide you with instructions on how to use the child restraint and its attachments. The following explains how to attach a child restraint with these attachments in your vehicle.
Your vehicle has lower anchors and top tether anchors. Your child restraint may have lower attachments and a top tether.
Not all vehicle seating positions or child restraints have lower anchors and attachments or top tether anchors and attachments.
Lower Anchors
Lower anchors (A) are metal bars built into the vehicle. There are two lower anchors for each LATCH seating position that will accommodate a child restraint with lower attachments (B).
Top Tether Anchor
A top tether (A, C) anchors the top of the child restraint to the vehicle. A top tether anchor is built into the vehicle. The top tether attachment (B) on the child restraint connects to the top tether anchor in the vehicle in order to reduce the forward movement and rotation of the child restraint during driving or in a crash.
Your child restraint may have a single tether (A) or a dual tether (C). Either will have a single attachment (B) to secure the top tether to the anchor.
Some top tether-equipped child restraints are designed for use with or without the top tether being attached. Others require the top tether always to be attached. In Canada, the law requires that forward-facing child restraints have a top tether, and that the tether be attached. In the United States, some child restraints also have a top tether. Be sure to read and follow the instructions for your child restraint.
If the child restraint does not have a top tether, one can be obtained, in kit form, for many child restraints. Ask the child restraint manufacturer whether or not a kit is available.
Lower Anchor and Top Tether Anchor Locations
(Top Tether Anchor): Seating positions with top tether anchors.
(Lower Anchor): Seating positions with two lower anchors.
The front passenger seat position has exposed metal lower anchors in the crease between the seatback and the seat cushion.
The top tether anchor is located on the back of the front passenger seat.
Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the LATCH System
Your vehicle has a passenger airbag. There is an airbag off switch in the glove box you can use to turn off the passenger's airbag. See Airbag Off Switch for more on this, including important safety information.
Unless the passenger's airbag has been turned off, never put a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle. Here is why:
Caution: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the passenger's airbag inflates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inflating airbag. Do not use a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle unless the passenger's airbag has been turned off.
Even though the airbag off switch is designed to turn off the right front passenger's frontal airbag, no system is fail-safe, and no one can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy under some unusual circumstance, even though it is turned off. We recommend that rear-facing child restraints be transported in vehicles with a rear seat that will accommodate a rear-facing child restraint, whenever possible. If you secure a forward-facing child restraint in the passenger seat, always move the passenger seat as far back as it will go.Caution: If the airbag readiness light ever comes on when you have turned off the passenger's frontal airbag, it means that something may be wrong with the airbag system. The passenger's frontal airbag could inflate even though the switch is off. If this ever happens, do not let anyone whom the national government has identified as a member of a passenger airbag risk group sit in the passenger's position (for example, do not secure a rear-facing child restraint in your vehicle) until you have your vehicle serviced. See Airbag Off Switch .
Caution: If a LATCH-type child restraint is not attached to anchors, the child restraint will not be able to protect the child correctly. In a crash, the child could be seriously injured or killed. Install a LATCH-type child restraint properly using the anchors, or use the vehicle's safety belts to secure the restraint, following the instructions that came with the child restraint and the instructions in this manual.
Caution: Do not attach more than one child restraint to a single anchor. Attaching more than one child restraint to a single anchor could cause the anchor or attachment to come loose or even break during a crash. A child or others could be injured. To reduce the risk of serious or fatal injuries during a crash, attach only one child restraint per anchor.
- Attach and tighten the lower attachments to the lower anchors. If the child restraint does not have lower attachments or the desired seating position does not have lower anchors, secure the child restraint with the top tether and the safety belts. Refer to your child restraint manufacturer instructions and the instructions in this manual.
- If the child restraint manufacturer recommends that the top tether be attached, attach and tighten the top tether to the top tether anchor, if equipped. Refer to the child restraint instructions and the following steps:
- If your child restraint is forward-facing, always move the seat as far back as it will go. See Power Seats .
- Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure.
| 1.1. | Your vehicle has a passenger airbag. There is an airbag off switch in the glove box you can use to turn off the passenger's airbag. See Airbag Off Switch for more on this, including important safety information. Never use a rear-facing child restraint in this seat unless the airbag is off. |
| 1.2. | Find the lower anchors for the desired seating position. |
| 1.3. | Put the child restraint on the seat. |
| 1.4. | Attach and tighten the lower attachments on the child restraint to the lower anchors. |
| 2.1. | Find the top tether anchor. You may have to move you seat forward to access the top tether anchor. See Power Seats . |
| 2.2. | Route, attach, and tighten the top tether according to your child restraint instructions and the following instructions: |
If the position you are using has a halo head restraint and you are using a single tether, route the tether through the hole in the head restraint.
If the position you are using has a halo head restraint and you are using a dual tether, route the tether through the hole in the head restraint.
If you were using a rear-facing child restraint, turn on the passenger's airbag when you remove the rear-facing child restraint from the vehicle unless the person who will be sitting there is a member of a passenger airbag risk group. See Airbag Off Switch .
Caution: If the passenger's frontal airbag is turned off for a person who is not in a risk group identified by the national government, that person will not have the extra protection of a frontal airbag. In a crash, the airbag would not be able to inflate and help protect the person sitting there. Do not turn off the passenger's frontal airbag unless the person sitting there is in a risk group. See Airbag Off Switch for more on this, including important safety information.
