How do I Install an Infant Restraint in a Chevy Truck?
Car crashes can be deadly for infants and small children. As a matter of fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics claims that 539 children under age five died in a vehicle in 2000. All 50 states have laws that require you to use child restraints, the AAP says. If you're installing an infant car seat into your Chevy truck, follow some guidelines to guarantee your child's safety.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Infant car restraint
- Seat's Owner Manual
- Chevy truck's owner manual
- Non-skid shelf liners, if needed
Instructions
-
Installing the Restraint with Anchors
-
1
Find the anchors in the back seat of your truck. You should be able to find them just under the back of the seat. The middle seat of the back bench is the safest place for infant car restraints.
-
2
Place the infant restraint's base levelly in the seat, and with your knee, push it down to get a tight fit.
-
-
3
Attach the seat to the anchors or pull the seat belt through the base. The car seat shouldn't move more than an inch in either direction. If the car seat moves too much, unhook the anchor, or rethread the seat belt and start again.
-
4
Attach the car seat carrier to the base. Make sure you hear a click when you place the carrier onto the base. The carrier's handle should be placed in the down position, behind the carrier.
Installing the Restraint with a Seat Belt
-
5
Use the seatbelt to attach an infant car seat if your truck was manufactured before 2002, as these models won't have an anchor system. Place the car seat's base in the middle back seat of your truck, if possible.
-
6
Thread the seat belt through the belt path, and make sure that you don't twist the belt. With one hand, grasp the shoulder strap, and with the other hand, push down on the base near the buckle. Pull to tighten the strap. Continue pressing on the base and pulling on the seat belt until the base is secured as tightly as possible.
-
7
Listen for a click when you place the car seat onto the base every time you place the seat in the car.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Check your seat's expiration date. Find the expiration date on the bottom of the seat or base. Expired seats have been exposed to elements for too long a period of time, which could compromise the integrity of the plastic.
If your Chevy truck has leather seats, place a shelf liner over the seat to make a non-skid surface.
The 2010 Chevy Colorado owner's manual warns to never put a rear-facing infant seat in the front passenger seat. This could cause death or serious injury if the airbag were to deploy. Though it's also recommended that front-facing seats only be in the back seat, some Chevy truck models don't have an extended cab. If a forward-facing child must ride in the passenger seat, the 2010 Chevy Colorado owner's manual says to make sure the seat is moved as far back as it will go to keep the child as far away from the airbag as possible.
Refer to your specific truck's owner manual and your car seat's owner manual to make sure you're installing the seat properly.
Use an infant seat only until your child reaches 20 pounds, or until he or she turns one year old, whichever comes first. Check your car seat's owners manual, though, as some models can hold babies for up to 22 pounds.
References
- Photo Credit red pick-up truck sideview on metal bg image by patrimonio designs from Fotolia.com
