Ram 1500/2500/3500: Child Restraints

Everyone in your vehicle needs to be buckled up at all times, including babies and children. Every state in the United States, and every Canadian province, requires that small children ride in proper restraint systems. This is the law, and you can be prosecuted for ignoring it.

Children 12 years or younger should ride properly buckled up in a rear seat, if available. According to crash statistics, children are safer when properly restrained in the rear seats rather than in the front.

There are different sizes and types of restraints for children from newborn size to the child almost large enough for an adult safety belt. Always check the child seat Owner's Manual to make sure you have the correct seat for your child. Carefully read and follow all the instructions and warnings in the child restraint Owner's Manual and on all the labels attached to the car seat.

Before buying any restraint system, make sure that it has a label certifying that it meets all applicable Safety Standards. You should also make sure that you can install it in the vehicle where you will use it.

WARNING! In a collision, an unrestrained child can become a projectile inside the vehicle. The force required to hold even an infant on your lap could become so great that you could not hold the child, no matter how strong you are. The child and others could be badly injured. Any child riding in your vehicle should be in a proper restraint for the child's size.

Summary Of Recommendations For Restraining Children In Vehicles

Infants And Child Restraints

Safety experts recommend that children ride rearward-facing in the vehicle until they are two years old or until they reach either the height or weight limit of their rear facing child safety seat. Two types of child restraints can be used rearward-facing: infant carriers and convertible child seats.

The infant carrier is only used rearward-facing in the vehicle. It is recommended for children from birth until they reach the weight or height limit of the infant carrier.

Convertible child seats can be used either rearward-facing or forward-facing in the vehicle. Convertible child seats often have a higher weight limit in the rearward-facing direction than infant carriers do, so they can be used rearward-facing by children who have outgrown their infant carrier but are still less than at least two years old. Children should remain rearward-facing until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their convertible child seat.

WARNING!

• Never place a rear facing infant seat in front of an air bag. A deploying Passenger Advanced Front Air Bag can cause death or serious injury to a child 12 years or younger, including a child in a rearward facing infant seat.
• Only use a rearward-facing child restraint in a vehicle with a rear seat.

Older Children And Child Restraints

Children who are two years old or who have outgrown their rear-facing convertible child seat can ride forward-facing in the vehicle. Forward-facing child seats and convertible child seats used in the forward-facing direction are for children who are over two years old or who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit of their rear-facing convertible child seat. Children should remain in a forward-facing child seat with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by the child seat.

All children whose weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for the child seat should use a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle's seat belts fit properly. If the child cannot sit with knees bent over the vehicle's seat cushion while the child's back is against the seatback, they should use a belt-positioning booster seat. The child and belt-positioning booster seat are held in the vehicle by the seat belt.

WARNING!

• Improper installation can lead to failure of an infant or child restraint. It could come loose in a collision. The child could be badly injured or killed. Follow the child restraint manufacturer's directions exactly when installing an infant or child restraint.
• After a child restraint is installed in the vehicle, do not move the vehicle seat forward or rearward because it can loosen the child restraint attachments.

  Remove the child restraint before adjusting the vehicle seat position. When the vehicle seat has been adjusted, reinstall the child restraint.

• When your child restraint is not in use, secure it in the vehicle with the seat belt or LATCH anchorages, or remove it from the vehicle. Do not leave it loose in the vehicle. In a sudden stop or accident, it could strike the occupants or seatbacks and cause serious personal injury.

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 seatback, should use the seat belt in a rear seat. Use this simple 5-step test to decide whether the child can use the vehicle's seat belt alone:

1. Can the child sit all the way back against the back of the vehicle seat? 2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably over the front of the vehicle seat - while they are still sitting all the way back? 3. Does the shoulder belt cross the child's shoulder between their neck and arm? 4. Is the lap part of the belt as low as possible, touching the child's thighs and not their stomach? 5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

If the answer to any of these questions was "no," then the child still needs to use a booster seat in this vehicle. If the child is using the lap/shoulder belt, check belt fit periodically and make sure the seat belt buckle is latched. 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, or use a booster seat to position the seat belt on the child correctly.

WARNING! Never allow a child to put the shoulder belt under an arm or behind their back. In a crash, the shoulder belt will not protect a child properly, which may result in serious injury or death. A child must always wear both the lap and shoulder portions of the seat belt correctly.

Recommendations For Attaching Child Restraints - Quad Cab/Crew Cab

Recommendations For Attaching Child Restraints - Standard Cab, Mega Cab

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