2000 Cadillac Catera Owners Manual

CAUTION:Smaller children and babies should always berestrained in a child or infant restraint. Theinstructions for the restraint will say whether itis the right type and size for your child. A veryyoung child’s hip bones are so small that a regularbelt might not stay low on the hips, as it should.Instead, the belt will likely be over the child’sabdomen. In a crash, the belt would apply forceright on the child’s abdomen, which could causeserious or fatal injuries. So, be sure that any childsmall enough for one is always properly restrainedin a child or infant restraint.A baby should be secured in an appropriate infantrestraint. This is so important that many hospitals todaywon’t release a newborn infant to its parents unless thereis an infant restraint available for the baby’s first trip ina motor vehicle.Infants need complete support, including support forthe head and neck. This is necessary because an infant’sneck is weak and its head weighs so much comparedwith the rest of its body. In a frontal crash, an infant ina rear-facing restraint settles into the restraint, so thecrash forces can be distributed across the strongestpart of the infant’s body, the back and shoulders.1-38