Installation trouble in a Prius (coccoro)

[hollyperret]

We just bought a prius with leather seats and installing the rear facing carseat yesterday was troublesome for 2 reasons.

1) the seats are slippery and we just couldn't get a secure fit. The bottom is in nice and snug, no side to side movement but it is easy to tilt the back of the seat towards the back seat of the car because there is no friction, then it loosens of the bottom of the coccoro. Any solutions to this? I know I can tether, but I am wondering if there might be other options as well.

2) We are using the latch system so there are two shoulder belts within reach of her from her carseat. I'd like to lock these seat belts so she can't pull them out and get wrapped around her while we are driving but I cannot get them to stay locked. If I pull quick they lock and I'd I retract slowly, they stay locked until they are almost all the way back in, but at a certain point they stop locking. Is there a way to fix this? The dealership said no. But I have always been able to pull out and lock whatever seat belts are near the baby seat in whatever car I am in. Or should I just not worry about this?

Thanks!

 

[hollyperret]

Also, I don't really understand tethering. I read an article on it that someone posted on this site, but I couldn't 100% understand where I am supposed to put the tether and how to secure it properly.

 

[LISmama810]

It's not uncommon for the Coccoro to want to "flip back" like that. It's actually not a problem as long as you don't have people grabbing/moving the seat there and loosening it (like other kids climbing into the car, etc.) There's no need to check the seat there because that WILL loosen it, but if you don't intentionally flip it, it will generally stay tight at the belt path, which is what you want.

If it bothers you, though, you can do any one, two, or three of these things:

1) Order a recline block from Combi. It's free, and looks kind of like a short, flat pool noodle. It doesn't really do anything for recline, but it does offer some additional stability.

2) Route the seatbelt around the back. That often helps stabilize it, too.

3) Rear-tether it. I'm not sure if the new Coccoros come with a d-ring or not, but you'll need one of those to tether it. I don't have the link right now, but there's a good page that explains rear-facing tethering that hopefully someone else can link for you.

As for the seat belts, it sounds like there's not enough length being used to keep them locked. All belts have a zone where they unlock after being locked (like once you unbuckle and start retracting in, they'll get to a point where they're not locked anymore). Besides installing a car seat, I'm not sure if there's actually a solution to that, but I'm sure someone else has an idea.

 

[creideamh]

Everything this ^ the tether helps a lot. I don't know either if the new ones come with the kit, but if you call, they're about $12ish or so.

I just wanted to add that my Prius seatbelts won't stay locked unless they're pulled far enough out, either. My best suggestion is to install her seat with the seatbelt, and buckle something in next to her. We have the Diono Travel Pal so she can reach some toys, and it buckles and locks in so she can't play with the belt and to keep from being a projectile.