Rear Seat Buckling Problems in the 2010 Prius?

Forgive me for my unfamiliarity with the title, but what is a CPS Technician?

 

But this makes no sense given that it's much, much easier to buckle in our Lexus (and it's a Toyota). The stalks in the Lexus stick out a few inches and make absolutely no difference in terms of child safety seat installation.

 

CPS=Child Passenger Safety
CPS Certification: Home
National CPS Board

The longer the buckle stalk, the more likely it will conflict with part of the beltpath on the child seat. Sometimes, they can be so long that they will not allow you to tighten the seatbelt adequately because the buckle is too large to go into the beltpath. Again, like everything, it's a tradeoff. The ones on the Prius are certainly a little shorter than ideal. On the other hand, many kids do such a poor job of buckling that the seatbelt is not adjusted correctly and they probably need a parent to help, anyway. Many younger kids leave it too loose and that can lead to very serious seatbelt syndrome type of injuries. This is especially true of 4-6 year olds.

Anyway, one other suggestion would be to try a narrower booster to make it a little easier for the child. This one is coming to the USA this spring and is quite narrow, but no idea how it fits in general, yet:

Portable, child's booster seat by BubbleBum (UK) Ltd

Some others that are narrower than average and won't break the bank:

First Peek: New Harmony Dreamtime Deluxe Comfort Booster Review (highback $50 walmart)

Big Kid (backless $25 at amazon, target, walmart)

These two also received top ratings in a recent test from the IIHS.

 

I wouldn't call it a tradeoff because they've made them unnecessarily short. They could've made them as short as in the Lexus and still don't conflict with the beltpath or child safety seat installation.

 

Still no solutions.

Dealer could not help me. Said they didn't provide them.

Bought 7/8in extenders that do fit, but fit loosely and pop out so they are not safe.

Can't wait until kids are out of booster seats. Adds about 10 minutes to every single trip because it is almost possible to fasten.

May plunk more money into 1 inch seat extenders.

Anyone tried 1 inchers vs 7/8ers?

DC

 

Would a narrower booster help you?

I notice that the vague warning against using seatbelt extenders with child seats in our Prius was updated to a very specific warning in our Highlander Hybrid. If an extender results in an inappropriate lap belt fit, serious "seatbelt syndrome" injuries could result.

This is a very narrow, portable and relatively inexpensive booster that might give a child more room to buckle:

portable, foldable, inflatable childs booster seat by Bubblebum USA LLC - Bubblebum USA LLC

 

I found this chat board when web searching for a solution to this problem. I was hoping someone had found a safe work around. I too tried stuffing the socks underneath the fastener stem to hold them up, but they move around too much to be a permanent solution. My 7 year old can fasten his seat belt, but my 5 year old struggles. We haven't had this problem in any other vehicle. Toyota hear me! The frustration level is high!