Baby hates the car seat

[CA Country Girl]

I know some babes love the car seat, or traveling in the car anyway; mine hates it unless she is asleep.  I schedule long drives for long nap times and still she is likely to wake up and scream hysterically if we hit traffic.  She won't take a pacifier (which I don't really consider using except for the car).  I never let her cry without picking her up for more than a couple minutes (trying to put a few dishes away or something), but in the car I have no choice.  It breaks my heart.  I hope it gets better as she gets older (she is only 2 months).  I don't think my older DD hated it this much.  Any advice?

[Adaline'sMama]

Just wait. In a few weeks, she'll likely be able to play with a toy that you can attach to the carseat or see herself in a mirror. That makes life easier. It really sucks.
 

Earplugs work well for you if you need to stay sane enough to get her home (or to your next destination) safely. Also, if you have a smartphone there is an app called SimplyNoise that is a white noise app. I used to plug that into my stereo system and make the whole car sound like waves. Of course, if you hit traffic, try not to pull so far up to someone that you cant roll. We did lots of brake,roll,brake,roll,brake,roll to simulate a rocking effect.

So you have a wrap? With DD it really helped that everytime we stopped I got her out and stuck her in the moby.

[Peony]

All of my kids were car seat haters, some for longer then others. My two girls and my last boy were 12 months old by the time they stopped screaming the majority of the time in the car. My first boy tolerated it more when he could play with toys at about 5ish months. DS2 is 13 months now and we are JUST getting to the point where he can do 10-15 minutes most of the time in the car before the screaming starts. It sucks. We do anything possible not to be in the car longer then that. I can not wait until this is better!! He has never slept in the car either, just screamed. 

[Thandiwe]

My 3rd was a carseat cry-er and it was horrid.  At the time, we had to make weekly 2 hour one-way trips and it was heartbreaking.  My 1.5 week old is now also a carseat cry-er and I'm finding we're avoiding going anywhere because it's so heart-wrenching.  I really hope it gets better.
 

[blessedwithboys]

Both of my kids hated being in the car.  It was so bad with my now-18yo that I turned him FF at 8mos.  I know, I know...but I was young and the info just wasn't out there back then.  I kept both seats belted in, the bucket and the toddler seat, and used the RF bucket as much as possible, but when it got so bad that I was tempted to just nurse him while driving I switched him to the FF seat.

Ds2 was so sensitive to riding backward that he couldn't even sit in a grocery cart.  I kept him RF til 12mos then turned his seat around.

FTR, I would likely do things differently now bc I know better...

Anyway, all these years later and both of my kids still get very carseat on a regular basis.  So now when I meet other mamas-of-car-cryers I always suggest they consider that their LO may be getting carsick and see if maybe there is a safe homeopathic remedy they can offer the poor bub.

[CA Country Girl]

Thanks ladies for the support.  I took her on an hour and a half drive!  It went ok.  I timed it for morning nap on the way there and got most of the way before she started crying (when we hit traffic) and returned at 9:30pm; she slept the whole way home.  I feel hopeful- just drive at night. :)

[Kaydove]

My DD went from screaming bloody murderer to protesting loudly at 6 months, less of they might pass out cry to a very angry yell. That was only driving for 20 mins. I find switching up the toys regularly helps. I think she gets bored with the same toy so I buy a new one once every couple of months. Nothing expensive, I got one at Marshall's.

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[RosieL]

Hi CCG! Odin HATED the carseat. It broke my heart and most of my nerves. So horrible. I couldn't believe I was basically letting my boy cry it out (except there was no "out"...it didn't end until he came out of the car. As soon as I got him out of the seat, the crying instantly stopped. So I surmised that it wasn't phsycial discomfort, he just was really upset at not being held. 

Occasionally distraction worked(baby einstein videos, strange sounds, me signing), but only when I was in the back seat with him. At 3 mo he started to love crinkle toys from Lamaze. That was the light at the end of the tunnel. Now he has one particlyar car toy than hangs from the carseat and pretty much never fusses in the car anymore, at 5 months. 

Good luck mama and :hugs: it's hard but you're probably very near the end.

[Kaydove]

Lamaze toys are awesome! Zulily.com has them on sale occasionally. You can also just search lamaze on that site and sometimes stuff comes up even if its not featured.

Today was the 3rd time that classical music helped her fall asleep in the car. She woke up when I changed the channel. Not sure yet if its a coincidense but I'm going to keep playing it. Thought I would mention it in case it helped anyone else.

She also much prefers my DH's BMW to my PT Cruiser, such a daddy's girl. I think I need an X5

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[emerald22]

My DD hates her carseat too and will not take a pacifier either. I have to take my older kids to school and pick them up every day (p/u takes an HOUR!). At first she screamed and screamed and screamed some more, but she is doing it much less frequently now (she will be 6mo on Fri). I just try to make sure she has a feeding within an hour of us having to leave and that I take her Q chewy tube, her rattle and doll and it has helped a bunch. Just hang in there! She may outgrow it as she gets a liitle older.

[treehugz]

DD1 hated the carseat from the first trip home from the hospital till at least 12 months.  It was sad, and I definitely limited my trips because of it.   I have several vivid memories of dd screaming her head off in the car.  Sometimes she would fall asleep and sometimes she wouldn't; it was unpredictable.  I had one classical lullaby cd that would sometimes work, and sometimes my singing worked.  If she didn't fall asleep, we stopped every few minutes to check diaper, breastfeed, just walk around, adjust the window shades (she hated the sun in her eyes), or whatever and then try again.  And sometimes I would sit in the backseat, loosen my seat belt, lean forward over her carseat, and breastfeed her (uncomfortably), till she (hopefully) fell asleep... this worked often on longer trips.  Before dd was born, we had booked a week's vacation 10 hours away... after dd was born and I discovered the carseat hatred, I bought plane tickets so we could avoid the drive.  Around 18 months, we made a 12 hour trip that I was really nervous about, and I planned to leave at 8pm hoping dd would sleep most of the time... and she did sleep the whole way except for waking up a couple of times for bathroom breaks but then conked back out.  Now at 4 years old, she loves road trips.  So it won't last forever! 

DC2 doesn't seem to mind the carseat so much.  Looking back, if I had known then what I know now, I would have just accepted that it was only for a short time and planned to travel less during that first year.  But you know what they say about hindsight, lol! 

[tangledblue]

My son hated the car seat for a while but music seemed to change his mind! (I discovered this when I cranked it a little louder than usual so I could focus on something besides the screaming.) Presto, the crying stopped. Anything with a good/interesting beat did the trick.  Now at 6 mos. he's fine even without music but he still likes it.