SID and car seats?

[Ruby Pearl]

I have received so much support and great ideas for my recent issue with my SID-kid and the rages during chnaging. I seem to have struck a solution (hoping it is not just a fluke) on that, now I am hoping to have the same luck with this issue.

My daughter hates the car and always has. I don't know how to get her into the car seat without fighting or forcing her. I can soooo totally understand a million reasons why she hates this, but there isn't a whole lot I can do to avoid this issue so what can I do to make this easier for her?

How do you GD a child who arches their back and stiffens their legs staright out when you try to get them into their car seat and screams at you or hits you?

[TripMom]

What's a SID-kid?

[Ruby Pearl]

Sorry, it's just my pet name for my daughters or other peoples children who have sensory integration dysfunction (SID).

[TripMom]

No replies on this one? Hmmm. I don't have any real advice for you? If I need my DCs in their car seats - and they don't want to go - we just go anyway? I have at least 1 of the triplets who will do this from time to time. I just talk soothingly to her and give her kisses and stroke her head - put her in the carseat . . . and we go!

There are definitely schools of thought around here that will tell you not to force the DCs in the car seats - and to simply not go? Sorry- not me.

[lasciate]

How old is she and what carseat do you have for her?

[USAmma]

My kids both have SID (although I should say "had" because they are getting over it slowly). My oldest was terrible and I just would push her in and strap her down and rub my bruised face and arms afterwards. With dd2, when she started doing the same thing I tried other solutions. Rescue Remedy really seems to help. I also changed carseats to a 5pt harness booster vs. the convertible she was in before. The booster is less confining. It's not as deep and it sits straight up and down rather than having the thighs at an angle like a bucket seat. That seemed to help most of the time but the last obstacle was that she said the shoulder straps were "itchy" at her shoulders and neck area. I let her pick out some carseat pads that had elephants on them and I told her the elephants were hugging her. It seemed to make a big difference.

I realize that by safety measures my solutions are not ideal, but it was getting crazy how much she was fighting me. My older dd has classes at the Y almost every day, so we had to leave and be there on time.