Car seat issues

[NeivaKai]

Please help! My ds, 2 months old, will NOT tollerate being in a car seat. He screams and screams. I have not been leaving my house and I am starting to go crazy. I must leave my house because I am a single mom, but it is destroying me. I cry every time. I need some ideas, hope, anything. How common is this? Will he grow out of it? Even if someone else drives and I sit back there comforting him, it doesn't work. He sometimes goes to sleep, but I am getting to the point that I don't even want to try any more because it tortures me whrn it happens! Help!!!

[ThreeBeans]

I see Kai is just a month? Good news and bad news...


Bad news first: it's the age, there's very little you can do, and it sucks

Good news: he WILL grow out of it!!!!


Right now, he very sensibly wants to be held by his momma, not strapped down in a carseat. Unfortunately, that's not possible. Try the following: music on, music off, windows open, windows closed Talk to him, sing to him, chitter chatter. Try to limit cartrips. If he's in an infant carrier, try switching to a convertible...the change might help. (But not necessarily.)

[bobandjess99]

unfortunately, some babies just do not like the carseat. Mine was one of them, so I feel your pain.
I *did* have the choice to basically never leave the house, and that is more or less what I did.
Like threebeans said, the good news is he will grow out of it.

the bad news...it is possible there is NOTHING you can do about it, except restrict travel to the bare minimum possible.(and you might be surprised how much you can cut, I know I was!!)

As to how long you can expect it....DD was sa good 4-5 ,onths before I could even go 5 minutes down the street to the store. She did not get better for reasonable car dides (like 20 minutes) until more like 9-10 months.
however, by about 2, she was a total riding in the car pro, and now can do 3 hours just fine!

[NeivaKai]

He is actually two months old...thank you for the suggestions, but I have tried all of them except for getting the convertable car seat. I will try and borrow one and see if that works. When do they grow out of it?

[Debstmomy]

My baby is almost 4 months old. We have a convertable seat as our primary seat & an infant as a back up type seat. I have to say, just about every time she is in the bucket infant seat, she cries. I do not know why, it just is. I hope your baby grows out of this stage really soon!

[ThreeBeans]

Originally Posted by NeivaKai

He is actually two months old...thank you for the suggestions, but I have tried all of them except for getting the convertable car seat. I will try and borrow one and see if that works. When do they grow out of it?

Oy...clearly I have pregnancy brain....!!!!


There are a wide range of convertibles on the market today. I wouldn't 'borrow' one unless you are absolutely sure the lender knows her stuff, the seat isn't expired, isn't missing any pieces, hasn't had the harness washed and has never been used or in an auto accident.

You'll need one eventually anyway, so if you give us an idea of your budget and what sort of auto you have, I can give you some suggestions

[midwestmeg]

My son ALWAYS cried in the seat; my daughter slept best there. Go figure.

Like everyone said, he'll grow out of it. With my son, I had this crazy 'routine' called change him, nurse him, burp him, get him into the seat, start the car, go quick, and maybe he'll fall asleep before he starts screaming! It worked better as he got older. Until then, if I wanted to go somewhere I had to listen to him cry. No fun and I did start clenching my jaw alot.

I'd stop and nurse, or my mom would sit in the back, or we'd just get through it. It will pass... and the reward will be a child who sits happily in his/her seat. My son did like the convertible better; but he didn't move to that until 5 mo.

Don't flame me, but it's kind of like crate training your puppy.: Hard at first, but worth it in the end. Otherwise, you end up with a Rottweiler who likes to ride in the front seat and is claustrophobic, which is what I have!

[Peony]

It will slowly get better, it varies as to when that will happen. My DD2 started tolerating very short trips like less then 15 minutes sometimes when she was 4-5 months. She is 9 months now and going through a regression which is really hard, I haven't gone farther then 20 minutes at a time since she was born. : My DD1 on the other hand didn't start to tolerate her car seat until she was 1.5y, she 4.5y now and doesn't not love it, I'm guessing at this point she never will. We do not take long trips, once a year we drive 5-6 hours away and that is a huge production. She has never liked to be restrained in any way, car seats, strollers, etc...

My suggestions, limit your driving as much as possible, find some soft toys that he could play with when he gets s bit older, drive to only drive when he is well rested with a full tummy... Sometimes with my DD's, if I could catch them right before they were going to sleep, I'd run out to the car, pop in them in the seat, and finish nursing them to sleep. They would once in a while just go ahead and nurse to sleep, and then we could have a peaceful drive for once.

[ThreeBeans]

Originally Posted by midwestmeg

Don't flame me, but it's kind of like crate training your puppy.: Hard at first, but worth it in the end. Otherwise, you end up with a Rottweiler who likes to ride in the front seat and is claustrophobic, which is what I have!

OMG


I used to have a rotty mix...I know what sweeties they are :

[NeivaKai]

I would definately only borrow one if I knew it was current and safe, for sure: . I just don't want to run out and buy one (they run $200 or more!) without knowing if it would work or not.

Glad to know I am not the only one! I love the training a puppy bit

I think I will try taking little trips every day, to get him more accustomed to it and see if that helps-I had been only taking a trip every three days, and it was 30 minutes to go to my postpartum group...so maybe 5 minutes would be better.

[Ducky5306]

So many hugs to you mama!.. i soo feel your pain! my ds is 15 months old and has sceamed in his car seat EVERY car trip from the time he was afew days old i'm still waiting for the outgrowing it thing.. i'm still hopeful!!

what helped us was something like this http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5715931
(shhhh yes its from walmart! : )

also what really helped was singing to him and kiddie music in the car.. do you have a CD player? I'm a single mama too i know its hard.. I would love to burn you some CDs for the car if you have a cd player

let me know

It'll get better.. luke doesn't cry as much anymore he just yells at me (i think thats better?)

[Jennifer Z]

Does he cry at that particular angle in other situations? My first had GERD pretty bad and the carseat was at exactly the wrong angle for him. He screamed every time he was in the carseat until his esophagus matured and the GERD went away at about 5-6 months.

My dd didn't have GERD, but screamed every time until she hit 3-4 months old, if I remember right. She now only screams in her carseat when she realizes we are going home.

[midwestmeg]

Originally Posted by NeivaKai

I think I will try taking little trips every day, to get him more accustomed to it and see if that helps-I had been only taking a trip every three days, and it was 30 minutes to go to my postpartum group...so maybe 5 minutes would be better.

Yes, if you try this you'll both learn how to make it work... but by all means go to your postpartum group! Just give yourself lots of time to go there, so you can stop and nurse/comfort. Sometimes after a few minutes they relax and are quiet- until you stop the car! : What I'm trying to say is; don't isolate yourself!

[midwestmeg]

Originally Posted by ThreeBeans

OMG


I used to have a rotty mix...I know what sweeties they are :

Yeah, I love my ole dog.

[indie]

Both of my girls cried every single trip in the infant carrier (Graco Snugride) and both of them completely stopped the moment I moved them into the convertible (Britax Roundabout). They both sleep very well in the convertible but rarely did in the infant seat. I highly recommend considering a convertible. I got rid of our infant carrier and am not even going to bother with it with my third child.

[NeivaKai]

Used a dustbuster in the car today and it worked awesome....

[midwestmeg]

Originally Posted by NeivaKai

Used a dustbuster in the car today and it worked awesome....

[ThreeBeans]

Originally Posted by NeivaKai

Used a dustbuster in the car today and it worked awesome....

There's a reason the expression is "necessity is the MOTHER of invention"