I can't go anywhere...

[bygones75]

because James hates the car. I mean, HATES it. Screams himself hoarse whenever we're in it. It's awful to listen to, and I feel terribly for him. I thought at first it was the car seat, but I can put him in it in the house just fine. It's just the car.

Thomas didn't like it either, but it was nowhere near this bad. (Why do I produce children that won't go in the car? Aren't babies supposed to *love* the car?)

So I don't go anywhere, unless my husband is home to watch James (rarely -- he travels) or it's absolutely necessary. And the latter is torturous listening to the screams.

Does anyone have suggestions? I hope he outgrows it, but in the meantime, I'm not sure what to do.

Thanks.

[Jennbee]

Have you tried putting the baby to sleep in the car seat in the house first and then moving him to the car?

[pbjmom1029]

oh my, back in 1997 when my youngest dd was a baby I could have written your post word for word

I have no advice only deep deep sympathy!!!!!!!! The only thing that worked for us was reaching our arms into the back seat and letting her suck on our pinky (it only worked when I was driving our dodge caravan and she was in the passenger captains chair in the middle row). And yep, she would sleep just fine in the car seat when it wasn't in the car - grrrrrr

I have always wondered if our dd had reflux that bugged her in the car or bad motion sickness

her screaming in the car went away when she was about 9 mo old - I wrote it down in her baby book it was such a big event for our family and her

[sandygirl]

couldn't help but notice this thread wven though I'm not in your DDC.

When did you try to take him out? We couldn't figure out for the longest time why my daughter cried in the car as a newborn - turned out she was afraid of the dark!

[IfMamaAintHappy]

I gotta go where I gotta go, whether baby hates the car or not. But then, this is my 4th child, and I go a lot more places. When it was just my oldest, who hated the car more than any of my other babies, I would sing to her, or play classical music. The more we went out, the more she got used to it. It's not going to get any better until he gets used to it, Im afraid.

[2bluefish]

DS hated the car until I figured out he needed his arms swaddled. I strapped him in and then took a small receiving blanket and tucked his arms in tight (he also had a pacifier). After that no more fussing. Good luck!

[mittendrin]

My second was like this. Sometimes I'd get so stressed by his crying that I would stop on the way and put his bucket in the passenger seat (no airbags in my old car) and stick my pinkie in his mouth since he also refused to take a binkie. At night it was even worse, I had to leave the dome light on.
I am not sure if I have any advice for you. Do you think one of those fancy carseat toys would keep him distracted for at least short distances? Not the bright noisy ones, but maybe a soothing one kinda like the aquarium crib toys...
My younger one slowly outgrew this by 5-6 mos. It was tough, I am really sorry you have to go thru this

[roostery]

Same problem with my eldest DD. She sucked my finger in the backseat for 6 months. As she grew older I found that if I talked to her she would be ok about being in the car. I did running travelogues as we drove.

[bygones75]

Ladies, thanks for all the support and suggestions. To and from my mom's house today, I perched myself between the boys' seats. (Not safe and illegal, but couldn't take the screaming.) DH drove, obviously. And James was fine. So he really is just lonely back there.

Bought a couple toys to hang on the headrest across from him... am going to try swaddling his arms tomorrow. Someone else suggested those mirrors so that he could see me. Will look for those tomorrow too.

Jenbee, I'd love to put him to sleep and then into the seat, but this kid's a light sleeper. Moment he's moved, he's up. And I can't get him to go to sleep in the seat in the house. It's in my arms or nothin'.

Soooo... I'll just keep trying. Very stressful, but I have hope in that some of your tough babies got used to it eventually.

[Miny20]

I'm having the same problem--and nothing is more than 2 miles from my house! It's SO HARD! I put my older daughter's car seat next to the baby's seat--and sometimes having her hold the baby's hand helps--but not always. At least for us the crying only lasts 3-5 minutes until we get home. But I'm with you, it tears out your heart!

[levismom]

tricks i use are swaddling the arms as already mentioned in pp, using a binkie (tucked under the blanket so it doesn't pop out accidently, and the most tiring one is jiggling the car seat to get the harvey karp (happiest baby on the block) effect. that one works the best, but once i stop, crying often starts up again. so far i've only done this when dh is driving as ds2's car seat is behind me. you could try placing an electric toothbrush on "on" next to the babe as the vibrations and sounds sometimes help.
good luck mama! sorry it's so tough right now!

[bygones75]

That's interesting about the electric toothbrush. sigh. I'll try anything!

Thanks.