[rosie_plus_one]

I'm a FTM trying to do AP, but I always seem to end up driving to the grocery store with a wailing baby in the back seat not knowing what to do. I try to talk to him, play some soft music that I listened to when I was pregnant, but sometimes none of it works. I hate when he cries and cries and then gives up on anyone coming to him - that breaks my heart.

What do other mommas do?

 

[onlyboys]

i pull over and nurse him. it generally takes me twice the time to do anything, but i don't care.

i've got a 3 week old too, btw! congrats!

 

[earthmama369]

When Q was that little, I got to know every single safe place to pull over within 6 towns of here.

Usually she wanted to see me and to nurse. If it wasn't safe to pull over, I talked to her, sang to her, anything to let her know I was there until we either got to where we were going or to a safe spot on the side of the road. If at all possible, dh and I drove together so one of us could sit in back with her. We did that until she was, oh, 6 months old I want to say. Then she started to get really entertained by watching other cars out the back window.

 

[shayinme]

Stop the car and nurse, that's what we do. Everytime I try to see if we can wait until we get home, it never works. My girl is 15 weeks and we still stop, granted it now takes 2-3 times longer to get anything done but c'est lavie.

Shay

 

[rosie_plus_one]

Well, I live in a really small town so the trip to the store takes about 10 minutes max - and breastfeeding is usually an hour long snuggle process, so that's why I haven't been nursing mid-trip. Maybe I should though.

Thanks mommas

 

[3littlebirds]

try a loud rattle or buzzy pull-toy or something. when singing, talking, clapping, don't work, a rattle usually does. my boy's 3 mo. old and can only tolerate the car so long. we think he gets bored back there. but other moms tell me they grow out of it. good luck!

 

[elmh23]

When dd was that young, she was the exact same way! It was horrible! I decided to just stay home until dh could come to the store with me. This way, I could sit in back with her. She still cried but at least I was right next to her. At some point (sometime before she was a month old) we got a mirror that hangs on the back seat. That helped! She could see herself and I could see her in the rear view mirror (everytime she stopped crying, I'd think she stopped breathing) Also, we got a toy that clips onto the straps of seat and she would play with that. When she was little little, she'd just hit it and make it crinkle, but as she got bigger, she started really loving it. She still loves it now at 11 months old.

And, with time, he should out grow it. DD is 11 months old and only cries in the car if she's really tired. She stopped the constant car crying at around 5 months.

Hang in there and congratulations on the birht of your son!

 

[lilyka]

my baby cried every time I put her in the carseat. pulling over to nurse would have only solved the problem untilshe was back in teh carseat at which point she would start wailing. and she had two sisters doting on her and comforting her. She would be OK if we were going fast enough but drive through and red lights awful. my 6 year old assured me it was ok to run a red light if it made the baby happy

. First off how far is the store? try to shop somewhere closer. and try to be organized about it so you don't have to go often. Schedule trips during a nap if you can. and once baby is happy, especially if they are sleeping or likely to fall asleep in carseat leave her. you will need a bucket for this. but no need to disturb a happy baby. If al ele fails take the bus if that is at all possible. get a stroller with a big basket for your groceries and put baby in a sling or front pack. (our bus allows for those grocerie cart things and for strollers.) It takes all day to take teh buss but it can't take longer than stoping every few minutes to nurse and play.

 

[turtlemama77]

We have a magic song that still works if dd starts crying in the car. I used to play "Rich Girls" by Gwen Stefani (goofy, I know) and dance with dd when she was just a little tiny babe. Now she associates the song with being happy or something...at any rate when she hears it in the car, she either calms down or falls asleep! Maybe you could develop something similar with a special song?

The only downside to this is sometimes we listen to the same song over and over for the whole trip, but perhaps it's only a downside if you get sick of the song.

Sheri
Reese (12-22-04)

 

[naturalmomto8]

Quote:

my baby cried every time I put her in the carseat. pulling over to nurse would have only solved the problem untilshe was back in teh carseat at which point she would start wailing. and she had two sisters doting on her and comforting her.

That is just like my baby, she is 5 mos old. I never go alone anywhere if I can help it. It is a nightmare to go in the van. We live 20 miles from the closest town, so I am pretty much a homebody. I have tried to pull over and nurse, she will be fine until I put her back in the carseat.

So no advice at all on this one.

 

[Lizafava]

We have a 10 week old car hater over here - who has a hard time settling to nurse when he's already upset, so that doesn;t really work for us.

I try to always scedule trips after a big meal during sleepy times. Sometimes we tune the stereo to static and turn it up loud. I'm sure a white noise CD would be more pleasant for the driver

 

[becoming]

It's my 4-year-old's job to talk to her/sing to her in the backseat until we can get to a safe place to pull over. Normally my girl just wants a little 3-minute snuggle.

Congrats on your new babe! My Anna is two weeks old today.

 

[trini]

Congratulations on your babe!

I posted this exact same question a couple of months ago! I am happy to say that my ds has outgrown his hatred of cars/carseats and is now quite content in the car. Sorry, I don't have much of a solution. I avoided car trips as much as possible, but I realize sometimes you have to go places! I'm sure you are making sure he is fed and content before you start. I used to try to go when ds was sleepy. I also used to try talking to him, until I realized it seemed to make him MORE upset. Like he could hear me but couldn't find me so he was frustrated. So I tried be VERY quiet and it helped a bit. I also hung a toy on the back of the backseat for him to look at. The other thing that helped is when he was able to find and suck his thumb. Then, one day he just stopped crying. It will happen for you, too!

 

[Beeblebrox]

Wow it's so nice to know that we aren't alone. Everyone that hears that DD hates HATES her carseat seem so intrigued as if they've never heard of a baby hating it. I have to try and get her completely asleep before I transfer her to the carseat and even then it's iffy. She will often times wake up during the transfer. DH doesn't drive so whenever we go anywhere he sits in the back with her but she still wails. It makes me never want to go anywhere because I don't want to put her through that. Usually I just wait for DH to come home and then I'll nurse her so I have about two hours to run to the store, etc. and he can call me home if needed.

 

[absolutbeauty]

my 4 month yr old is also adverse to the carseat,
and wails, it is very hard to drive with her like that.
I will try and practice pulling over to feed.
This is my biggest challenge at the moment.

 

[beaches1098]

We went thru the same thing. He eventually grew out of it. I would try and make as few trips as possible without somebody else to entertain the baby. Usually only worked with me in the backseat and I get car sick so that was not a good solution. I found that he liked me to play Barry Manilow at a decent volume just like his older brother. Both boys when I play it quiet right down but only for certain songs! They like the ones with quick beats and drums or bells etc...

 

[lilyka]

I wanted to point out that dd grew out of it. I don't know when. she went to only crying when we stopped. which led to some funny copping while running quick errendes (it was freezing cold here when she was born and taking her out of her carseat meant stripping her down, doing a 15 minute errend and then bundling her back up and putting her back in her carseat. and since the protest was always worst upon the buckeling . . . anyay easier to leave her in there.) Anyway eventually she outgrew it.