[milk_maker]

AKA - the carseat. DS hates the carseat. He may last about ten minutes in it before he starts to freak out. I've bought him toys, played classical music, I even bought this CD with a heartbeat in the background...no dice. He will start to scream and cry with the most heartbreaking intensity and nothing I can do will stop him, save taking him out of the car seat. He will cry and cry and cry until he finally falls asleep and then he'll wake up crying again. I'm a nervous wreck the whole time we drive anywhere because he is totally inconsolable.

What can I do? I have to drive around...I'm all alone and there isn't anyone to go shopping for me or watch the baby while I run a quick errand. Plus, I go up to visit DH every couple of weekends and we're going to be doing a trip up to MD (from NC) next month. Driving at night helps a lot, but I can't drive that trip at night because I need sleep before the trip and DS doesn't sleep much during the day. What can I do?!

 

[sabros]

Gosh shyly, I struggled with the carseat a lot with my DS too, but it sounds like you've tried everything I could offer a suggestion. We actually found that it was easier to travel during the day when he could see - night time made it worse. I would try to plan drives with times he would sleep, and just stop to nurse if he was inconsolable.

No good advice, just a btdt. Hope things improve - it's gotten better as DS has grown, though I still like to time driving with naptime. Good luck.

 

[rainy32]

big hugs to you, mama. I am in exactly the same boat! ds (nearly 6 months) screams after 10 minutes -- so i am usually half way to where we are going. He screams and screams and screams until he is hoarse and hyperventilating. He only does this in the car....

Don't mean to ... err... car-jack your post

just lettin' you know I'm with you.

we have tried everything you have tried; we even bought a new car seat (the britax roundabout), which helps a little, but has to stay in dh's car because his is the one we take on actual trips. I sing to ds non-stop and at the top of my lungs; this sometimes helps, but really distracts me.

He has a special toy in each car. That he only gets when driving. Yesterday, before he was even in the chair of despair, dh showed ds his little toy and ds screamed bloody murder. needless to say, we stayed in.

I take the bus everywhere I possibly can, which in southern california is not that easy. I even put dh in the baby bjorn carrier, load the laundry into his deepest stroller, and WALK to the laundry mat. that's our plan for this afternoon. tomorrow, we have to drive 6 hours ....

already not looking forward to it.

good luck to you! I hear they do grow out of it, eventually.

 

[alegna]

don't know how old your ds is or what kind of carseat he's in, but maybe it's the carseat? My dd was MUCH happier when she got out of the infant seat into a convertible seat.

good luck!

-Angela

 

[Best Feeling]

Also, have you tried playing static? My friend had to play a static station for months for her DD. Whenever she'd try to turn the static off, she would cry.

I hope you discover something that works!

 

[wednesday]

This isn't the most PC suggestion here on MDC, but a binky might help. Not the most natural thing, but then riding backwards unable to see anybody isn't terribly natural for a babe either. My son got a lot of comfort from a binky when in the car.

My other technique was to keep a small basket of ten or so little soft toys on the passenger seat beside me and drop one over the back seat into his lap whenever he would fuss. It helped a little, particularly once he was old enough to grasp things and mouth them.

 

[rubysmomjess]

dd1 did this too. We sang a lot, which helped. And we used a binky

:

This definitley got better once we could turn her a round, but of course that was way after a year...took her forever to get to 20lbs!

 

[tug]

i generally have to have someone sit in back with dd and feed her from a bottle. that seems to help. kind of embarassing when i took her to a business meeting and my colleague (50s male) had to lean over the back seat for most of the trip feeding her ebm!

 

[heveasoul]

Monica. Not much to offer but hugs. I've heard that cry. It's horrible, esp when you're on your own.

 

[ctdoula]

My baby soothing car technique....

....put one back window down half way. It makes a gawd-aweful vibration that shakes your ear drums, but works like a charm. I discovered the trick when dd was tiny & would scream non-stop in the car. Works w/ds too, although he tolerates the car better in general.

Good luck!

 

[Aziah]

I don't know how old your baby is...DD did it for the first couple months but was ok after that. I bought one of those mirrors that sits over the seat so she can look at herself. The one I got had a remote control where you can turn on music and lights.

Now my problem is getting her IN the carseat because she likes to stand. But after that she is good to go. She talks to herself in the mirror and can see me in it as well.

 

[milk_maker]

gah, I've tried all that. I bought a mirror too, but it doesn't play music. Where did you get yours?

 

[rubelin]

I always try to make sure he's been nursed (I'll even nurse him in the seat while I stand beside the open door of the van), gone pee, is dry, etc. has to have the canopy pulled down a bit to shade the sun and cut down on stimulation (we have one that fits over the Roundabout) Then we use a binky. It's only for the car, is tethered tightly to the seat so it can be retrieved. It took me a few months to get the tether for it and those were bad times. Once he could get to it easily and I could offer it easily, he was much happier in the car. I think the sucking helps him chill out. He actually likes staring out the window now

 

[LEAW]

For us, changing from baby bucket to convertable helped 60%. Making sure the sun was never in her eyes helped a bit too. And paci saved the day.

We'll start out ok, but 5-10 min it's getting ugly, I have those baby links for toys in the car - I have one that has 6 pacis on it. They live in the car. Grab one, reach across and back, pop in. Sometimes one gets us there. Sometimes she spits it right out, and more often than not it ends up at her feet, so I can't reach it. Pop in #2, 3-4-5-and 6 for as long as we need to get there. So far, I've managed to get everywhere with just 6.

If it's a loooong trip, I'll make sure she's pottied, dry dipe, plastic bib to keep the drool from soaking her shirt, well fed, etc. and MOST of the time paci 1 or 2 gets her to sleep and the car keeps her sleeping, as long as we're on the highway... stop and go in the city is guaranteed wake up, same with opening the door.

Good luck mama, been there, still doing it, looking forward to the day she is happy!

 

[heveasoul]

Monica - duh, I do have an idea! If he's in an infant seat, have you checked the harness setting lately? If he's grown in length, he may be uncomfortable in the current setting. I did that on Marcus' seat (threaded the straps through the next hole settings) a couple of weeks ago, and it made a world of difference!