Help!

Melizerd

New member
From a lady on another board where they always ask me about car seats. I posted when she told me she was having problems:

Is she in an infant seat still or a convertible?

Is there a way you could sit in back with her? To talk to her and distract her?

Does she have reflux? Often babies with reflux HATE the car


Then her response:

"My car - britax roundabout

DH car - graco safe seat 1 (doesn't mind when it's in the snap & go, it's definitely the car that she hates)

She doesn't have reflux. She's fine going for a short ride... to/from daycare, errands, stuff like that. Long rides are another story.

Here's our MO: When there's a passenger, that person always rides in back. She has some fun toys that she likes and we rotate them. When it's just me, I play her favorite music and talk to her so she won't feel lonely sitting back there staring at the backseat.

I think what she hates is being strapped down combined with feeling lonely. She really fights the chest harness and I am worried that she will learn how to undo it out of sheer desperation to just get OUT. I don't use the chest harness in the stroller or high chair for the same reason.

We have tried timing drives with naps which has been hit & miss because she has a hard time falling asleep (has since she was brand new). Sometimes if she is very tired and I caress her face she will nod off. When she wakes though, it is usually crying and upset. (Anywhere else she wakes up happy and smiling)

The worst was when we drove to Yosemite... all those winding roads. I was driving about 15mph and she was SCREAMING her head off. We tried opening the windows, blowing on her face, giving a pacifier, sippy cup, touching her, singing to her. Finally stopped the car and I walked around with her for ten minutes until she calmed down. As soon as we got back in the car, she took one look at her seat and started screaming again. We gave up! DH just sat in the back and held her close until she fell asleep in his arms and that's how we got her home.

I welcome any advice. Really I do want her in the seat, but sometimes we just need to get where we are going and her crying not only breaks my heart, but also makes it impossible to concentrate on the road. I have even thought about turning her seat around to see if that will help.

Thoughts, ideas?"

Please tell me something I can tell her to help her and her daughter. She WANTS help and wants her DD to be safe.
 
ADS

MySillyKids

New member
Well it could be any number of things, but texture issues is what I'm dealing with, with my DS2's screaming in the car. I don't think he likes the texture on the ss2. He also hates the chest clip on his skin, and over his clothes. Maybe her kid gets hot, and doesn't like it, who knows!

Good luck!
 

supercrunch

New member
I don't have any advice, but I can sympathize.

My dd went through this exact thing when she was about 4-5 months old. She did finally get over it, and was fine in the car from about 6 months on.

I hope she can find a solution.
 

Melizerd

New member
oops sorry. The entire play group is all December 06 babies and I forget to mention that. So her baby is just about 6 months.
 

broken4u05

New member
maybe a different seat might help? can she see if she can borrow a friend's seat and take if for a drive with the baby to see if maybe a convertible would be better
 

mimieliza

New member
My DD is 8 months old and has the same problem - short trips are fine, long trips can be terrible. We just went on a five-hour car trip in which she slept a total of 30 minutes even though we spanned two nap times. A great deal of the other 4.5 hours were spent anywhere from whining to screaming. UGGGHH!!!

Here are the things I do that seem to help a little bit:

-Snacks - Now that DD's on solids, I entertain her with all sorts of little things to nibble: Cheerios, Gerber puffs, teething biscuits, diluted juice in a sippy, even jarred baby food. Anything that's tasty and interesting enough to occupy her for awhile.

-Start the trip at nap time - When we start at nap time, no one sits in the back seat with her, as I think it tends to keep her awake. We sit up front and try to stay quiet until she falls asleep. Sometimes she fusses before falling asleep

-Sunshade - we always use the sunshade on her Safeseat 1. She screams if she gets sun in her eyes.

I've considered a DVD player - she is just now starting to be interested in what's on TV, so I've wondered if that would help. Is there a way to position a car DVD player for a rear-facing child?

But most of all, as we all know, she needs to keep her baby in her rear-facing carseat! I can't imagine letting DH hold her while I drove - I don't think I could make my foot press the gas pedal. I will gladly listen to my child scream on a five-hour road trip if it means she's still alive when we get there.
 

Melizerd

New member
The baby is in a RA now and I told her to install it more upright.

She thinks the girl is getting car sick, I guess it runs in her family pretty bad. I know taking a child out of their seat is not a solution but a screaming baby isn't a good thing either. She's really desperate.
 

mommycat

Well-known member
I was going to say car-sick as well, since she is ok in the seat in the snap and go and for short rides. She already has two different seats and apparently does just as badly in both of them. I would try installing more upright like was suggested, and also ask her doctor for nausea meds for long trips. I don't know what's available for wee babes like that, but it would be worth a try. I used to get miserably car sick when I was little but with age it got better and I learned what to do to help keep that feeling in check - looking out the window, keeping some airflow, not looking down or reading especially in town with lots of turns, deep even breathing... Obviously she is too little for these things to help much. Has she tried putting her next to the window so she can hopefully see out more? That could help. But asking her ped for something like Gravol or whatever would be my first step.
 

keri1292

Well-known member
I'd definetly take her to the ped first for his opinions...medically. This may sound harsh but, I'd even consider a medication that had a sedative affect. Like Benadryl. If it's OK for wee little babies. We just gave our 6.5 year old a medication other than Tylenol and amoxicillin for the first time last week so, please don't think that my kids are loopy on cough syrup all day. I actually babysat for a family that gave their toddlers cough syrup every day at naptime. "They slept 4 hours that way!" :eek: :eek: Hmmm...my mother never let me sit for them again.
So, I'd take her to the ped for carsickness, take her in the car as little as possible, possibly sedate her as a last resort and ABSOLUTELY NEVER take her out of her seat again. There is no amount of screaming that would make me do that and we do AP.
A sad baby is better than a dead baby. :(
 

Loves2sing

New member
Jenna used to get car sick when we went on long drives, but not this badly. Poor baby, and poor mommy! My Dr recommended Gravol suppositories. You break the pill in half, and then the whole thing pretty much shatters, and then you use just a sliver when you are changing diapers. DD didn't even notice it going in. It worked though. I hope this helps, but I am not sure it will. It worked with dd because otherwise than the car sickness, she was and is a fantastic traveller. HTH!!!:)
 

Melizerd

New member
From what I know the baby is a super happy laid back kid. I know her mom is just desperate for SOMETHING to work.

I told her to definitely reinstall the RA more upright and to maybe try and outboard. She's also going to talk to her pedi about it.

The kid must be miserable.
 

BrookeSLP

New member
I am not sure it is car sickness. The baby's father held her and she quit crying even though she was still in the car. If it was car sickness, she should be bothered regardless. I've had three babies who hated the car seat. DD1 cried until 8 months, DD2 cried until 10 months and DD3 until 7 months. I just didn't go anywhere longer than 10 minutes. If for some reason I had to drive farther, I planned to do it during nap time.
 

LuvMyGirls

New member
Neither of my babies like riding in the car. A portable DVD player helped when DD1 got older. DD2 now has DD1 to help keep her entertained. Her now being old enough to snack in the car also helps a lot.

I have a friend who has three girls. She carpooled the oldest to school thirty minutes each way when the youngest was about that age. She would give strap her in and give her a sucker to keep her occupied and just clean it all up when she got back home. I can't handle sticky messes like that, but I also don't drive 2 hours a day with a baby.
 

mommycat

Well-known member
I didn't read it to mean that she didn't cry when he held her, just that she was comforted by being held - possibly being in a different position - and was finally tuckered out enough to just fall asleep. And kids can be pretty darn miserable but still stop crying when they are held close and comforted.:shrug-shoulders:
 

mimieliza

New member
This may sound harsh but, I'd even consider a medication that had a sedative affect. Like Benadryl.

Benadryl is okay for little ones (over six months), and actually has an anti-nausea affect. If I ever have to do a solo road trip with DD, I may use it if she's inconsolable. It seems extreme to resort to drugs, but it's safe, she takes it for other purposes (eczema) and it's better than a distracted driver and miserable baby on a four-hour trip.
 

LuvMyGirls

New member
Benadryl might work for her or might not. I happen to be lucky enough to have a baby who gets wired by Benadryl. I have given it to her three times for allergies and all three times she was up and ready to play all night!
 

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