2 yr old hates her RF car seat now!

NotJUSTamom

New member
Lexi is 2 and still RF, and hasn't had a problem with it until about a week ago. She has been continually screaming about it in the car and I honestly do not know why. She has never had a problem with it before! I don't know what to do because I do not want her FF full time! She never was into toys to play with in the car so thats not going to help.. she usually is entertained by her sisters in the car..It's getting to the point now where I leave her home with DH or he leaves her home with me when we go somewhere because we hate seeing her so unhappy in the car (oh, and not to mention it's terribly annoying:whistle:) Do you think this is just a phase and she will get over it in a few weeks? Or maybe shes uncomfortalbe? I don't know what to do! Has anyone else had this problem????
 
ADS

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
What is her recline like? Maybe she would like to be more upright? I really think it could be just a phase though. She is 2!
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
What is her recline like? Maybe she would like to be more upright? I really think it could be just a phase though. She is 2!

I agree. At some point, nearly every kid will go through a phase where they hate being in the car seat. Many parents assume the kid wants to be FF, when really the kid just wants to be independent, and the direction of the car seat has nothing to do with it.

Definitely check the recline. For an older child it can be as upright as 30 degrees. Other than that, this might be something you just have to get through. Hopefully it's a short-lived phase.
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
My 20 month old randomly goes through these phases as well. We don't even have the option of turning her, since she has a ways to go before she even hits 20 pounds, and eventually she just gets over it. She had a really hard time when DD1 got her pretty pink Regent :rolleyes:
 

Qarin

New member
I turned my younger DD at just over 2.5yo because she said, "I want to face that way," in just that many words, and at that age I felt that supporting her extremely clear communication was important, and that we'd gotten much of the benefit of rear-facing. I question myself now, in retrospect, but I'm no longer right there with a frustrated 2 year old learning to talk. I would not have turned her for non-verbal expressions of anger or upset, though, because I could not be sure of why she was upset, but by turning her in response I might actually make her upset about turning rearfacing again even if turning her forward didn't seem to help her be happy in the car. Does that make sense?
 

MustangMama

Active member
Something someone brought up on here on another thread.......if your DD hasn't even rode FF yet, how do you know she is crying because she doesn't want to ride RF anymore? She has never experienced it and therefore is totally oblivious to FF. I think it is probably just a stage of being sick of being in a carseat in general. And obviously, you're not going to change that!! :rolleyes: SO stick it out, give her a few weeks............she'll do fine. Congrats on keeping her ERF!!
 

NotJUSTamom

New member
Something someone brought up on here on another thread.......if your DD hasn't even rode FF yet, how do you know she is crying because she doesn't want to ride RF anymore? She has never experienced it and therefore is totally oblivious to FF. I think it is probably just a stage of being sick of being in a carseat in general. And obviously, you're not going to change that!! :rolleyes: SO stick it out, give her a few weeks............she'll do fine. Congrats on keeping her ERF!!


Actually she has ridden FF a few times for problems with seat placement in other cars and a few other random times and she was happy.When I turned her back RF after the ride FF she didn't care which is why im so confused. I guess now I was just thinking that she wanted to be FF again but maybe not..like someone else said she is 2 and may just want independence! But, my other kids didn't RF as long as her so even though I have six kids this ERF stuff is all new for me.
 

finn

New member
I would say its a phase, my niece who is 2 has been ff since 9 months (shocking I know) but at the moment she screams every time she gets put in the car, my son who is 22 months old has always been rf & he screams every time as well. I think at this age they just hate being cooped up as neither of them will ride in the buggy anymore either.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
all my kids have gone through these phases somewhere around 18mo-2yrs old.

it passes.

You just buckle them, get them tight, drive, and they quiet down.

Once they realize you aren't going to let them just jump around the car like a monkey, they are fine.

But that's simply it.... a toddler who wants to run around and play instead of sit in their seat and who is testing the limits.
 
U

Unregistered1

Guest
I would guess she's just two and asserting herself. Two year olds don't want to put their coats on, they don't want to leave their shoes on, they don't want to stop climbing the shelves or riding the cat, they don't want to go to bed or take a bath, you get the picture... the car seat is just one more thing for them to fuss about. Hold your ground, I think it will pass. Two year olds are strange, frightening creatures. :p
 

NotJUSTamom

New member
I would guess she's just two and asserting herself. Two year olds don't want to put their coats on, they don't want to leave their shoes on, they don't want to stop climbing the shelves or riding the cat, they don't want to go to bed or take a bath, you get the picture... the car seat is just one more thing for them to fuss about. Hold your ground, I think it will pass. Two year olds are strange, frightening creatures. :p

LOL they sure are. Lexi is my 6th 2yr old so I do have some experience;), but Alexis is wild hyper and totaly breaks the mold in this family! Her voice (screeching and whining) must always be heard and she wants what she wants when she wants..just like any other 2yr old:rolleyes:! I love her but shes just totaly out there:love:! We went to the gym this morning and she was actually a bit better in the car seat because we took DH's car which has the Radian 80 RF for her. I'm thinking she did better in the Radian because her boulevard has the side head wings and she probably liked being able to see out the side a bit better! Maybe I just switch the boulevard in my car for DH's Radian...Why didn't I think of that before??
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
I've found the fussing is more because of the fact that they are restrained, NOT what direction they are facing.

2 year olds fuss in the car, regardless of which way they face. My own child when she was around 2 fussed horribly RFing. I put her in FFing and she was *perfect*. Not a peep. She loved it and I could concentrate on driving.

The thing was, she was only quiet because it was new. A week later when it was the same old same old and boring, she went right back to fussing constantly, screaming and crying.

So she went right back RFing and fussing :)

It may seem they like FFing better on the occasion they do it, however it's usually only due to the fact that it is new and exciting. Just like everything else, once the newness wears off it's back to crying
 

NotJUSTamom

New member
I've found the fussing is more because of the fact that they are restrained, NOT what direction they are facing.

2 year olds fuss in the car, regardless of which way they face. My own child when she was around 2 fussed horribly RFing. I put her in FFing and she was *perfect*. Not a peep. She loved it and I could concentrate on driving.

The thing was, she was only quiet because it was new. A week later when it was the same old same old and boring, she went right back to fussing constantly, screaming and crying.

So she went right back RFing and fussing :)

It may seem they like FFing better on the occasion they do it, however it's usually only due to the fact that it is new and exciting. Just like everything else, once the newness wears off it's back to crying

Yep I'm pretty sure it was the car seat she was sitting in. She doesn't like the Boulevards side head wings anymore, but then again she doesn't really LIKE any car seat. She is better in the Radian now though. However like you said, i'm not sure how long that will last either. She may just be doing better in it because she's not in it as often..LOL lexi is SO 2 and I guess i'm just going to have to get over it! Notice I changed my siggy to "BIG GIRL" Lexi. The independence phase is TOTALY here!
 

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