I saw a comment on another thread referencing ideas for keeping a baby happy RF so that the parents don't feel the need to turn them FF as soon as possible. I'm very interested in these ideas, since I turned both of my children FF when they hit 20 lbs. (at 20 months for #1 and 16 months for #2) because they screamed in the car. I turned #2 back RF just last week (at 26 months), and she's doing fine with it so far, but my husband isn't willing to leave a child RF beyond one year AND 20 lbs. if it means screaming on trips. He's perfectly willing to have them RF if they're happy. Trips with both of them suddenly became calm and almost enjoyable as soon as we turned them FF.
Here are some of the things I tried: I would sit in the back and try to interact with baby; after six months when we had started on solids, I would make sure that the feeding happened during the trip; we had those soft toys that velcro around the handle of our Snugride; I would reach back from the front seat and touch the baby, either top of head or holding the hand. None of those things worked for long. Giving a bottle was not an option, since I breastfeed and my babies stopped taking a bottle after about 4 months of age. A typical trip for us was about 4 1/2 hours of driving time (to visit grandparents), and out of those an average of 2 1/2 hours was baby screaming. We could stop and feed the baby, but the screaming would start up again as soon as we started again. Sleep could be either before, after or between the screaming.
Now I realize that sitting in the back seat wasn't safe for me since we just had a lap belt. Nor was reaching back from the front, since it caused the shoulder belt to sit wrong on my body. I also get carsick, so sitting in the back wasn't good in that regard either. We now have a new car, and I could sit in the back with the baby in the 3rd row since it has the lap/shoulder belt in the middle, but the farther back in the car, the sicker I get. The current plan is for new baby to ride in the 2nd row captain's chair, but I wouldn't be able to reach across that gap either to feed the baby or touch the baby.
Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Here are some of the things I tried: I would sit in the back and try to interact with baby; after six months when we had started on solids, I would make sure that the feeding happened during the trip; we had those soft toys that velcro around the handle of our Snugride; I would reach back from the front seat and touch the baby, either top of head or holding the hand. None of those things worked for long. Giving a bottle was not an option, since I breastfeed and my babies stopped taking a bottle after about 4 months of age. A typical trip for us was about 4 1/2 hours of driving time (to visit grandparents), and out of those an average of 2 1/2 hours was baby screaming. We could stop and feed the baby, but the screaming would start up again as soon as we started again. Sleep could be either before, after or between the screaming.
Now I realize that sitting in the back seat wasn't safe for me since we just had a lap belt. Nor was reaching back from the front, since it caused the shoulder belt to sit wrong on my body. I also get carsick, so sitting in the back wasn't good in that regard either. We now have a new car, and I could sit in the back with the baby in the 3rd row since it has the lap/shoulder belt in the middle, but the farther back in the car, the sicker I get. The current plan is for new baby to ride in the 2nd row captain's chair, but I wouldn't be able to reach across that gap either to feed the baby or touch the baby.
Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!