traveling in the car with LO

amy11401

How does your LO do while traveling in a car?  My LO is hit or miss but as a whole I don't think he cares for it.  When he was in his infant seat sometimes he was not very happy especially when he was really little.  Then he pretty much would fuss when you first put him in but then he would get over it once you started driving.  Often he would fall asleep.  We were hoping when we got a convertible car seat he would like it more.  Well he seemed ok on some short trips but yesterday coming home from a longer trip he screamed for an hour.  Once I opened the door he smiled at me!  I am hoping it is just his age since he does not like to be confined in general.  I don't know if a different car seat would help.  We were hoping to visit my parents sometime this summer but there is no way we can drive there if he is going to scream for 2 and a half hours.

Burrberrymum

DD mostly screams even if it's just a 20 minute car ride. She is hit or miss though, sometimes she surprises me and doesn't scream at all. She smiles at me when I open the door as well though, I think she just hates being stuck and alone at the back on top of that.

Have you ever tried sitting at the back while your H drives? Sometimes we stop so I can hop in the back when she is screaming and we know we still have a ways to go.

Salemkitty13

We have a mirror which he likes and if he is fussy I will ride in the back with him. When I visit my mom it is about a 5 hour drive (i have to stop once to nurse him) I have found that if I leave when he first gets up in the morning he does fine. He sleeps and plays. If I leave later than 12 he will cry the last hour.

AlejandraN2

My little girl is fine as long as I'm sitting in the back with her. We've done up to 6-7 hr drives and with a couple of stops and me sitting in the back entertaining she's good. However, if i'm in the front, although she may do ok occasionally with short drives, even 10 mins can be torture. Even if she's sleeping she can sense I'm not there and wakes up. I rarely drive by myself.

amy11401

Burrberrymum said:

DD mostly screams even if it's just a 20 minute car ride. She is hit or miss though, sometimes she surprises me and doesn't scream at all. She smiles at me when I open the door as well though, I think she just hates being stuck and alone at the back on top of that. Have you ever tried sitting at the back while your H drives? Sometimes we stop so I can hop in the back when she is screaming and we know we still have a ways to go.

When he was very young I tried sitting in the back with him but that made him worse since he saw me there he wanted me to take him out.  He used to be the same way with his crib.  We had to do sleep training and when we would go in to check on him he would get worse!  I could try again sitting in the back with him but I am not sure it would work knowing how he is.

amy11401

dhaueisen said:

DD used to hate being buckled in to her car seat, and would often end up crying, but now she is a great little traveler. Do you have a mirror in front of his seat, the kind that lets you see him in your rearview mirror? DD loves it, she talkes and waves to herself in the mirror and I can see and talk to her as well, it keeps her from feeling lonely in the backseat by herself. I also play music for her and she loves to "sing" along with it. I also bring her lovey and wubbanub along for any longer trips which help her sooth herself and fall asleep.

We do have a mirror.

amy11401

CurlingRocks said:

First off, hugs!  A baby screaming for hours on end in a car is one of my least favorite things about parenting so far.  I've been there many times.

My kids are both good travelers, but they definitely prefer not to be confined and have their limits.  We just completed a family road trip that included about 40 hours of driving over 6 days.  There were quiet times when they napped and some happy times when they played either individually or together, but there were also times each day where there were tears. 

DD does her best traveling in the morning and early afternoon, especially if she's napping.  It is difficult to coordinate now that we have 2 kids with different sleep needs, but we try to travel when they nap to avoid the screaming.  No matter how long we've been in the car (a 5 minute errand or finishing 9 hours of driving), DD screams in the car if she is out in late afternoon or early evening when she typically is home getting ready to eat dinner and go to bed.

One of the worst drives I ever had was about 2 hours of driving DS home from Childrens after getting his hip dysplasia dianosis.  I was already upset about that when I got stuck in stop-start traffic and had a very low-speed (<5 mph) accident that was my fault for which I was ticketed.  DS was sleeping in the backseat and didn't even wake up until after the cop arrived.  He screamed the entire way home.  I just kept telling myself it would be OK because it had to be.  I was alone on that drive and got through it.  I usually bring someone with me when I go now because that can be so stressful, though DS is usually a happy traveler now at 3, though DD comes with us, too.  You can do a long ride to see your family; I'm sending you some strength.

Thanks so much for the support.  Sounds like you have had lots of experiences driving with your kids!  Actually one time when he was a few months old, I ran over something and got a flat tire and he was an angel through the whole situation.I guess you just can't predict how they will be!   

Carolynfoster

I went on a 7 hour drive with my DS by myself and it went ok. I went to the store before we left and bought a few new toys for him to play with. He is always entertained for hours if he gets something new so that really helped. I also had lots of snacks on hand that he could eat by himself, like mums mums. Between the food and his new toys he kept himself entertained almost the whole time.

AppleMuffins

We just took a 5 hour drive (well. longer with stops). DD is not a great traveler. If it's nap time, she will sleep for an hour or two as long as the car is moving (traffic is awful). Then we stop for food or something. We take our time so that it gets close to her 2nd nap. By after that nap, she's kind of a mess and is just DONE. However, for this trip, we waited until it was close to bedtime and she actually did much better. We drove about an hour first, while she catnapped, then stopped for dinner and let her play in the grass near the restaurant for a bit. Then we loaded her up and she went to sleep. She woke after about 2.5-3 hours. She was pretty happy when she woke, but I just fed her and put her back in her seat and she fell back to sleep for about another .5-1hr before we got home. I do wonder if she'd sleep all night if we timed it like that.

I also sit in back with her. I can't stand the hard sobbing cries where she makes herself throw up. When we took a longer trip when she was 3 mos old, we were both sobbing by the time we pulled up to our destination. It was a mess.