Guilty about crying in car?

BBoyd2013

Hi, so my 3 month old hates car rides/car seats (one of those). He will cry the entire time from point a to b. I've tried mirrors, music, white noise, toys, singing, riding in the back seat, taking, fixing/adjusting straps, etc. EVERYTHING!! And he just wails!! I feel so guilty. So sad for him. Going anywhere has to be maticulously planned around nap time in hopes he may fall asleep. Should I feel guilty about this? I know I shouldn't but I do

vlevitt

My 4 month old has the same problem and it extends to get stroller as well. I think it's fairly common. We live at a transit hub so I've been able to avoid car rides for the most part, but have tried most of what you've described without much difference. What has helped most was a visit to an infant chiropractor. For the week after our first visit she cried for only 2-3 minutes before falling asleep. I'm going back! I'm also going to try cranio-sacral therapy. Anything to stop the screaming!

EasternBluebird

Same here. LO is 14 weeks and he HATES riding in the car. I travel a lot for work on weekends and hate that he cries but not much I can do about it. I also feel super guilty and fret about it. Sometimes I think he's picking up on my stress and I'm making it worse. Interested to see what other moms do about the crying car rides.

On a side note I know it isn't that he doesn't like the car seat because it connects to my stroller and he loves going for walks in it.

jbird1222

My 15 week old hates it too! I also plan around nap times because he sleeps just fine in the car seat. I haven't found anything that helps a lot either.

BBoyd2013

@jbird1222 yup that's what we try to do. Although, I think he caught on because now he's refusing to nap lol.

jbird1222

@BBoyd2013 lol I just told my DH yesterday that they need to invent a new type of car seat because this one just isn't cutting it for us.

Just an idea, and I know screens are bad for babies...but I'm wondering if playing some kind of video would work.

abcmom12

may seem silly, but is the car seat well adjusted regarding fit?  My LO would cry buckets and it was because we needed to extend the head rests up after she grew.  That stopped it.

BBoyd2013

@abcmom12 Not silly. We've actually had to move him to a convertible car seat because he's so big. 14 weeks, 18lbs and 26-26.5" long Lol

kelsire

Have you trie a few "practice" rides? Just around the block. Babies this age still don't have object permanace (I guess some might) so maybe the problem is he can't you, so he thinks he is alone.
Maybe going for a several really shorts rides will help.
Just a suggestion! I know if it were me I would be willing to try anything!

SerenityAE

My LO doesn't cry endlessly in the car, so I cant relate on that, but he used to get cranky when his car seat was behind the passenger seat. I moved it to the middle- for reasons unrelated to his crankiness, I didn't know it would help with that- and he's happy as can be now. Not sure if the movement of the car didn't agree with him on the side vs the middle or what it was, but it definitely made him enjoy his car rides a lot more. 

Just a thought.