Car Seat help!!!! 6 wk old baby hates it!

mayringor

My 6 wk old son doesn't want to be put down on a car seat and cries constantly! Literally! He had an appt with his pedia before which took us a 15-20mins drive from Timberlea to downtown and he cried all throughout the whole ride! I even ended up carrying him inside the car and had to make sure that we won't get the attention of the cops, LOL! Any advice on what we should do? Has this ever happened to your LO? It's driving me and my husband insane and it makes us hate to drive our LO anywhere... To make things worse, we have to go to Edmonton for his appt by end of Sept which by then he would be nearly 3 mos. for his Cystogram. We're looking forward to a 'fun-filled' 5-6hr ride with our LO by then but then we could only hope for the best now! Goodluck to us!!! Advice please?

mamom0103

My DD isn't a fan of the car either and we drive a lot. No advice really, my older DS loved the car and slept all the time. We did switch DS to a rear-facing convertible seat at 4 months before a long car ride which was great. Sometimes the bucket seats are too reclined for them. We plan to switch DD early too.

EmJ628

Does he do ok swaddled? Some of the Velcro swaddle sacks have a hole in them so you can swaddle them in their car seat. Maybe that would help if you haven't tried it yet. I'm also assuming he's in the middle? We had to put our twins in the end seats and they got a lot of sun through the window which nobody liked. I got some shades and they are much happier and I'm not worrying about sun exposure.

saric83

Here's what has helped us: 

• Made sure the straps were at the right level and took out the infant insert since he was too big for it
• We always feed him right before we head out, so he's sleepy and ready for a nap
• White noise machine!!!
• We didn't have any swaddles with the opening, so when he was just a few weeks old, we would roll up some of his blankets on the sides of him to give him that tighter feeling, but now we just tuck a blanket around him since he likes to suck on it
• Sun shades

Marinewife81

Nothing should go between baby and the car seat (I.e threaded through the straps). It isn't safe. Many convertible seats are suitable for newborns. You could try skipping the bucket seat and putting baby in a convertible seat instead. They're a bit more roomy and some babies find them more acceptable than the bucket seat. Also make sure you aren't over tightening the straps (shouldn't be able to pinch any strap at the collar bone). And check the seat to make sure it is properly reclined.

gladfelter2010

We use an app called shush baby sleep it was free. My son will fall asleep in a matter of minutes when he listens to the lady shushing sound on that app or the fan sound (there are like 8 sounds to choose from) It has to be loud enough for them to hear it over their cries, so it may take a few minutes but it works almost every time. Do you have sunshades for the windows? How about a mirror that you can put on the seat the baby faces? Our kiddo loves to look in the mirror (although the mirror is really more meant for the driver to be able to see the baby while they are driving). Do you have any toys that dangle or jingle that you could attach to the handle?

Melis222

My first hated the car, by 8 weeks old I put a lil dvd played on the other headrest and used to play baby Einstein for him. It worked and he stopped crying.

delujm0

Mine also hates the car. She has bad reflux, and I've read that sometimes a seat like that bothers kids with reflux. But she also is colicky and basically hates everything but eating and sleeping.

LO will probably grow out of it and be fine. But please do not remove your infant from his seat and hold him while the car is moving. That is so so dangerous. DD will screaming bloody murder in there, and it's hard for me to listen to her like that, but eventually it wears her out and she falls asleep. It's fine for a 15-20 minute ride.

Marinewife81

gladfelter2010 said:

We use an app called shush baby sleep it was free. My son will fall asleep in a matter of minutes when he listens to the lady shushing sound on that app or the fan sound (there are like 8 sounds to choose from) It has to be loud enough for them to hear it over their cries, so it may take a few minutes but it works almost every time. Do you have sunshades for the windows? How about a mirror that you can put on the seat the baby faces? Our kiddo loves to look in the mirror (although the mirror is really more meant for the driver to be able to see the baby while they are driving). Do you have any toys that dangle or jingle that you could attach to the handle?

Many car seats do not allow anything, including toys, to be attached to the handle. Check your manual to be sure.

Natjune

My son loves the feel of vibrations, so we got him the Fisher Price Calming Vibrations Cuddle Soother. He takes that everywhere! I has helped so much and isn't expensive.
We also got a vibrating pad for under his mattress. Helps him sleep!
https://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Calming-Vibrations-Cuddle-Soother/dp/B00F2MQC1C