DD crying in the car

newsbaby

The past few weeks or so, my DD cries in the car. I mean from the SECOND we click the car seat in. Non stop, uncontrollable, huge sobs, snot running out of her nose. We have taken long and short trips, radio and no radio, pulled over and fed her, give her extra toys, pulled over and held her for a bit, etc. Meanwhile my DS is fine, no problem. He naps in the car most of the time. Is this a phase? We went to a park 10 mins from my house today and she cried the whole way. We are visiting SIL next week and she lives 40 mins away. We can't stay in the house all the time! But its so heartbreaking, its like we are torturing her :-(

AlissaCell701

I just replied to your post below

But Jake also did this..for about the first 4 months..He HATED his infant carrier and we switched to the convertablle and he is soo much happier in it! I am convinced it was the seat.  Cause we did ALL of those things and he would scream every single time.  I would maybe try a different seat and see how it goes. SOmetimes it's also just a phase and they have to "get over it..."

dana316

Caroline went through that at the exact same age.  It was torture.

I tried everything, and NOTHING worked.  In fact, most of what I tried made it worse...pulling over and getting her out made it especially worse.

We finally just had to accept that SHE had to accept that car rides were a part of life, and she just had to work it out herself.  We gave her everything she needed to be comfy (paci, etc) and just let her cry. 

It wasn't a fun time...but once we decided to let her work it out on her own, it got much better very quickly.

Good luck!

 

flbeachcouple

I feel your pain, DS started at 8 weeks old. It is finally getting better....at 18 months. I have basically not driven more than 30 mins from my home since he was 2 months old. Luckily we fly everywhere (the airport is 20 mins away).

I think the DVD player has helped along with age. He still screams getting in the car seat on nearly every return trip.

 Everyone says it will get better...I am still waiting.

GypsyEsq

DD was the same at around 5 months. We switched to a convertible car seat.  I am convinced that her crying was due to being uncomfortable in the infant carrier.  She was much better in the convertible, much much better. 

BeccaLandes

My son Benjamin went through that phase, too.  I called the pediatrician- they had no advice.  

I just decided that we couldn't stay home all the time, as heartbreaking as it was to hear him cry hysterically every time we were in the car.  I always made sure he had a clean diaper, and had been fed, so that I knew he wasn't crying for any reason I could prevent.  Then off we went.  

There were some tough trips in there... like the one we took to Maine when they were 3 months old... but it was a phase, and it passed.  Now he happily looks out the window, or naps. I hope that after some amount of time on your 40 minute trip, she stops crying and you get some quiet!

ela81

Like a pp, my DD was like that for about the first 4 months of her life. I would feed her, change her and she would still scream to the point of getting red spots all over her face. I think I sometimes had her in her seat too tight but, not all of the time. The only think that helped sometimes was having the windows down, it was winter at this point but, she did not care. For that to help at all we had to be moving so if I was stuck in traffic which we are a lot, we live in a big city then it did not work. So that is my only suggestion is to try putting the windows down. I still have to do it for DD from time to time (like on the way to church this morning...).

Good luck. I'm sure it's just a phase. It will pass!

newsbaby

Thanks ladies. We are desperate for help - I will try all of your suggestions!