Gabe hates his car seat

katie4253

And I seriously don't know what to do.  It is TERRIBLE.  Today he had a meltdown of epic proportions and was gagging and coughing and had a hard time breathing because he was so upset.  UGH!

kck329

Oh Katie that's so stressful!

Cora loves the car but my little sister (who is 6 now) hated it. Does he hate getting in and out or is he upset the whole time he is in it?

Have you tried playing white noise/radio static loudly while driving? Or putting a mirror up so he can see himself? Are the straps tight or pinching somewhere (I'm sure you already checked that though)

Not necessarily the most helpful suggestions but lots of sympathy-that's hard!

schenkertobe

Oh my Im sorry! Thats a tough one because you have to go places and you can't exactly take him out of his carseat when he has a meltdown while you are driving! Does he like the stroller? Andrew at first didn't like the carseat (though he never had major meltdowns). But he loved riding in the stroller. After using the carseat in the snap n go, he learned to not mind the carseat by itself.

SushiNoMore

Z hates the carseat, too, although it has gotten a little better as he has gotten older.  I'm not really sure I have any advice for you that you haven't already tried, but we did a couple of things:  We put a mirror in front of him, but I don't know if that helped. We also used links to attach a whole bunch of toys to his carseat.  That definitely helped.  

And, we got him a DVD player for long trips.  We haven't used it yet, but I think it will work well.  Before I had kids, I tried really hard to avoid saying I'd "never" do anything, because I knew that the rules would all go out the window when he was born.  But, the one thing I said I'd never do was get a DVD player.  That was before my kid hated his carseat, though, so here we are. 

SushiNoMore

One other thing:  Once Zach gets totally off the rails (major meltdown territory), we usually stop, get him out of the car seat, calm him down, and start over again.  I always worried that getting him out of the car seat and then putting him back in would make it worse, but it definitely helps.  Good luck!

katie4253

Thanks ladies.  We've tired toys and white noise.  Sometimes they help, sometimes they don't.  I think he wants to be able to play with toys, but he can't reach them yet (he doesn't really reach for or bat at toys much yet).  Also, he HAAATTEEES the sun.  We have a sun shade on the side, but it still gets him.  He screams bloody murder.  It, basically sucks...

Today I did have to stop.  I had to stop for 20 mins and nurse him to settle him down.  Thankfully I was in town and could pull into a church parking lot.  

eventually he fell asleep, about 90 mins into our trip.   It was a trip I could have done alone in 45 mins.  But, we had to stop for him and then I had to get him out to go to an atm (the bank didn't have a drive-through atm and then again to go into the health department to get his birth certificate.  Then after all of that mess, I had to stop and get something to eat (since it was 2pm and I hadn't yet eaten for the day).

We took the infant insert out and moved the straps up.  I thought that would help, thinking he was just uncomfortable because he was getting so big.  But, no dice.  

I hope it gets better.   Really really really hope.  If not, we may not be going to Nebraska for one of the holidays.   

bhilyer

I'm a little late, but I wanted you to know that I totally feel ya on this one.  Both of my boys have car seat issues.

JS hates being strapped in.  He pulls and fights the straps while putting him in.  But once we get in the car, he's fine.  Whenever we get to where we're going, I have to unbuckle the straps or he flips his lid.  Every.single.time.

H on the other hand doesn't fight getting strapped in.  He loves to ride.  But if we have to stop at a red light/stop sign, a MAJOR meltdown starts.  Spoiled little things stops crying as soon as the car starts moving again.  If he's in the stroller, it's the same thing - doesn't mind being strapped, but wants to be moving the entire time.

No suggestions, just empathy! 

lemen99

I'm sorry My little guy hates it too. It's bad b/c he has to spend a lot of time in it driving big brother across town to school and such.

adrielegorburu

Madi fusses but then calms down.  In the fussy time I'm crazy stressed out - I cant imagine what you are going through.  I hope he settles into it sooner rather than later.  I wish I had some suggestions for you but all I can offer is my sympathy