Hates the car

=Lee=B

What do you all do if your baby HATES the car seat?

I feel so bad, she cries and cries.  She starts off trying not to cries, she whimpers like she is trying to be brave but eventually it turns to crying, then screaming meltdown (where I pull over and nurse her calm before continuing on)!

I've hung toys and her blankey in the seat...I've started using the sun shade down in front of her blocking out the view of back window in case she is over stimulated.  But, she hates the car.  I got children's cd's and play the music and sing to her, nope.

If my husband is in car with us he drives and I sit in back and she is usually fine, if she fusses I can distract her but I need to drive without my husband during the week!

We plan to buy a convertible car seat soon and hope that the switch will make her happy...but if it doesn't what do I do?

She is not used to crying so I think once she starts when I don't respond she starts to freak out because I am nearby and not responding to her cries.  I'm pretty sure this is distressing for her!  She is soooooo easy going for everything else!

blu-eyedwife

My son hated the carseat.  The good news is he did eventually grow out of it. 

What worked for us in those early days (and I remember 3-6 months being especially bad) was a combination of 3 things:

1 - white noise.  We had the sleep sheep at home and bought a travel sleep sheep for the car. I  HATE the idea of toys in the carseat for safety reasons, but relented and tucked the sheep beside him, turned on, loud.

2 - Fisher Price Soothe and Glow Seahorse.  Another toy turned on and tucked beside him.  The light up stomach gave him something soothing to focus on.

3 - A&A blanket.  I covered his car seat with this to cut out the outside light/images/distractions.  

fryrat

I started to see this when I got a new car. DD could not see and it was making her upset. I made adjustments, like removing the rear headrest, and she has been happier.

cpmich

Sometimes it can even be little things like needing to wash the carseat cover. Their young noses are very sensitive and if you haven't washed it since she last spit up, had a diaper leak, or it has just been a while, the smell might bother her.

cedenton

Ditto the white noise. We downloaded the app and put the phone in the carseat. Worked like a charm.