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Babies: 6 - 9 Months
Anjel_9@hotmail.com
member
Always Crying in the Car
Anjel_9@hotmail.com
member
My 8+mo is a terror in the car. She is the happiest sweetest baby, but she hates being stuck in the car/car seat... and she lets me know. I was hoping that this would get better when we switched to a convertible car seat, but it hasn't. I dread having to drive alone with her, and of course, I have to often.. so it's an almost daily source of anxiety and stress.
I'm wondering what others do in this situation? I always hand her a toy to play with, but she gets bored after a minute. I'll usually try to talk to her or sing to her, but if it doesn't work sometimes I'll just put the radio on somewhat loud, and that seems to put her to sleep (I have no idea why) within a few minutes. Other times nothing works, but I feel guilty if I'm just sitting there not consoling her.. then I get a little resentful, like this isn't new! you should be used to car rides by now, why must we cry every time! Then I feel guilty for that. It's a fun cycle.
Any suggestions?
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Re: Always Crying in the Car
We were the same. Happiest baby ever...till in the car. I used to have to pull over and nurse her because she would scream so much I sounded like she wasn't breathing anymore.
Luckily when we switched to a convertible at like 5 months she improved, drastically. Now she only spazzes out when she is over tired. That said, she still doesn't care for the car and when both my husband and I are in the car one of us usually sits in back.
What car seat did you get. Is it really reclined? We got the Radian RXT but have it at like minimal recline (30degrees?). Some babies hate the infant recline (45degrees). Some seats recline more than others and some cars force a recline of more than others. So, I would start with this. What seat do you have, what are the allowable recline angles and can you make it more upright.
How tight are the straps? I am a paranoid car seat safety mom and used to make it so tight her poor shoulders here pulled down. When I learned how loose is safe she was much more comfortable. It's still tight, as per the safety rules...but I had been way over tightening.
How far below her shoulders are the straps? They need to be at or below the shoulders...but sometimes too far below bothers a child...so if you can move the straps up a level but still have it at or below then that may help.
I keep a stash of soft toys up front when driving alone. When she gets fussy, when I stop at a red light I toss a toy back to her. I can easily reach back and have her grab it...this distracts her a bit. We have like 12 toys in the car at any given time and go through them all in a drive lol. She can't quite reach for the toys once they fall on her lap yet so I need to keep passing new ones back.
Songs...I sing songs...this somehow calms her. She is in the back, alone, and can't see me or anyone else. Hearing my voice can help (but before she freaks, not after). Our A/C broke in the summer and we had to have the windows down. You know how many weird looks I got bellowing kids songs lol. Eventually I can't think of new songs so revert to "this is the song that never ends..." it just loops round and round and truly never ends.