Freaking out in the car

Cecilbear · June 2014

Little E hates the car! No matter what I do (nurse her rt before we load in, rock her to sleep beforehand, give her a pacifier, sing to her, jiggle her car seat a bit), she will wake up mid-trip and scream bloody murder. Does anyone else have this experience with their little one? Does *anything* work for you?

It breaks my heart to leave her crying in the backseat, but short of never leaving in the car, I'm not sure what to do. Help?

LindsayB0505 · June 2014

DD #1 did this when she was about 2 or 3 months old. It only lasted a couple weeks and then got better. Hang in there.

CalinAZ · June 2014

Mine is just starting to come around. Playing static on the radio seems to really help

Kyllarae · June 2014

Happens to us every time. If I can, I sit back there with her and try to distract her with toys and noises but it's hit or miss. We don't travel far because of it and I'm praying she grows out of it soon.

Starfish+77 · June 2014

One day DS screamed bloody murder. When I got home and took him out he was sweating bad. So make sure that isn't the issue. I hear you though..we had to travel an hour away this past wknd and got stuck in bad traffic. He screamed when he woke bc the car wasn't moving. When running errands I try to just keep the car moving!! I approach a red light VERY slowly :-)

joyfullyfound · June 2014

DD always hated her car seat... even from day one when we drove her home from the hospital. And it didn't get better until she was old enough to be distracted with toys and since then it's progressively improved. Now that she can read books and listen to her favorite CDs, etc, in the car, it's totally easy.

At it's worst, if DH was with me I'd sit in the back seat with her and lean in to nurse her in her seat until she fell asleep. When I was alone, I'd just try to get as far as I could then pull over to nurse her in her seat, keep driving, pull over, keep driving, pull over... repeat. It was horrible and it took forever to get anywhere. That said, she did get better at sleeping long stretches in the car, so even though getting her to sleep remained difficult, I could then count on her sleeping 1-2 hours in there no problem.

I will get better... but I'm sorry it's so hard right now

snowbound · June 2014

I think they can easily get overheated. That's usually when my LO loses his mind in the car seat. Sometimes I roll down the window in the back and the sound will soothe him.

Cecilbear · June 2014

Thanks, ladies! It's reassuring to think this might just be a phase. I'm also wondering if she could be overheating back there. Thanks for commiserating--and for the new ideas!

sugarrush · June 2014

CalinAZ said:

Mine is just starting to come around. Playing static on the radio seems to really help

This! Mine hated the carseat I think, not so much the car. I tried to sit her up in the car seat as much as possible so she wasnt slouching, I think that helped. We also put her in the car seat while just at home for very short periods of time (15 min or so) to try to acclimate her. I also have the "Sleep Pillow" app downloaded on my iphone and this has ultimately been our saving grace. We use the static/beach waves setting and it calms her the heck down and puts her to sleep sometimes too.

She now is used to it and is a champ! It will get better, you'll figure out what works. You just have to pick a route and try to stick with it, otherwise its like re-inventing the wheel over and over. Thats my opinion at least...

railroadRN · June 2014

Same as PP. Every time LO has had a meltdown while in the car seat, turned out she was too hot.

MamaFantastic · June 2014

Babies will get sweaty just from screaming for any reason. It isn't always necessarily because the baby was hot to begin with, though it certainly could be a factor.

Dixon813 · June 2014

Jessieann1020 said:
My E hates the car seat. I have accepted that car rides are gonna suck for a little while.....

This! Liam will often look around the for a minute then starts screaming. Sometimes he will calm down and fall asleep and thankfully I've never traveled far without DH so one of us can help get the pacifier back in/soothe.

It sucks! I pray it does last forever

mrsB68 · June 2014

I find sometimes the spa station helps. I think the soothing music helps her relax. Plus babies generally like high pitched sounds...which oddly enough spa music often has.

nicole mackenzie · June 2014

My LO also hates the car. And won't take a pacifier

I try singing or put my finger in her mouth for a few minutes. I stop to nurse and change diapers often.

She usually cries because she pooped or is hubgry. The worst is when she just wants to be held and I can't do that while driving. She sounds so sad

*sparky* · June 2014

Mine is either screaming or asleep in the car. There is nothing in between. Sometimes the white noise app on my phone helps. Fortunately I usually am not going far and I just pray for all green lights til I get home.

irisheyez7 · June 2014

Mine freaks out every single time the car stops. She will be fine, then red light, cue screaming. Green light, screaming stops. Traffic SUCKS! I hope to god this gets better because we have a few longer trips planned this summer!

rtv3 · June 2014

irisheyez7 said:
Mine freaks out every single time the car stops. She will be fine, then red light, cue screaming. Green light, screaming stops. Traffic SUCKS! I hope to god this gets better because we have a few longer trips planned this summer!

This is my LO too! I really hate traffic lights

CosmoAnne1 · June 2014

Blake hates the car! My 7 year old is even getting anxiety in the car frOm all the crying/screaming. He will cry so hard he sounds like he's choking. Luckily we have a mirror do I can see his face. Still I hate going anywhere and everywhere we need to go is minimum 15 min. We have to start driving 45 min away in august to take my son to school

kill me now!!!! I pray Blake will be ok in the car by then!

hcam0707 · June 2014

My son doesn't mind being in the car, but he doesn't like when his binky falls out. That being said, there have been times that he has meltdown that causes him to sweat bad. I have pulled over on 2 occasions to soothe him. Now he has learned to soothe himself or I talk to him in an exciting way where he just listens. I also use pandora and play the station "rockabye baby." It keeps him calm.

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