Newborn hates car seat - how do you cope with the crying?

[Wugz22]

My first baby was the same way too - so I just didn't go anywhere. We lived in a neighborhood where we could just walk everywhere. But now we've moved farther out of town, and now that I have two LOs, I am in the car constantly. I have to drop off and pick up my toddler at daycare, errands, etc... daily car rides are inevitable. My 5 week old baby girl pretty much cries the whole time she's in the car. She's a pretty content little baby most of the time, so hearing her cry like that breaks my heart! I feel so guilty making her ride in the car so often when she hates it so much!

How do you cope? When did your baby stop hating the carseat? For my first born, it wasn't until we turned him forward. And that's a long time away...

 

[stripeycat5]

DS was always asleep straight away! DD in the other hand hated the car seat from day one 🙈. She is now tolerating it but if we stop or get stuck in traffic she kicks off. I have tried a mirror, toys, singing to her etc but she hates it. I think it is because she can't see but like you say nothing I can do as she needs to rearward face for as long as poss!

I cope by turning the music up lol 😆

 

[sil]

Both of my sons HATE the carseat. They would scream and flail their arms.

The answer for me? The car swaddle! We used it with DS1 until he was about 4 months old, and we are using it currently with DS2 (5 weeks). I get a size bigger than they would normally wear a swaddle in.

https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infan...r=1-3&keywords=swaddle+me+harness+access+slit

You put the botton strap through the slit that is on the bottom of the swaddle (back near the butt there is a slit, you can see the baby's diaper/outfit through it and it's the size of the buckle), then after you buckle the baby in the regular way, you wrap the wings of the SwaddleMe over the baby's arms and the straps/buckles.

https://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/babylovemgt/SwaddleMeTwin5.jpg

It is completely safe because baby is buckled in the regular way, there is just a swaddle that wraps around from their back and over their front after they are buckled in, if that makes any sense

 

[misspriss]

I zone it out. My son went through phases, it is absolutely nerve wracking. He is 2.5 and still rear facing, as he got out of the screaming phase but it will always be safer for him to rear face.

My daughter used to sleep in the car but cries quite a bit now, it's a gamble - sometimes she screams the whole way, sometimes she is awake and happy, and sometimes she sleeps peacefully. You never know what you will get. I am better at keeping my focus on driving and tuning it out, as bad as it makes me feel to say that, me focusing on driving is extremely important.

That and just knowing she will get over it, as my son did. I hope your LO grows out of it before you feel forced to turn them FF!

 

[sil]

Here are photos of my son in the car swaddle:
One photo of it completely open with him buckled in on top, one photo with the bottom part of the swaddle on him, and the other with the swaddle velcroed and completed over his buckled in body.

https://i59.tinypic.com/2hzo76q.jpg
https://i59.tinypic.com/whfxpx.jpg
https://i60.tinypic.com/20zqir4.jpg

 

[myra]

My 2 year old son had reflux as does my 3 month old daughter. They were both fine in the car seat for the first weeks til the reflux kicked in...then the screaming/gagging/coughing began. For both of them it was/is reflux related, even when on reflux meds. We switched them both from the bucket car seat to a rear facing convertible seat at 3 months & attached a mobile to the car seat. (The infant seats positioning makes reflux worse) It helped my son a lot...not every time but enough that I actually started to leave the house again. So far it's not making a huge difference with my daughter . Other than the chair/mobile, I'm sorry I don't have any other tips. I have such anxiety now every time we get in the car...

 

[Wugz22]

The swaddle looks awesome! I will definitely check that out!

 

[Loozle]

White noise is the only thing that helped my dd a little. She's getting a bit better now but there are still some car journeys where she will just scream the whole way. It's getting easier to distract her though as she's getting older.

 

[timeforababy]

My son stopped hating it after I started putting a blanket he was using on m in the car seat. Maybe it's the unfamiliar smell?

 

[LoraLoo]

Here are photos of my son in the car swaddle:
One photo of it completely open with him buckled in on top, one photo with the bottom part of the swaddle on him, and the other with the swaddle velcroed and completed over his buckled in body.

https://i59.tinypic.com/2hzo76q.jpg
https://i59.tinypic.com/whfxpx.jpg
https://i60.tinypic.com/20zqir4.jpg

No experience at all, but just wanted to say how gorgeous your baby is! Just made me extremely broody!

 

[JumpingIn]

I need a car swaddle! Thanks for sharing.

Another reflux baby here and I simply cannot drive with him screaming, my driving becomes dangerous as I just can't zone it out. My 'solution' so far has been to work out several points I can stop along any journey...laybys etc... Then I get into the back seat with him and rock/soothe/comfort feed. On a 20 minute journey we can stop up to 5 times I've also put a folded blanket in the deepest part of the seat curve so his back is a bit straighter but it doesn't seem to have made a difference

 

[Rainbow82]

My 2 year old son had reflux as does my 3 month old daughter. They were both fine in the car seat for the first weeks til the reflux kicked in...then the screaming/gagging/coughing began. For both of them it was/is reflux related, even when on reflux meds. We switched them both from the bucket car seat to a rear facing convertible seat at 3 months & attached a mobile to the car seat. (The infant seats positioning makes reflux worse) It helped my son a lot...not every time but enough that I actually started to leave the house again. So far it's not making a huge difference with my daughter . Other than the chair/mobile, I'm sorry I don't have any other tips. I have such anxiety now every time we get in the car...

This is interesting. My son was always perfectly happy in his seat till reflux kicked in and since then he screams every time he goes in his seat.
If OH is in the car she sits in the back to soothe him which keeps it to crying but if OH is at work and we need to go somewhere then I try to time it at nap time. If I get him really drowsy and then feed him a few mouthfuls in his seat I can sometimes get him to sleep.
I find it really stressful, DS is not generally a baby who cries a lot but in his seat he screams like he is being killed. He never screams like that at any other time, I find it so distressing I end up more upset than him and if I can I have started getting the bus, it's just easier.

 

[d_b]

I just try to ignore her.. It's so stressful, I avoid the car as much as possible. DS1 got better by around 6-7 months. DS2 wasn't as bad or maybe I just didn't drive anywhere, lol, can't really remember. DD screams the car down the entire time she's in the seat, also she screams and cries while we are inside trying to get ready to go anywhere in the car. I don't have any advice, nothing I've tried works.

 

[Larkspur]

My son always instantly went to sleep, but my daughter hated the car seat until about five months.

I had a couple of songs to put on repeat that often calmed her down for a while (Eva Cassidy's 'Songbird' and The Beatles 'Beautiful Boy', literally only those two songs worked!) but a lot of the time I just had to deal with it, speak reassuringly etc.

Once I got stuck in traffic on a late run home and she literally screamed for an hour and a half straight. One of the hardest things I have had to deal with as a parent. I was in tears too by the end of the trip.

Around five months she suddenly adjusted and has been fine ever since.

 

[JumpingIn]

Once I got stuck in traffic on a late run home and she literally screamed for an hour and a half straight. One of the hardest things I have had to deal with as a parent. I was in tears too by the end of the trip.


Omg, stuff of nightmares! You poor thing

 

[calm]

My son always instantly went to sleep, but my daughter hated the car seat until about five months.

I had a couple of songs to put on repeat that often calmed her down for a while (Eva Cassidy's 'Songbird' and The Beatles 'Beautiful Boy', literally only those two songs worked!) but a lot of the time I just had to deal with it, speak reassuringly etc.

Once I got stuck in traffic on a late run home and she literally screamed for an hour and a half straight. One of the hardest things I have had to deal with as a parent. I was in tears too by the end of the trip.

Around five months she suddenly adjusted and has been fine ever since.

That sounds awful, I would have been in tears too