Hi moms, Our 11 month old sweetheart hates riding in the car. He's good for 15-20 minutes and then all hell breaks loose. He screams, get read and sweaty, sometimes I worry that he's going to vomit or pass out. We've tried singing to him, riding in the back seat, giving him toys, saying comforting things, we even tried changing to a forward-facing seat (he weighs enough and the doc said it was OK) nothing seems to work. This has really limited our ability to go anywhere in the car with him. Any suggestions?
My daughter did the same thing until we realized she was getting car sick. The vomiting didn't start until she was a a little older. If possible put him near a window so he can see out. Also maybe feed him some saltines before he goes into the car. The only other thing I can say is he will out grow it at some point.
My youngest brother was like this as a baby (he's 10 now). When he turned 1 and he got a new forward facing carseat, he was like a totally different kid. He was probably uncomfortable in the infant seat (I know my daughter was...) and just didn't like traveling backwards (he still doesn't). For your sake, I hope next month brings a positive change for you!
Hi K.,
Both of our kids were too tall to be facing backwards at that point, which made them very uncomfortable. They would scream and yell like you wouldn't believe. Our peds told us they were big enough to turn around a month early and that made all the difference! They finally had some leg room and weren't so cramped.
I know the recommendation is 12 months, but both of our kids were bigger than average so the peds seemed to think it was okay for them.
Best of luck!!!
M.
could you be pulling the harness too tight? do the shoulder slots need to be moved into the next position? is there a head protection component that can be removed (my son hated the head thing in the infant seat and screamed every car trip until i took it out to see what would happen)? could the seat recline position be too far/not far enough and causing his back to hurt? good luck! i know how not fun it is to have a kid who hates the car seat :-)
my dd did this until we gave her a blanket to hold. For some reason that solved the problem.
K.,
I just had to comment because my son is the exact same way! Up until he was about 6 or 7 months old he was wonderful in the car. Something seemed to change overnight because ever since then he gets so upset when we are in the car for more than 15 minutes. I gave up trying to "figure out" what was wrong - his straps were not too tight, his seat is nice and cushy, he is forward facing and can see me or my husband, etc...and just kind of decided that the only way to get through it was to get through it.
I used to shy away from going places with him because of the production it would turn into - and I just hate to hear him cry like that. But, really, the only way to get him used to the car rides is to just do it. I make it a point to go somewhere with him nearly every day so that he learns that the car is not a bad place. Its getting better - his threshold is much longer now and I think he is starting to get that when we go in the car we end up somewhere fun/different. I am just going to keep at it and see what happens!
Good luck! Take care!
T.
