Riding in the Car

My first son was colicky and I discovered these little pellets that you put between the gums and lip/cheeck (they are tiny and disolve quickly). They are homeopathic and contain lavender to calm the baby. They are made by Humphreys and I used to get them from the behind the pharmacy counter at Target. You could give it a try....

Sometimes they cry cause they don't want to be strapped down once they start to move around crawling and all...I think a lot of babies go through this. Mine did. I expect my now 6 month old will eventually go through it as well.

My youngest hated his carseat.In fact we lived about 45 min away from the hospital and he cried the whole way home. he did eventually get used to it in the car but then when he grew out of that one and we bought him a big boy one we went throught it again until he got used to it. I just recommend that you check the buckles make sure nothing is hurting him or make sure it isnt to tight.

My first did the same thing for her first year of life! Once she started to become aware of her surroundings she hated the car seat. facing the back of a car seat not able to see anything. She cried everytime she was in the car, until she turned 1 and we could face her seat forward, then she was fine. Since you have a long way to go before your baby's first birthday I suggest trying music as others suggested. My daughter loved Laurie Berkner,I would sing along and I think hearing my voice helped calm her. Also, soft toys and a mirror so he can see something. We used to have one that I could turn on with a remote and it would light up and play music, I forget who made it.

My son was like that too. Absolutely screamed the whole time in the car!!! He's now 12 and still hates the car. He does not get car sick, just doesn't like it. He said his problem with the car is that he doesn't like being confined, not being able to wiggle and move when and how he wants. (He said that has always been his problem with the car.) Now, he's fine in the car if he has a good book to read, to keep him occupied. Otherwise, forget going very far in the car with him. So, maybe your baby just doesn't like being "cooped up" in the car. When my son was a baby, the only way to keep him quiet was for my husband to drive and I had to read "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can you" By Dr. Seuss to him the whole time. I ended up memorizing the book, but he had to see the pages everytime.

My friends daughter was the same way. It was heartbreaking for her to listen to her scream her head off everytime they got in the car. When her carseat was changed to a forward facing seat it did get better. I hope you can find a solution before that.

We used a toy bar over the car seat. That seemed to distract my son somewhat. I don't know if you are using a pacifier but if you are, maybe that would soothe him while he's in the car? Also make sure it's adjusted correctly, not too tight, not too loose, and that the shoulder straps aren't up too high.

This may sound obvious, but have you readjusted the threading of the straps? They should come over the shoulders, once he grows past them he may just simply be uncomfortable. Or he just may not like riding in the car, I babysit an infant like that and he finally grew out of the screaming in the carseat around three or four months. My daughter did go through something like that briefly too. They do get over it eventually! Hang in there and enjoy your beautiful boy!
Jenny

My kids were the same way at first. One day my son cried for a half hour while I drove across town to a birthday party. I was by myself, so there wasn't much I could do to help him.

The only thing that really worked was me singing and talking to them. I started singing, "If you're happy and you know it," one day and that was it. This song calmed my son down instantly and everytime he cried after that I would start to sing and he would stop. When my daughter started doing the same thing we tried it again and it worked.

have your tried toys or snacks? i haveto put a large towel on the seat before i strap in my grandson because he always has tons of food. i bought a storage bag that originally goes behind the seat at pep boys. i put velcor on it and it is attached to the back of the seat in fornt of the car seat so that he can reach into it and get toys our. it has different compartments so i can put a sippy cup inone and crackers or other snacks . trying to get the stuff out really entertains him and he keeps busy. but he knows how to undo his car seat and that really scares me so i have started leaving the base out and strapping him directly with the seat belt at least he cant undo that one yet. it is hard for me to undo the crotch clip but he knows how to do it. i was driving one day and i felt something pull my hair and he was kneeling in the seat facing the front. i thought it was a fluke so it put him back in and he undid it again. so i stoppped the car andwatche dhim and he wiggles out of the shoulder straps then he pushes the crothch clip until it pops and he is free. also havign to tape his diapers or put them on backwards becuse he takes his clothes off and rips the diaper off . i wonder how long itll be before he figures that one out. i try to keep him in overalls during the day but at night he take hispjs off. its gettinc colder soim going to have to put him in footie pjs but he loves zippers so i know those are coming off too.

One of my kids did that. Turned out that his hips were out of alignment. It took me three or four months to figure it out. After a quick and gentle adjustment from our chiropractor he never screamed in the car again. Poor guy was just in pain. I seems that the position that the carseat forced his hips into was painful to him.

oh yes.... my now 4 1/2 month old is getting better about that. She just hated it... couldn't fall asleep in there and so if she was tired (which is about all the time when they are so little) she'd just scream her little head off! Anyways, if you are in a car.. this helped me a lot. I tried (and am still trying) the pacifer but without much luck in the car. I put the baby behind the passenger seat and then you can reach with one arm (you might have to push up on your toes :)) and stick your little finger (making sure you've cut your nail all the way) in his mouth to suck on and that should calm him down enough to fall asleep... or you can repeat. Hope this helps! Either way I think he will grown out of it.

ps I have a mirror to be able to see her which I think helps her too because she now loves to look at herself

pps I just remembered... I would play the radio really loud and that worked super good!

My son did the same thing for a while. I remember the first time we drove across town with no screaming (about 15 minutes in the car) I started to wonder if something was wrong.

We got one of those mirrors that you can hook to the back of the seat when the car seat is rear facing. He enjoyed looking at himself and also figured out that he could see me. The mirror was one of those Fisher Price ones with lights and music that I could turn on from a remote control. At first we used that feature a lot and then after a while it wasn't necessary. By the time he was about 4 months old he began to be OK in the car consistently.

Honestly, we didn't take him many places by car when he was that young so he was only in the car once or twice a week. When a friend had a similar issue with her older daughter, she made sure to take her younger daughter somewhere in the car at least 3 or 4 times a week so she would be used to being in the car at different times of day. More car trips may help too, if you haven't been going out much.

Good luck. You will all get through this stage.

Oh my, memories! My first son, who is 5 now, screamed every time we were in the car for the first 4.5 months. We never figured out why but it eventually petered out. He was the same in that he could be in the carseat without problem until the seat was in the car, then bammo.
I took to sitting in the backseat when my husband and I were together and trying to distract him. It worked a lot of the time.
Good luck!

MS. L.,

My son was the same.. this might sound crazy.. i used an
Andre Bocceli CD, - worked like a charm.., try soothing music, jazz station, sun visor.. the whole 9 - :0) they also have those mirrors that you can hook to the back seat - so you can see his face.. probably pick on up at a second hand store.. or send me your info - i will find ours and give it to you... best wishes..

Hi L.,

My daughter (now 10 months) also HATED riding in the car. The second she was in there, she was a mess until we got her out. We felt so bad for her, but couldn't stay home. We tried everything to help her. Finally one day we were driving, and she was crying hysterically so we had to do something. After trying several things with no avial we thought "what the heck, let's take out the base and just strap her to the seat." No kidding, she instantly stopped crying.

Being the mommy that I am, I was worried it wasn't safe enough. So we stopped by the fire department and they said she was fine. The base is mostly for convienience (sp) and as long as the seat was in there correctly we were good to go.

She is now in a regular car seat (24lbs is too heavy for the infant seat!) and loves it.