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Original poster

Car seat hysteria

18 replies

Koogers · 25/07/2010 23:05

My dd is 12 weeks old and we are having a real problem with the car seat. She is normally a happy chilled out baby but as soon as she goes in the car seat she becomes hysterical-screaming non stop til I pick her up where she stops crying immediately. It's not that she doesn't like being put down as she's happy in the bouncer, play gym etc. I tried making it cooler/ warmer in the car, had someone sat next to her tring to distract her but nothing works! It is making driving anywhere a stressful experience and I hate hearing her do upset and not being able to do anything about it!! Any suggestions?!

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insertwittynicknameHERE · 25/07/2010 23:09

No suggestions sorry didn't want you to go unanswered though.

My dd2 who is almost 1yo hates her car seat (or any car seat for that matter) with a passion and will scream for the whole journey.
Not good when we have to travel to a hospital that is almost 3 hours away from us for her health!!

I will be watching this thread for advice

notimetoshop · 25/07/2010 23:21

as you say, no great suggestions. They hate facing backwards. but it's not too long until they can go forwards (i think 9 months?) it feels ages at the time tho. used to drive on tenterhooks.

missedith01 · 25/07/2010 23:23

Is your daughter OK in the car seat outside of the car? I wonder if it's the seat itself or the seat + being inside the car ... I only ask because we've got two car seats (a chicco which we bought and a britax which was given to us) and they're quite a bit different in shape ... I wuld say the britax is significantly more roomy.

My son (16w) hates being in the car in his regular car seat, always has. We bought a travel system with a carry cot that is actually a legal car seat up to 10kgs and he's been OK in and out of the car in that until recently ... now he's starting to enjoy sitting up and seeing what goes on so he doesn't like the carry cot outside the car but he's OK with it in the car whereas he'll be wheeled about in the car seat outside the car but doesn't like it when it's in the car. We've just had to chop and change and try different things with him, and hope he'll get used to the car seat being in the car before he reaches 10kgs.

BertieBotts · 25/07/2010 23:36

insertwittynickname, have you tried one of the Kiddy seats (or I think mamas and papas do one) with the impact shields instead of a harness?

OP have you tried singing to her? That was the only thing that calmed DS down in the car sometimes. Other than that yes try different seats if you can - maybe she is uncomfortable? Some babies though unfortunately just hate the baby seats and aren't happy until they are in the more upright seats. My mum said I was in a forward facing seat as soon as I could sit up as going backwards made me travel sick!

You can get carrycots which are legal for use in cars, but I wouldn't use any except the Britax babysafe sleeper. Sorry missedith, I don't mean to alarm you, but normal carrycots are much less safe than proper car seats. Of course a carrycot is much better than nothing, but there were serious concerns about them a few years ago and the only one which has improved significantly in design since then is the Britax one.

If she wants to be more upright rather than more laid back, how about trying a combination seat like the Britax First Class - it's rear facing until 13kg or can go forward facing from minimum 9kg (best to leave them rearfacing as long as possible though) and then turns forward facing and should last until she is big enough for a high backed booster seat.

They need somewhere you can borrow different kinds of car seat for a test drive before you buy!

onadietcokebreak · 25/07/2010 23:37

no real advice except may try a rearfacing fixed seat if you can. Maybe she hates not seeing out of window? Also try getting one of those mirrors so she can see herself.

Also please dont be in a huge rush to put her forward facing. It actually isnt good for them www.rearfacing.co.uk

onadietcokebreak · 25/07/2010 23:40

x posts with bertie botts...the britax first class was the seat I meant too. It really is a good seat if it fits your car properly (doesnt fit mine rear facing as too unstable)

Have you got any friends you could borrow one from?

insertwittynicknameHERE · 26/07/2010 08:20

I have a brio zento car seat for both of mine so that they can go rear facing for as long as possible. I don't like them to be forward facing if I can help it TBH.
But the brio can also be forward facing and I have tried DD2 in it forward and she screams just as much TBH.

Bertie Botts, I will have a look into that seat thanks

mum2oneloudbaby · 26/07/2010 08:47

My DD hated her car seat until well over a year by which time she had been in a forward facing car seat for sometime. Now however at 2.7 she is very good.

We think that her reflux was made worse in her rear facing seat which caused bad associations with the car which she has grown out of (this is only a guess)

To distract her we played nursery rhymes and she had some car toys a kick mirror rear facing, dangly things and then an ELC driving wheel when she went forward facing. These all helped loads but the nursery rhymes do drive you mad .

BertieBotts · 27/07/2010 18:25

The Kiddy seat is forward facing, but the impact shield puts less stress on their neck than a harness, so it's sort of in-between for safety if that makes sense. And very good side impact protectin.

insertwittynicknameHERE · 27/07/2010 18:56

Bertie, do you have one for your DC. It is the first time I have seen them and I admit to being a bit when I saw the site.

BertieBotts · 27/07/2010 19:06

Yes, I have one for DS, I think they are brilliant He seems really comfy in it too. He holds his arms out for me to put the cushion bit in place - he seems to like having a little table. Which bit are you confused about?

insertwittynicknameHERE · 28/07/2010 08:02

Does the cushion click in ? what holds it in place. And probably a stoooopid question but in an accident can the child not 'slip' out of the top?

BertieBotts · 28/07/2010 13:47

No, it just slides into place, and the seatbelt holds it. They shouldn't be able to slip out of the top as long as the seatbelt is on tight enough - firstly their legs and hips are held down by the impact shield. The shield can't move up/down as it has solid guides on each side of the seat to stop it moving up or down. The material on the underside of the shield isn't rough (it wouldn't damage clothes) but it's not entirely smooth either so it's not at all easy to slip out of it. There is a cushion in the seat where they sit which adjusts depending on the height/weight of the child to make sure their legs are tight enough under the shield and that they can't slip down underneath it.

I certainly couldn't remove DS from the seat when it is done up without undoing the seatbelt. And if you have a child that takes their arms out of the shoulder straps on a 5-point harness it has to be safer than that as well.

BrightLightBrightLight · 28/07/2010 14:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

sheeplikessleep · 28/07/2010 14:21

will watch with interest. ds2 is exactly the same, screams his little heart out. we've tried distracting, singing, toys, mirror, sheepskin rug etc etc etc. still he screams. smiles as soon as out of seat.

i've resigned myself to the fact no long car journeys until he stops crying. family who live far away don't believe us and just think we are making excuses / not being "firm" enough or we are "giving into him". pisses me right off

insertwittynicknameHERE · 31/07/2010 22:45

Wow bertie they sound a bit fab, I may have to persuade DH to get one lol.

elvislives · 01/08/2010 10:52

My DD screamed on every single car journey in her rear-facing seat We had a different seat in each of our cars and got the same reaction in both.

We moved her to a FF seat as soon as she reached the right weight and was able to sit up on her own (before the recommended 9-12 months), and the screaming stopped.

Having read all the safety info on RF seats I wish we could have kept her RF for longer but the traveling was becoming a nightmare.

Buzzybb · 01/08/2010 12:07

I will second Bertie's advice re the kiddy seat we have them and they are fab esp as there are no harness for them to wriggle out off when they are older, both of mine are very happy in them but when I put my niece [1yr 4m old] she gets very confused and can spend the car journey trying to find straps to wriggle out of.
Also as they get older they use the impact bar as a little play table for cars to drive on etc.

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