Car Seat Woes - Any Advice?

[UKSky]

My DD is now 6 months old. When she was younger she always went to sleep when in the car. Now she is older and not sleeping so much trips in the car have become a nightmare.

She is normally fine on the outward trip but when it comes to getting back in the car, she's fine for about 5 minutes, then she starts crying and then screaming which doesn't stop until she's taken out of her car seat and she stops screaming immediately.

Last week coming home from my Mum's she screamed the whole way home. She was fine until I got on the motorway and then started screaming. Unfortunately it's a long bit of motorway with no junctions or services for half an hour. Stopped at the first place we came to which was a service station and she had screamed so much she had made herself sick. Got her changed and we stopped for half an hour to settle her down. But once we got going again she just started screaming again.

I've tried with and without a toy for distraction. Got a mirror so I can see her.

We go to the inlaws about every 6 weeks and it's a 3 1/2 hour trip. Last weekend was unbearable. Even if I sit in the back she still screams. We stopped regularly, took her out of the car and then out of her seat. Had a cup of tea, put her back in her car seat and she was quite happy. After about half an hour the screaming started again.

The seat is in the back on an Isofix system but I have even tried putting the seat in the front with the seatbelt and this doesn't help either.

I know there is nothing physically wrong, and she is normally a very happy, contented baby. I can't leave her to cry as she just won't stop, she just makes herself sick.

Anyone got any ideas as to why she could be doing this and what I could try to help. Is she just bored? Scared? (I do talk to her all the time).

Any help would be great as trips in the car are not pleasant for either DD or myself.

music in the car? Childrens rhymes? Or some comforter/ dummy? Im not much use as my dd always fell asleep in the car the min I put the radio on!!!

My DD1 did this almost from birth on every single car journey. She screamed through a 3 hr trip to in-laws too and all the way back.

It's a living hell and makes it hard to concentrate on driving. In the end our GP gave us a mild sedative to use in long journeys because of the safety aspect.

She was a very early talker and at 18mths started to say her tummy hurt in the car. This was usually followed closely by vomiting. That's when we cottoned on that she was feeling travel sick.

If your DD is the same a high car seat which allows her to see out of the window may well help. It also may be worth looking into what age you can use travel sickness tablets. Ask your GP as they often say you can use things sooner than pharmacists do.

My son has been a bit like this, not so bad but we have managed to avoid overly long journeys so maybe he would be as bad. Any chance you could take the train to visit in laws, thats what I have started doing where possible, makes journeys much easier. I also put baby in the front of the car, give him baby cookies or toast to eat and have to listen to Disney cds non stop. These all help but if he is in the wrong mood or has just been in the car too lon g nothing really helps, he will just scream. I think realistically 3 1/2 hours is maybe just too long to be cooped up in car for so maybe you now have a good excuse not to visit in laws , maybe they could come and visit you. Oh I did think about getting an in car dvd player for distraction even tho we dont let baby watch tv at all at home. Have not done that yet though. Hope you get some more helpful advice