Toddler cries constantly in car seat.

[SophieGR]

We just got a child car seat for the first time. We don't own a car but are using my mum's car during lockdown. Yesterday we put our 15 month old daughter in the car seat and took a 10 minute drive to some local woods for a walk. She cried loudly the entire way. On the way back she started crying as soon as we put her in the seat and didn't stop til we got home. She also threw up. She seemed as if she was scared as she was shaking. We checked that the straps weren't too tight. We also tried distracting her with singing, videos on the phone, talking gently, feeding her and holding her hand. Nothing worked. We're now panicking that we won't be able to drive her anywhere when we need to. She has been in a car a few times previously but until now she was always in a backwards facing seat. She was fine in the car previously for about an hour before she would start crying. Does anyone have any ideas about what we can do to calm our daughter in the car?

Was she sick because she was crying so much or do you think it was motion sickness?

We think it's because she was crying because we hadn't even moved the car by that point.

Try bringing the car seat in the house, let her play with it, put her teddies etc in it. It's probably a very strange concept to be strapped in like that as she's never had it before.

Okay, thanks. We'll give that a try!

I also found that my LO (we also do not have a car but went on holidays on one) preferred to sit facing the direction of travel rather than facing backwards (I am not sure what age is recommended for this). My LO was very young when we travelled and he hated the car seat. For short journeys (under 10mins) he was in my lap. There.

Thanks for your replies everyone. KatyB222 we tried what you suggested and I think it's working! We've been able to do a few short drives with my daughter without too much crying. Once she was a bit more used to seeing the car seat at home and playing with it, we put it in the car and put her in, then gave her a toy and snacks and we chatted with her. We waited a few minutes until she calmed down and only then started to move. After a few very short drives she is much much better. Phew! Thanks again for your help!