13 week old dd2 screaming in the car

[onepieceoflollipop]

Anyone else experienced this? dd1 (like most babies I know) used to either sleep or "chill out" in the car.

dd2 hates it, she has now started to go rigid and scream as soon as we put her in the seat as she know she is going in the dreaded car. Even if she is tired she tends to scream on and off for the first 10-15 minutes of a journey, then has a rest and starts screaming again or (rarely) drops off to sleep if we are very lucky.

I have to use the car to take her sister to preschool and I do try and avoid unneccessary car journeys. However she is not a big fan of her pushchair either (yells a lot in there too.)

We have tried putting her toy arch over the car seat and on a good day she will play with it for a few minutes - then yells. I sometimes sit with her if dh is driving but makes very little difference.
This sounds really pathetic but is stressing me out now.

Our DD has been like this since a similar sort of age to yours. It's rough and there is nothing you can do. We've tried different toys but nothing works. We are waiting for ours to be big enough to go in a forward facing seat because we think it's the seat doing it.

So no advice but sympathies. You are not alone.

Hello - yes my ds has been like this too, especially around that age. He hated car and push chair equally and it was very annoying, as you do kind of hope they will fall asleep on such journeys !
He's now 6 mo and is mostly fine in car seat (loves forward facing ones) and pretty much ok in buggy too, unless I push it too far and he's in too long !
I think of it as intelligence - they are obviously bored just sat there, which must show their brain is ticking away ok !

Thanks for your words of comfort.
I said to dh only this morning that I think we may have to wait until she is big enough for the next size car seat so she can look forwards!

I feel sorry for her as I don't leave her to cry in the house but unless we keep stopping the car I have to leave her to cry and it makes me feel quite anxious and sick. It's genuine tears rolling down her face. If we stop the car it only prolongs things because as soon as we put her back it starts up again with a vengeance.

A cross little bundle of gorgeousness.

Does she drink from a bottle or a cup ? At 3 mo ds would have water in cup, and that helped sometimes, I would just lean over and hold it for him. Or lean over and let him suck my finger ! It will pass though. Well, maybe !

Thanks chankins that reminded me I was considering using the dummy which she usually only looks for at sleep times. Will try dummy tomorrow. Usually I b/f but she will take occasional bottle of ebm so a good tip for longer journeys.

My dd was exactely the same. She is now 13 months and all I can say is that once she was forward facing she became much happier - I think it is just the boredom thing. We did buy one of those mirrors that you attach to the back seat opposite them so that you can see them and they can see you in the rear-view mirror - that did help. You can get them from John Lewis, mothercare etc. We still haven't braved the 2 hour journey to see my family because she hated even going 10 mins down the road! Now she is forward facing though I think we will try this Christmas. All I can say is just bear with it! Good luck! x

We had/have same problem with our DD (now 20 weeks) - it helped alot when we removed the newborn support (we have a Maxi Cosi) - I guess she'd been feeling a bit squashed up. Also bought a mirror/entertainment thing - pointless. Now she seems to be ok in the mornings but driving in the afternoon or eves is still a no go. If we coincide departure with the exact moment of her need to drop off, then we're ok. It helps if we play her favourite song over and over and over and over... So, no answers, except if you're still using a newborn support, try taking it out.