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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

6mo HATES the car. Very long drive ahead. Help!!

16 replies

Flowerface · 18/05/2010 18:58

6 month old DD screams blue murder in the car. I think she finds the sitting position of the seat uncomfortable - it is quite a banana-shaped one (but there's no way we can afford another...). She is also a VERY active and wriggly little person, always rolling over and kicking, so I think she dislikes being constrained.

We have a lot of driving to do next week - three days worth. We'll stop every two hours or so, but does anyone have any hints for survival? The screaming can be VERY furious and persistent - it makes us feel as though we're losing our minds at times...

Thanks!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

bamboobutton · 18/05/2010 19:00

if you can do most of your driving at night.

get dd into her jammies and set off at bedtime.
we made several long journies this way and was bliss as ds fell asleep and stayed asleep.

sarah293 · 18/05/2010 19:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

DaydreamDolly · 18/05/2010 19:05

Nursery rhymes on the cd player, baby biscuits to nibble.
DD (10 months) also hates the car, it's only the nursery rhymes that work for us.
I feel your pain!
Is she any better if one of you sits in the back with her?

AccidenToryOnPurpose · 18/05/2010 19:05

yep. it's the only way. you have to become nocturnal.
feed/ night time routine as normal (the full shebang - bath/sleepsuit etc. then strap in, and drive.
we made many many glasgow-south nocturnal dashes. with a few 'omg, i've been parked in this service station for an hour trying to soothe this child' false starts.

this too shall pass. by the time she hits about 4, then you can pacify with an in-car dvd. pref with headphones. there's only so many times you can sing 'old macdonald' in a six hour period.

AccidenToryOnPurpose · 18/05/2010 19:08

that said - i made a germany/uk trip leaving at midnight with dd1 (fished her out of cot and strapped her in lol) - she woke up briefly on the ferry and i fed her, and then she went back to sleep, almost until we got to g'mas for breakfast

the way back was none too clever. autobahn was closed and we went on an enormous diversion for four additional hours. awful, stuck in crawling traffic with a screaming hungry baby and nowhere to pull off. last time i do an international drive on my own with a tot, i tell you.

LynetteScavo · 18/05/2010 19:09

You've identified yourself that the car seat isn't comfy for her...I would sooo be looking into buying another one.

Rice cakes can work wonders, as can Mozart.

Original poster

Flowerface · 18/05/2010 20:14

Sadly, we are totally broke. Having forked out 200 quid for one car seat, we are stuck with it. And I think that's only 50% of the problem. The train would be better but we are going for a month - we need a lot of stuff!

Seems to make no diff whether I am next to her or not. In many ways it seems to make her even crosser - "why aren't you taking me out????!!!!"

OP posts:

HappyTangerine · 18/05/2010 20:52

My ds is exactly the same, now 32 weeks and has always hted the car. We go from N West to South Wales once a month to see my family and the only way we get through it is by me being in the back with him and lots of books and singing. Books he can interact with - particularly lift the flap books and ones he can bash/squeak. Night driving doesn't work for us as he has a meltdown if he can't see my face.

LynetteScavo · 18/05/2010 20:54

Thank you for this thread. It's put me off having another baby.

MoonFaceMama · 18/05/2010 21:10

no advice but sympathy. We have a long drive ahead too and ds 13 wks is not in love with his car seat. He seems to really slump in it and slide down . Friends one is just as bad. Also can't afford another. Would ebay and get a different one but it's on loan as it is. Are there any comfy ones out there? Ours is a gracco.

Think it may be a midnight flit as suggested!

Hope you are your lo have a safe and comfortable journey.

Ewe · 18/05/2010 21:20

My DD hates the car too and is only just starting to get better - at the age of two - it's a nightmare!

Things we do: Lots of snacks, fruit etc. Music, preferably things that they are already familiar with. I am not sure when we introduced it but episodes of Peppa Pig or Something Special on iPhone work well. A mirror was usually handy, interactive toys like pretend laptops, textured things - a bag of feathers was a hit on way to France last year, keys, old mobile phones, a balloon.

Obviously trying to time it so that they nap as much as possible is pretty important. I doubt a different car seat would make a difference as at that age they are all pretty squishy banana shaped contraptions.

Where are you driving that is taking 3 days?

AccidenToryOnPurpose · 19/05/2010 02:24

Are there two of you in the car? Driving mostly at night would seem sensible - you could split the driving and doze alternately, pull up for a break/ motel stop at dawn and take it in turns to catch some zzzzs and occupy the small one.

If it's not practical, you're just going to have to grit your teeth and go for it with plenty of stops. Kill or cure . I bet she'll be a dream and you'll spend the whole summer making pointless road trips to keep her quiet...

Hopefully the destination will make it all worthwhile

BertieBotts · 19/05/2010 02:41

I never thought it would work, but singing seemed to calm DS down. Especially songs with a "surprise" in like Row row row your boat (crocodile version). We made up our own "Surprises" in different songs like adding sound effects to "We went to the Animal Fair". He also inexplicably loved "One man went to mow" for ages.

If you think she is uncomfortable in the banana shaped () car seat you could possibly think about getting one of the Group 0+1 seats which is rearfacing for her age group, and turns forward facing when she gets to 13kg. DS has a Britax First Class which he goes in in his Dad's car. It's more of a sitting up position and it's quite high in the car so she might like that. It also reclines if they want to sleep. It's usually on offer somewhere for about £99 as they keep changing the colour of the covers, and the old colour is sold off cheaper (God knows why anyone would care!) and it would last her until she is about 4, so would be a good investment.

heth1980 · 19/05/2010 07:33

I have no words of avice, just wanted to say that we are in the same situation! DD1 (now 2.2) was exactly the same and DD2 (3 months) is in the middle of it now......she absolutely hates to sit in anything and wants to lie flat all the time. The turning point with DD1 was when she went in a forward facing seat. I'm afraid for us it's just one of those things we have to put up with......she's too young to be entertained by books etc. we're just restricting the long drives for a couple of months (hard as both sets of grandparents are a 2.5 hr drive away) or trying to make them co-incide with nap time so we can at least do half the journey in peace and quiet.

MoonFaceMama · 19/05/2010 08:15

Thanks for the tip off re the car seat bertie . Will defo look in to that, was lurking hoping someone might have a suggestion along those lines!

flowerface you mention the train. Could you get train wit dc and someone else drive car with stuff in? Guess you would have thought of that if it was possible.

Animal fair is v popular in our car too. Yellow bird did the trick other day as well. Think it's that element of suprise (or shift in key or tempo or summat) that catches the attention, tempered by the soothingness of singing so it doesn't freak them out too much iyswim. But i do tend to sing all sorts of nonsense to ds so poor lad's used to singing which prob helps.

Lozario · 19/05/2010 11:54

My ds is the same but a lot better now in a more "grown-up" seat (forward facing) and is a lot better. Still niggles occasionally so we have rice cakes, songs, toys, Ella's pouches...!! People say to us, "how strange, our babies ALWAYS slept in the car...." Grrrrrr!!!!

ds has slept on his tummy since he could roll so maybe he's just not comfy on his back like that...

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