My baby hates the car!

[firsttimemummy2109]

Does anyone else have this problem?? My 6mo HATES the car, he will just scream, it's not too bad if someone is with me and can occupy him but if I'm on my own it's just awful.

I've got him in a front facing seat in hope that it would improve if he could see more but it didn't work. He can also get quite agitated in the pram but I can't carry him everywhere - he's quite a big baby!

Does anyone have any advice or tips for making car journeys less stressful?? Thanks in advance x

I presume he's back in the rear facing seat, way to early to be front facing but I appreciate it would be more dangerous for your driving to be messed up from the screaming.

Has he always been like this? Does he suffer from reflux or anything? Does he play independently at home without you directly engaging him?

Could or have you tried a blackout cover over him in the pram or car?
Or having toys hanging down for him to play with?

Unfortunately no proper advice from me as I have similar problem but just so you know that I can relate... DS is turning 6m tomorrow and generally just gets agitated in car seat after a very short period - I actually did my first "solo" car journey on Monday as until now I'd been anxious about not having someone at the back to entertain/distract him.
Thankfully the trip to friend's house went fine because I timed it so he was pretty exhausted both there and back hence fell asleep. I appreciate there won't always be that luxury to time it around naps so will be watching this thread for tips. I've bought a mothercare car toy that can be attached to seat (it has steering wheel etc so as he grows more aware it can be like he's driving - need to put batteries in so can't comment on how good it is) but part of me questions whether the car seat is just rubbish and uncomfortable. I have the one that attaches to graco evo travel system - tips on cosy next car seat would be appreciated (sorry OP for hijacking question )

I just turned the radio up and lived with the screaming. DD1 hated the car seat from 9 months onwards. Once we switched to an extended rear facing seat at 17 months she was fine. It is far higher and she gets a great view out of the rear windscreen.

My 6mo is the same. He is rear facing. Have the iPad mounted on the seat. He watches David Attenborough documentaries. Quiet as a mouse. He falls asleep after a while.

I know driving with a screaming baby is stressful (dd2 went through that delightful phase at around 4mo) but please turn your baby back around to rearface - a 6mo does not have the neck strength to support their head in an accident and that could prove fatal . What does he weigh? Extended rear facing seats or group 0+/1 combination seats are larger than infant carriers which may help, whilst still keeping him safe.

When dd2 did the crying in the car thing I found putting her next to me in the front (airbags off) kept her happier. It didn't last long luckily and she's been back in the back for a long while now, she's 2 and still rear facing.

Thanks guys, I didn't realise you could have rear facing for older babies, he is over 10kg and had outgrown the seat he had. Why do companies sell forward facing seats if they are not safe!!! Grrrrrr!

He has lots of toys, nothing really works. Maybe I should try the iPad! And he is quite happy to play at home on his own with toys! I just hate when people suggest taking him for a drive to get him to sleep - they have no idea how much he hates it!!!

We have a Britax Dualfix - it's not a cheap seat but it's a really good seat - really safe, swivels for easy access, and rear faces until 18kg. It's suitable from birth. There are cheaper options if you are keen to change to an extended rear facing seat - look into the Joie Stages or Hauck Varioguard. If you head over to the car seats topic you'll get good advice.

The lack of information out there about rear facing in this country is shocking but things are improving slowly fortunately. I put dd1 (now 6) forward facing at 12mo because I wasn't aware of the safety implications but I intend to keep dd2 rear facing for as long as I can.

Thank you so much for the advice thecolddoesbothermeanyway! I really appreciate it! Off to do better research!