Hating the car - does it ever get better?!

[Rosebud1302]

My baby is nearly 9 months and has never been great in the car. He gets fed up very quickly and starts this awful shouting/yelling/crying which I find so incredibly distracting. He has different toys, I chat to him as much as I can, there is music on but every car journey ultimately ends up him losing it and it makes me not want to go anywhere!!! I absolutely dread any journey longer than half an hour which makes going to visit family quite stressful. I don't think it is pain as he has moments of playing babbling away and will nap, it genuinely looks like he just hates being restrained and wants out as he tries to throw himself forward while shouting!

For people who have experienced this, did it eventually improve with age?? Any ideas that may help?

Thanks in advance! :)

My DC had reflux so tipping the seat into that laid back position was awful, we made sure we didn't feed DC a bottle or give any food before a journey and it helped.

So did a higher car seat so DC could see out of the windows and be nosey as did nursery rhyme CDs (not the creepy Mothercare ones sung by adults but children who are regular kids singing, DC loves joining in with me and the CD).

@Rosebud1302

There was one was from the Early Learning Centre - with 'The Wheels on the Bus' and other such delights! That might even have been the name of the CD itself. I got one or two others after that - all just nursery rhyme type songs, with the odd 'pop' song (dreadful cover) thrown in. Yes, they drove me bonkers, but it was worth it.

Mine was a car hater from birth, who had a period of being fine for a few months, then developed car sickness which is entirely unpleasant for all of us.

Thanks all. I will take a look at CDs. Hopefully the new bigger car seat will help. I have a feeling it may help slightly as I can tell he hates being so reclined as he tries to sit up but obviously can't.

Moving to a forward facing seat was a game changer for my DS. Yours may be a bit young to do that and I know you're not meant to but it's the relative risk vs the risk of driving while distracted by the screaming that I would consider.

@coffeeforone I'm starting to agree with this definitely. I think I will try other options first, including CD and a new car and car seat but if still no change I will have to move him forward facing. Like you say it's so dangerous when I can't concentrate because he is so upset!

My DD also went through this phase. I second PPs who said that moving into a higher-up and forward-facing seat helped. (We did that at 21 months). Also:

1. we timed longer drives to start right before her usual nap time, to maximize the time she dozed in the car

2. we brought lots of touch-and-feel books for her to flip through (similar principle to Netflix except we don’t have a tablet, and I think anyway that the cartoon music would drive me crazier than the screaming!)

@UpToMyElbowsInDiapers the books are a really good idea. I think he is too young still to keep hold of them that's the only problem. Things get dropped a lot and I can see him then screaming because he can't get his book back 😂🙄 great idea for the future though

@Rosebud1302 there are other things you can try before trying forward facing if you'd prefer. The Facebook group 'Car Seat Advice UK' has posts with lists of ideas. Afraid as it's not an issue we had the only one i can remember is taking the rear headrest out and putting a shade on the side windows - to force then into looking straight ahead (for them) and not sideways.

I had to sing “how much is that doggy in the window” on loop without pausing for breath on every cay journey for about a year. If you manage to get them to sleep, for God’s sake don’t risk stopping for eg petrol or traffic lights! I remember it being very stressful but it’s ok, you’ll be laughing about it together in around 7 years!