Baby hates car seat! Please help!

[Chumbibi]

My DS 10 weeks HATES his car seat. He must be the only baby who is more stressed in a car seat than out of it 🤣

we have a 5 hour drive to Cornwall coming up in four weeks so really need some tips please! We have the maxi cosi pebble, should we get a different seat?

TIA

Does he hate it full stop or just in the car?

does he hate it sat in it in the living room or only in the car? ie could it be travel sickness?

is the seat stored in the car? Ie has it heated up in this hot weather?

Good questions @Paddingtonsmarmlade yes the seat could have been too hot but even first thing this morning he cried so much when it was cool in the car.

he sometimes cries as soon as he goes in, but we do sometimes get like a 10 minute grace period before he starts up. He goes crazy and will only be calmed when I get him out and cuddle him

I'd try little trips and see if he gets used to it. Can you sit in the back with him if someone else is driving and distract with a toy. If you're driving then I'd go with a toy clipped to the handle of the seat.

when it comes to Cornwall. If it doesn't get a lot better before you go id consider train or plane or driving down very late or early so maybe he'll sleep.

My daughter screamed almost every second she was in the car seat. It was awful. We live rurally so our world got very, very small.

it did get slightly better when we switched from the infant seat to a regular car seat. So that is my advice. Get rid of the baby bucket and get a regular rear facing seat.

My DC both hated the car seat as they had cmpa. We just had to grin and bear it, Calpol before long journeys.

5 hours is going to take so long though as you shouldn't have such a young baby in a car seat for more than an hour or so without a decent break to un-squish.

Is it definitely big enough for him? Mine grew out of his pebble really fast, he was kind of wedged into it and also wailing a lot. Happy as soon as we got a bigger seat where he could move his head and stretch his spine more. Some seats are suitable from birth but have a lot more room than the pebble.

Other things to check

• is his willy squashed by the harness


• is the metal buckle hot and pressing into his skin


• are you letting him have a break from the car seat every hour, as recommended


• Is there a softer surface you can insert, we bought a soft cotton car seat liner on amazon (also good cos easier to wash when baby pukes on it)

You sure you wanna go to Cornwall 😬 we have never taken DC that far because of the drive

My DD hated the car seat. We found an incredibly annoying toy that seemed to distract her. It was a light up VTech wand that played one song, repeatedly. Giving her that, a wrist toy and on of those Baby Einstein soft toys (think it was a donkey or octupus) dangling off the car seat kept her entertained enough to calm down and go to sleep. Life saver on a very, very long journey when she was about 9 or 10 weeks old.

It meant she got used to car seat as well. I may have blocked more from my memory though.

Mine couldn't get her thumb in her mouth with the shoulder strap padding. Removed them and she was happy

I think sometimes they don't like the car seat when they are so young because they can't move about and the trapped wind becomes painful. Try winding him for a while before putting him in it?

The Maxi Cosi Pebble is one of the comfiest and best fitting seats on the market so I doubt it is uncomfortable - the only thing I would say is check it is adjusted correctly for his age/size in terms of harness height and inserts (your manual or the product video will explain this).

Don't add aftermarket products to a car seat as they can affect the fit of the harness and in turn that affects the protection.

Unfortunately it's really common for babies this age to hate the car. He's not the only baby, don't worry! I think they just don't like being restrained and not being held at the same time. They don't understand why they need to be in it! A distracting toy, song, lights etc are all good ideas. Also maybe try to break up the journey and coincide the longest stretches with when he would usually nap as that might mean you get a chunk of sleep which helps. I sat in the back with DS3 last time we did a really long drive too. It didn't really help but it was something.

Try a dummy as well, even if he normally hates it, or a bottle with water (just small amounts) or formula or expressed milk? Don't lean over the seat to breastfeed, though.

My ds needed to hold someone's hand at that age, would scream the place down if he was in the car seat on his own in the back of the car, but was much calmer if I sat next to him and held his hand.

Once he was older, it flipped and he went from hating the car seat, to loving it, was the only place he would fall asleep for a while, if I remember correctly, I think the change was around 6 months, but it was years ago.

Does your ds settle in his pram? Could you look at renting a lie flat car seat for the trip to see if they prefer that?

Do they have anything like white noise/rain sounds etc at home? Could you play something similar in that car if they do.

Are you feeding them in the hope they will sleep for the journey, but not allowing enough time for the feed to settle so they are going in the seat windy?

Hope you work it out and finds something that helps them settle, a grizzly baby is no fun, but also very common, so don't worry, it will pass!

My baby has always hated the car seat. Baby is now 18 months. Still hates it. We avoid taking baby on long journeys or accept we have to give her the iPad to watch. 10 weeks is probably a little young for the iPad though. It’s very trying and has really affected what we’ve chosen to do.

Can you train or fly? That is a very long journey to do with a screaming baby, and you'll have to stop regularly too. If it's five hours of driving normally, I'd say it will take you seven hours

My DD has always always always hated the car seat. The worst journey we did down to Devon I ended up leaning over with my tit out to feed her in the most ridiculous position ever because she was close to vomiting with tears.

Lots of breaks, try and time naps for the driving segments, and worse case scenario i would honestly whack on some Hey Bear on my phone!

Mine was a lot happier when I got a bigger seat.

Remove the covering and make sure nothing is poking him. Also try another car seat.

Sorry but both my kids were like this until they were turned forward which we did at around 15 months old. From then on they were so easy though, we just got back from driving to the south of france, which we did in one (long!) day, with only minimal breaks- they are 5 and 18 months.

Thanks everyone lots of helpful tips here.

I took the insert out (he is a big lad, filling out his 3-6 month clothes) and he didn’t scream! It was only a short journey but still! Also put a Freddie firefly up which he liked.

Also told my husband we are stopping over halfway for Cornwall! Otherwise too stressful

Get a good album and lots of singing.. Both are still life savers for my 10m/o. In The Night Garden: A Musical Journey is our fave.