Born with cord around her neck and now HATES being strapped into a pushchair or car seat

[pickie]

Our DD 2.7 has never been a good traveller whether in the car, bus (never dared taking her on the plane due to the screaming and spitting)or strapped in the pushchair. She always fights to get out and most harnesses she will get out.

We tried lots of different things but I think she doesnt like to be restriced in her movement(she never sits still for very long)

A friend of mine asked how her birth was, explained straight forward homebirth in the bath but she had the cord around her neck and was understandibly so very upset when born. She reckons this might have something to do with the not wanted to be 'tied' down as she is perhaps scared and gets freightened when strapped in.

Do you have any similar experiences or any thought about this matter would be very welcome! Also possible solutions as have no idea how to get around this one

I wonder if trying craniel osteopathy may help, she may be "tight" around her neck which may actually be very uncomfortable for her when harnessed in.

My other thought is take her for testing for delayed reflexes which is via a developmental therapist. My dd3 had terrible sleeping issues and poor gross co-ordination and the DT helped hugely with these things.

ds was also but, the odd spell as a toddler aside, never had a problem with straps. If anything is the opposite ! Sounds like a red herring to me. Some kids are simply more compliant than others, regardless

my MIL says that her firstborn had the cord round his neck when he was born, and he ended up being delivered by crash section. she said he hated wearing polo necks or anything like that as a child, and she thinks it is to do iwth his birth!

don;t know if it is or not, but certainly interesting thought.

she might just be a really active child who cannot bear to made to be still!

my other thought is how tight was the cord, mine have it had loosely wrapped around but not enough to be a concern IYSWIM

thanks CC, good point re cranial therapy. As she was born rather quickly she had indeed problems with her neck (couldnt latch onto my left breast) and cranial osteopathy solved this completely.

Might be a good one to go back and now you mention it her sleeping used to be great but now she sleeps very little for a 2 year old (8-9 hours over a 24 period)

Thanks for all the replies!

CC She was purply when she came out so assume rather tight.

Lulumama I tend to agree with you that she could just be a really active child but I really like to go places (especially as my parents live in Holland)but it is just too stressful. DS who is also a very active child has no problem whatsoever with travelling..

fwiw ds1 was born with cord round neck,heartbeat v low and was blue when born, took 2 mins to get him breathing properly again. he suffered no ill effects and was and still is very placid. dd1 however is the exact opposite! No stressful birth but a very demanding stubborn awkward child! Yours could be a bit of personality and also maybe problems from birth.
Has she always travelled badly?

Never met a child who didn't hate polonecks tbh! I always wonder why they make them for small children.

Mine all went through phases of trying to escape pushchair and carseat harnesses. It was a struggle to get them into their pushchairs at times. I'd let them walk at the side and hold on to the pushchair and then they could get in when they were ready/tired. Not an option with the carseat. I just assumed it was a phase.

Frazzled, no she travelled ok until approx 16 months and then it started. And totally agree she has a very strong personality which is becoming more and more obvious the older she gets. Oh yes I do look forward to puberty

I tend to think its a personality thing as she travelled fine up until 16 months. I have 4dc who are all different personalities. dd1, aged 8 is just such hard work. Every day is a battle, nothing i do makes any difference, she is just strong willed. I tend to think your dd is the same. She probably picks up on your anxieties, she knows how to play you. I don't mean that horribly, i just speak through experience! I think probably your first port of call is not to shout, scold, or over react. Try going for walk in pushchair, strapped in, just down your street and back. Build up slowly from there.

i hthink you arae overanalysign

all my boys hated being in car seats etc

My brother was born with the cord round his neck, got stuck, was purple/blue etc and didn't react like this iirc. I think your dd is just a being a todder tbh!!

However, for many years he had a mild recurring ache in his arm/shoulder which disappeared after a couple of sessions at an osteopath's. She suggested it was possible caused by his birth too.

completely agree, not the type to overanalyse but thought it sounded plausible iyswim.

She certainly knows how to play us! Might do a reward chart for car journeys as this stickers tend to work!

I also think that active children simply don't like being strapped in; neither of my children sit there compliently in their pushchairs.

Both children were also very active when I was pregnant with them - and I'm wondering if it's because of that dd2 had the cord wrapped twice around her neck - she simply turned so much in my womb she got a bit 'tangled' - she was fine though, because the cord wasn't tight.

both mine hated the straps on a pushchair, and escaped, although they both had straightforward births, we put it down to not liking feeling restricted, (like DH and myself!) We always used the reins/harness in the pushchairs (the things from mothercare etc, cost about £5 but come with anchors for the D rings in pushchairs, highchairs etc) from about 3/12, and it was always preferred. In addition too if you have a daredevil at the playground/stroppy child, just hold by the harness as a safety handle, or pick up!

As for car seats, she'll just have to learn. Have you tried short journeys & a reward if she stays strapped in properly, then increasing the journey time? She's def old enough to understand that...! bribery is great in that kinda situation to reinforce a message!

my dd of six months cannot stand being strapped into her car seat, she freaks out every time you put her in it and have to pick it up and keep her moving!

once in the car its even worse! if the car stops she screams and when she has been in the seat for more than 20 mins, she cries hysterically! the only thing i can do to stop her is to out on one particular song on my phones walkman!!!!

this happened to a family members child and the only time it stopped was when they swapped the rear facing seat to a front facing seat!

I was born with cord around my neck several loops and I hate anyone or thing touching my neck. I feel a bit panicy.

I watched a programme a while ago about a little girl who had problems with some of these issues, it was called the child psychic or something. Anyway the woman believed that she could communicate with the children, one of which had a problem like this, and one of the issues the little girl had was that when she was strapped into her pushchair she couldnt see mummy, as she was facing a crowd of people, very scary for a lo, to be wheeled into a crowd, she changed her buggy so she was facing mum and this helped. Does anyone remember that programme, as the changes really worked for the lo?

sorry to be random, but i remember thinking some of the changes that were made were very clever.

DD was the same in car and pushchair, (wasn't born with cord around her neck), she would go rigid, scream till she was purple. I solved the problem in the car by putting on lots of music that she liked and, as she got older, letting her choose it. Now (age 4)she can't wait to get in the car and she has story books on CD e.g. Charlie and Lola. This is a double edge sword on a long journey as after a couple of hours of Bob the builder etc it's ME who wants to scream and get out of the car!