Help- baby hates car (but not car seat)

[Yuckyyuckyuckity]

Looking for any tips I might be missing. My nearly 6 month old absolutely HATES the car in motion. It's not the car seat, as he's absolutely fine going into the seat. And sometimes I put him in his car seat just before leaving the house while I'm getting the last few bits together (the car seat is in the house BTW, I don't leave him in the car by himself!) and he's his usual happy self so I don't think the seat is the issue.

But once I start driving all hell breaks loose. If he's due a nap it's not so bad as he usually grizzles for a bit then falls asleep. But more often than not he screams and screams non stop. Playing or singing lullabies doesn't help nor does white noise, talking to him or giving him a toy to play with. Even me sitting in the back while DH drives doesn't work unless I put on baby sensory on my phone. We have a 4-5 hour car trip coming up and I'm not sure how we'll cope even with multiple breaks. Has anyone had this and managed to overcome it? I don't think it's motion sickness either, he's never sick and as soon as I get him out of the car he's fine again.

I'm at a loss- I have an older DC who pretty much fell asleep on every car journey before the age of 1 and rarely cried in it, totally took that for granted!

Hopeful bump

Oh dear. Anyone?

Ahh bless him. Honestly he'll probably be someone who gets travel sick when he's older. Some people just get nausea not vomiting.

My baby hated the car and js only just getting better aged 1.

We're strict on screens normally but we got a tablet holder, tablet, downloaded CBeebies shows in it and off we went-- she was much better. The 4-5 hour journey I wouldn't even have attempted but if you have to then just have a big break in the middle, like maybe a national trust place half way for a few hours.

I'd use screens because it's harmful to use screens instead of other stuff, like playing. But in the car if they're just gonna be sitting there screaming and upset it actually becomes beneficial to distract them with screens IMO!

I guess what I'm saying is the research on screens isn't applicable in a car scenario really. So just give them whatever helps.

On a very long journey I let mine have snacks in the car seat but not everyone would be comfortable with that. Only with me sitting next to her while DH drove. Kept her very amused.

Could it be the sensory aspect and /or feeling travel sickness

I wonder if anyone will know what I mean but you could buy a thing to attach to the car to reduce the vibrations

My DD was like this. She's now 3.5 and gets massively car sick every time we go on A-roads for more than an hour or so. As a baby she was never actually sick, just screamed her head off on every journey. Unfortunately most of the car sickness meds you can buy are only suitable for 4+ so we're basically holding out for that! I think it's good advice from PPs to try a screen if you can, or snacks in the car (that sometimes used to work for us). One thing I found was that giving at least 30-60mins between feeding and travelling helped a bit - until we figured out she was carsick I always used to feed her just before we got in the car so she wouldn't go hungry on the journey but I think that made it worse. Commiserations, it sucks!

Could also be boredom from not seeing anything. Or as PP said, nausea without being sick. DD has never been carsick but when she was 6-14 months there was definitely a correlation between curvy roads and crying. We switched to front facing quite early (18months) and the improvement was instant. She would sit quite happily for an hour looking out the window.

We went on a long road trip around 7 months. Not going to lie, parts of it was hell but it helps to be mentally prepared. It coincided with weaning which was tough because she hated getting breastfed in the car and she was thirsty but didn't get the hang of drinking water out of a sippy cup. We had to take lots of breaks and tried to drive during naptimes. Many parents also swear by overnight driving...set off at midnight and have the kids sleep all the way.

I personally feel that screens contribute massively to carsickness? I never get travel sick, but feel nauseous after looking at a mobile screen for less than a minute in a moving vehicle. Airplanes and trains are fine but screens in cars are dodgy. So for DD I have the same rule and encourage her to look out the window or we listen to songs.

One of mine hated the car. It only got better when they went into a forward facing car seat. I know that in some circles that makes me an awful negligent parent but being able to drive and concentrate on the road properly without a distressed child behind me was amazing

DD is 7 has always hated car travel, since being a newborn. It hasn't improved as she's got older, although she can now tell us why.
We adapted our travel and do long distances by train instead, and local journeys on foot or bus/tube.

We had this problem and used screens for the majority of car journeys but it got better for us when DC graduated from the carrier style car seat to the bigger one that stays in the car when she was about 10 months old. Rarely need the dancing fruit now, thankfully!

I'm suffering the exact same thing with my 3 month old. My 3yo always loved the car so this is new to me and totally debilitating as I daren't go anywhere with her! Following for advice!

Thanks for the replies. It helps to know I'm not alone! Unfortunately we can't avoid this long car journey. I'd rather not put a screen in front of a 5.5 month old child for a long journey but if I'm desperate that's just what I'll have to do. He literally only likes one particular hey bear video 😂

I did consider doing the whole middle of the night journey thing so they both (in theory) sleep through but then isn't it pretty bad to not have any breaks for a baby so young?

I think I was hoping for some magical toy solution that I was unaware of or something really obvious I was missing but wishful thinking!

I would plan the journey around nap times. Maybe take DC swimming or something tiring before the journey. Let him sleep in the car. Then i'd plan a stop off at the park on the way let him have a play. Then screen time for the rest of the journey. You can't drive with a screaming child and DC shouldn't spend hours destressed. If screens work I'd absolutely use them.

My eldest get very car sick. We take regular long breaks in our journeys. We usually find a park or wood to have lunch at. She is now 5 and tells us when she needs to stop. We know she's not pissing about because she goes a funny greenish grey colour.

Try dancing fruit on YouTube. All of the children in my family have lived dancing fruit.

Yeah that's what I mean by the Hey Bear baby sensory videos. He only likes the veggie one 😂

I don't think it's a problem not to have breaks for babies once they are a few months old and you are supervising them. So if the night time method works for you I'd just go for it. Can always use the screens if they wake.