My baby is afraid of our new minivan!!

[egoldber]

We just bought a new minivan to replace my car. It has the power sliding doors on both sides. I have my 12 month old DD in the passenger side captain's chair. Everytime I put her in the carseat now, she cries! And when she sees the sliding doors (especially the one on her side) she really cries! I have tried sitting in back with her and reassuring her while operating the doors, but no help. She cries and even trembles, she is so afraid. It is really heartbreaking. It is a little better if I operate the door manually rather than automatically.

Is this something anyone has heard of? Will she get acclimated to this after a few days? Any other thoughts on how I can help her adjust?

TIA!

[Elaine]

No personal experience to share, but have you tried giving her a "tour" from the outside? Maybe if you show her opening and closing the doors, even letting her hold the handle to help manually and then letting her press the button to operate them automatically, would help her feel she has some control.

[egoldber]

Thanks. After 2 days of screaming and anguish, she magically decided yesterday that the van was no longer a problem. We are all happy again. :)