S/O: Did you infant HATE the car seat?

[JMS]

DS2 is almost 4 months old. He's actually fine in the car seat when I buckle him in it in the house (Chicco Keyfit). But he starts screaming as soon as I attach it to the base and shut the car door. My gut is that he doesn't like not being able to see me. We are really never in the car more then 5-10 minutes.. but it's brutal. My heart breaks for him. As soon as he sees me he calms down but of course we have a long trip coming up and I am dreading it. Any words or wisdom? TIA.

[wencit]

DS was right around that age when we switched him to his Marathon. He would scream bloody murder every time we put him in his infant seat, but once we made the move to a convertible, he was much, MUCH happier! It was like he was a different kid. Maybe it's because the MA sits higher than the infant seat, and he was able to look around? I don't know. The only thing I know is that it saved our sanity.

Do you have a convertible that you can try out on DS2 before your trip? Or, if you're not driving on your road trip alone, can you sit in the back and entertain him?

[JTsMom]

Yep, but on the plus side, now he loves the car. :)

Switching to a convertible helped, music helped- especially me singing, the FP mirror with the lights helped a tiny bit, but it was always bad until he outgrew that stage at around 2 or so.

[kijip]

T was fine with the car and never really minded either his carseat or riding in the car as a baby.

F hated his infant seat. Hated it, especially with the straps (when I used the Maclaren Easy Traveler I would undo the straps and since he was facing me he was fine). We have made things a little better for him by switching him to a Roundabout convertible seat. Still, car does not rank among his top 10 activities by far.

Have not used a stroller all that much with him, but he is fine with it when we have.

[MZS V]

Much to my dismay, lol. I have always heard that taking your infant for a ride will help them calm down and go to sleep. Um, no...not my infant.

She has recently been diagnosed with acid reflux and dairy intolerance, so I think that has probably contributed to her hatred of the carseat all along.

Luckily, I stay home with her, so we don't have to go somewhere every day. It has gotten a little bit better. Musical toys helped, as did me riding back there to comfort her.

I hope it won't always be like this.

Mama V

[newg]

DD has been fine riding in the car. We've had a mirror for her since almost the beginning (the fisher price one that lights up, with jungle music)...she's figured out she can see us by looking in the mirror.....I've also always tried to have some kind of soft toy for her to play with...and vary it up......sometimes hanging above or to the side...sometimes I would just give her one to play with and explore herself.....

[ThreeofUs]

Mine hates the car seat with a passion. A loud, long passion. He screams non-stop. He gets so stressed that I pull over sometimes, and plan not to take rides longer than 15 minutes or so unless he's about to go down for a nap.

As I posted in the other thread, a mirror helps, my finger helps, and sitting right beside him helps.

[tmarie]

I know I just posted that my dd is miserable in her car seat and stroller. But she was at her absolute WORST when she was in the infant carrier. I moved her to the Marathon rear facing earlier than I needed to due to that fact. She was noticeably more content in the Marathon than in the infant seat. It is only recently that she seems miserable in her Marathon--I am wondering if she will be happier once we turn it around. GL!

tmarie
dd#1 '05
dd#2 '08

[Piglet]

DS1 was miserable but we had a very old, unpadded Graco Snugride. DS2 was better in a softer padded Snugride and DD was great in her Safeseat. Can you install a soft mirror? Are you sure he doesn't have the sun in his eyes? Is he too hot maybe? We installed shades with DS1 (I drove a sedan). DS2 was an SUV (so back seat wasn't drenched in sunlight) and DD was a minivan, so again, better air flow and less sun.

[hellokitty]

DS2 HATED his infant carseat. So, we switched him to his Marathon when he was a few months old. He STILL hated it. He would cry and fuss and be miserable. We held out until he was 18 mo old and finally switched him from RF to FF and FINALLY he was ok. I think he was really upset not to be able to see us when he was RF. I feel kind of bad that we switched him to FF sooner than we wanted to, but omg we just couldn't take it anymore. The constant crying and screaming during drives was just horrible. DS1 LOVED his infant carseat and has always enjoyed being in the car. I just keep crossing my fingers DS3 will be more like DS1 when it comes to carseats.

[MamaKath]

My kids hated the bucket seats. So much that we switched almost immediately to a Britax convertible with DC1! Maybe it will get better when the baby is in a convertible.

[KHF]

DS hated the infant seat(s) from the beginning. We had a Gracopedic Foam Snugride that we used with DD, and he really hated that one. I think it was just too small for him. He was a chunk and it was one of the 20 pound SnugRides. I found a great deal on a new SafeSeat and he hated that one too. I bought him a Marathon and he's now happy. DH has the SafeSeat in his car as a backup, but for the most part, it's Marathon all the way.

DD didn't mind the infant seat, but I still moved her at 5 months to a Decathlon/Marathon because I was tired of lugging the blasted bucket around.

[Melbel]

DD2 hated her infant seat around 2.5 months old and would SCREAM, get gas in her tummy and aggravate her already severe reflux. We were desperate for a solution. We switched to a convertible and purchased a DVD player for her to watch. She liked the convertible seat much better. It was way earlier than my other two for a DVD player, but again we were desperate. She loves the Baby Einstein videos (esp. the animal ones) and she has learned many words from the DVDs. Now she likes the car because she gets to see her show. Not ideal, but MUCH better than a screaming baby in the car.

[misshollygolightly]

DS hated hated HATED his Graco infant carseat. His blood-curdling shrieking was so distracting I was always terrified it'd affect my driving. Anyway, he did eventually calm down about it. We had to make some long trips, and DH and I would just switch off riding in the backseat with him for a while to keep him calm. Eventually, we stopped riding back there with him and were able to keep him occupied with toys, music, etc. Now, he's in a convertible, and he still doesn't love it, but most car rides are fine--especially if I give him a pacifier and a couple of "special" toys we reserve for the car. And now, on longer trips, I also sometimes give him Cheerios to keep him happy :-)

[AnnieW625]

I had good luck with Elisa in her Snugride and wished I would've been able to keep her in it a little bit longer. She made it to 6 mos. I think and she was starting to get a tad ansy, but I think the real reason we moved her to the convertible seats was because DH hated back adjust straps on our seat. Now at about 13 mos. until she was 2/1/2 she would pitch a fit about having to be in the Marathon (she was ffing the entire time), but never had an issue with the Evenflo Triumph seat we had in DH's car.

[brittone2]

Both my kids hated carseats until closer to 1.5-2+. In our case, it had little to do with infant vs. convertible seat...they hated them all (although maybe the infant seat a bit more).

With both kids I tried the convertible earlier since many people report that their kids were better in there vs. the infant seat. It helped a little bit, but not enough.

It is so hard. Most of the things I like doing are 20-25 mins away from home, and I got to the point with each child that I just would avoid driving because I couldn't deal with the screaming. It sucked.

and of course, everyone I had to explain the carseat hatred to would tell me how all babies love carseats. Yeah, thanks. Mine didn't get the memo.

[nellonello]

I'm another one with a kid that hated their infant seat (Keyfit). We switched to a Marathon and she was so much happier. A bummer too as I had researched carseats for months before deciding on the Keyfit and she didn't really use it.

[Gena]

My son HATED the carseat when he was a baby. We switched him from the infant carrier to the convertible at 9 weeks. That helped a little, but he still screamed in the car. He did better when one of us could sit in the back with him so we could talk to him and hold his hand. If he was in the back alone he would scream the entire time. I ended up switching him to FF at 21 months when I realized that his constant screaming was making me a distracted nervous wreck, and therefore a dangerous driver. Oncfe I turned him, it was like night and day. Suddenly he loved being in the car and was a happy, giggly passesnger and I could concentrate on my driving. Although it broke my heart to turn him FF so early (I really wanted to make it to age 2), I am still convinced that he was safer FF with an alert driver than RF with a distracted driver.

When DS was going through his evals for autism, we learned that one of his major sensory issues was an intolerance for backward motion. This is why he hated the RF carseat, the swing, the shopping cart, etc. So we've been working on this issue for the past several years. He can now tolerate the shopping cart, but not stuff like swings or other playground/amusement park rides that go backwards.

[Jacksmommy2b]

J was a rabid carseat hater.

I think he was okay for like the first week and after that he was a nightmare every.single.time. we strapped him into his seat.

Someone sitting in the back made it slightly better - as long as that person was a constant stream of singing, toys, entertainment, etc.

I will never forget this one time I had to drive home from my mother's house, by myself. J was like 3 months old and it was like a 25 minute ride. I pulled over once, a little less than halfway to calm him and nurse - but he started screaming again the second I put him back in the seat. I finally just decided the poor guy would have to scream himself out sooner or later and grit my teeth and just drove home. He never did cry himself to sleep - but he did scream himself into vomitting repeatedly all over himself and the car seat. We were both hysterical by the time we made it home and that was the last time I drove myself anywhere until he was about 18 months.

Turning him FF did make a big difference, as did being old enough to be amused by toys.

My MIL flat out refused to believe that any kid did not love the car and insisted (repeatedly and to anyone that would listen) that we 'have to be doing something wrong.' What could you possibly do wrong to make a kid scream bloody murder on every single car ride?


I pray to every GOD I've ever heard of that new baby is better in the car as I seriously don't know if I could handle that again.

[brittone2]

J was a rabid carseat hater.

I think he was okay for like the first week and after that he was a nightmare every.single.time. we strapped him into his seat.

Someone sitting in the back made it slightly better - as long as that person was a constant stream of singing, toys, entertainment, etc.

I will never forget this one time I had to drive home from my mother's house, by myself. J was like 3 months old and it was like a 25 minute ride. I pulled over once, a little less than halfway to calm him and nurse - but he started screaming again the second I put him back in the seat. I finally just decided the poor guy would have to scream himself out sooner or later and grit my teeth and just drove home. He never did cry himself to sleep - but he did scream himself into vomitting repeatedly all over himself and the car seat. We were both hysterical by the time we made it home and that was the last time I drove myself anywhere until he was about 18 months.

Turning him FF did make a big difference, as did being old enough to be amused by toys.

My MIL flat out refused to believe that any kid did not love the car and insisted (repeatedly and to anyone that would listen) that we 'have to be doing something wrong.' What could you possibly do wrong to make a kid scream bloody murder on every single car ride?


I pray to every GOD I've ever heard of that new baby is better in the car as I seriously don't know if I could handle that again.

My DD would cry so hard she'd vomit as well. And if we pulled over to comfort her, the cycle just started over again as soon as she got back in the seat. LIke your DC, mine never cried to sleep or anything in the car. They just cried and cried, or cried and vomited.

If we ever have a third, I swear to DH we can't be 3 for 3 on carseat-haters, right?? :wink2:

[o_mom]

DS3 wasn't a fan of any seat - I tried a convertible and it didn't change anything. It got better around 6 months or and we used the infant seat until 16 months or so.

You could try making the seat a bit more upright to see if it helps. Still within the allowed recline, but as upright as possible. Sometimes as they gain weight, it puts the recline back more and also they like to sit up more to see better.

Good Luck!

[edurnemk]

DS hated his infant car seat from the start. EVen when snapped to the stroller. So I would transfet him to the stroller unless he was asleep. Once we switched to the convertible he was much happier, I wish we had done that sooner.

[ourbabygirl]

OMG, I'm so glad to know I'm not alone in my baby hating car rides. She was (or seemed to be) colicky 'til about 4 months, and car rides were pretty miserable for me that whole time. Instead of falling asleep in the car, like most babies (esp. since they recommend it for colicky babies), she would freak out. Around Christmas time, DH and I finally discovered that she would stay calm and eventually fall asleep if we tucked a blanket in tight around her sides in the infant seat (like being swaddled). Thank goodness that worked... it didn't work every time, but was better than before. She's RF in a MA or Blvd now, and can make it on short car rides, but really gets fussy on our way home... I do whatever I can to give her toys, sing/ talk to her, shush her, you name it. I'm REALLY hoping she starts getting happier on car rides, because it is stressful hearing her- she's got this strange 'honk' sound to her whine, and I would live a fine life never hearing it again!

[BeccaB.]

My DS went through the same thing at around the same age. Once they are 4 months they are suppose to be more aware of their surroundings. Maybe that's why they are frustrated because all they can see in an infant carrier is the back of the car seat. We finally bought DS an Evenflo triumph. It sits up high enough so he can see out the back window. He stopped fussing so much when we were driving. He also seems a lot more comfortable at the different angle. Maybe you should try moving your DC to a convertible.

[AJP]

My girls loved the keyfits, but they LOVE their MA's!! I think the being higher up and having a better view has something to do with it also. Sorry you're dealing with this...maybe its time to graduate to the convertible.