Baby Hates the Car

amother

Slategray

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 10:38 am

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

Any tips??? Any toys that work? Our car rides are terrible! He just keeps crying until we get home especially at night if we take him out in the air he’s fine

Is the baby overdressed? Is the steam on? Make sure baby is comfortable and not overheated.

the world's best mom

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 6:49 pm

I had 2 kids who hated the car and the stroller. The interesting thing is that one of those babies absolutely loved the baby swing and slept in there daily, but he screamed in the car and the stroller. I wish I could offer advice, but I never found a solution. They did grow out of it eventually, though one of those children has a touch of motion sickness. They both have sensory issues, which I believe contributed to their car problem.

amother

Coral

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 8:55 pm

One of my babies screamed whenever he was in a moving car. It was so bad that I would have someone take him out of the carseat and hold him, which would calm him down. Obviously this was very unsafe, but I felt desperate, because I couldn't drive with a screaming baby in the back.
It was literally driving me nuts. I couldnt handle the crying and would often just pull over to the side to hold the baby and calm him down. Then as soon as I put him back and started driving, he would start all over again. It was a nightmare, especially since I had a lot of carpool duty. I would get home so frazzled and worn out every time.
A friend who witnessed how my sleeping baby would wake up and screech whenever the car was in motion realized something was very wrong. She advised me to contact a PT, which I did. The PT suggested that there was an imbalance in the inner ear which controls balance (something like that). This is something that can happen during birth and when the baby is in a moving car, they feel like they are constantly falling. To correct this, she advised me to give the baby as much tummy time as I could. (He hated being on his tummy as well.)
That day I put him on his tummy for 10-20 minutes at a time. He cried a lot at first, but as time went on, he cried less. by the next day, his crying in the car was about 50%better. By the next week he basically stopped crying in the car and we have never had a problem since.
He was about 5 months old when this happened, and he suffered from this since the first ride home from the hospital.
I hope this helps somebody. (Probably a PT could explain this better than I did.)

amother

Denim

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 9:08 pm

Thank you all so much I really appreciate these answers. I will have to try them out. It’s interesting because he hates being on his tummy as well but we are up to about ten minutes already. I also go crazy from the screaming and can’t drive properly I usually pull over and nurse him then wheel him till he falls asleep or we don’t go out until he is sleeping. With carpool and older kids though it’s not always possible

Teomima

Mon, Feb 03 2020, 10:47 pm

I've had kids who've loved the car, and those that hated it. Most loved the stroller, one couldn't stand it (though she was better when I turned her seat around. The kid cost me a fortune because I had to get a whole new stroller. Oh well, I still love her Wink

) Kids will be kids.

Also, from the things you say, do make sure you're kid isn't overheated. I see people it there wrap their babies in so many layers! The general rule of thumb, clothing-wise, is one more layer than what you're wearing. Then a blanket/cover while outside. My kids, for example, always did better hatless outside. I'd get nasty looks from other adults, but with hats they'd just sweat and get cry and get way too overheated.