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Baby HATES the car, please offer suggestions to help, I'm losing my mind!?
Every time we go anywhere, he screams. He's 7 weeks old and he has done this from the beginning. He screams so much and so hard that he is all red and soaked with sweat just riding home from the grocery store 10 minutes away. He has even sounded hoarse after car rides from screaming so hard.
I have tried music. Music soothes him nearly any other time, but not I the car. I've tried takin him out when he's really tired hoping he'll fall asleep, but no, he will literally fight sleep and scream his head off and then pass out when we get home. I tried putting him in only when well rested, that is just more energy for screaming. I try sitting by him while my husband drives and I try everything to calm him and he just screams at me. I downloaded every baby app on my iPhone I could find to entertain him and I tried every one and nothing worked longer than about 30 seconds then he started screaming his head off again.
He's only 7 weeks so I can't try toys that he could hold, but I tried the ones that make music and dangle from
the handle on the seat. He hated that. He loves pull down toys in the house so I tried hanging one from the hook by the window. Nothing. I tried stripping him down in case he was hot, covering him in case he's cold, windows up, windows down, makes no difference.
He won't take a pacifier at all he screams harder if you try. If you take him out, he will calm down right away but as soon as you put him back it starts all over. He will wake up from a dead sleep to scream in the car.
I've tried so many things and nothing works and everyone I ask just says, "my kids LOVED the car" or they suggest that he just needs to "get used to it". Well it's been 7 weeks of pure torture in the car and he's not getting any more used to it!
Any ideas beyond what I've tried would be greatly appreciated. I can't even drive at all, I have to have my husband do all the driving because I'm afraid I will cause an accident from the anxiety and distraction of hearing him scream while driving.
6 Answers
- sweetienat123Lv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
Believe it or not, my son would stop crying in the car when I sang the "Pat-A-Cake" song. I would also hold his pacifier or bottle in for him, if he wanted one of those, while I sang the song or I just let him hold onto my finger. I'm not sure what it was about that song, but it really soothed him. I had to sing it over and over and usually he would eventually fall asleep. You could try singing that one or another song, it might help. A new carseat sounds like a good idea as well. I wish you the best and hope you find a solution that works for you both. Take care!
- 1 decade ago
My son hated car rides too. When he was about 6 months old, he got too big for his infant carseat and we got the convertable kind (but still faced him backwards). He was a little more peaceful then. He also did get better when he was able to hold his toys. But any time my husband and I were both in the car, I would sit in back with him. He might have been a little better than your son because after 45 minutes of crying, he'd fall asleep usually. So the longer trips weren't so unbearable. But yeah, I lived in Boston when he was really little and just did the majority of my grocery shopping and errrands on foot with him in the stroller which he was very happy in. Some kids just hate the car. He'll outgrow it. It was like night and day when my son turned one and we could flip the carseat around!
- NoWayOutLv 61 decade ago
My stomach knotted up reading this because I know what you guys are going through... you and your baby.
One of my twins was the same way and I put her car seat behind me and I drove around for months with one arm behind my back holding a pacifier in her mouth or letting her chew on my fingers, stroke her head, etc. Sometimes it didn't work and she would just scream anyway.
Once she screamed all the way from my house to my mom's house and she lives over an hour away. When we got there she literally had blood in her mouth. I'm not sure if she scratched her mouth with her fingernails by digging in or if she just damaged her vocal cords but it was HOOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIIID.
The good news is that she grew out of it by around 6 or 7 months when she could hold onto toys.
I'm sorry you and your baby are going through this!! It will get better in time, though, I promise. <3 I do not look back on my twins infancy with many fond memories. :-(
- Mommy of 2)Lv 51 decade ago
Have someone in the back with him. My daughter used to throw fits int the car then we bought an SUV and now theres a row behind her and she can see her brother and now she likes care rides. I think a lot of babies just hate looking out the back of the car..
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- 1 decade ago
Have you considered trying a new car seat? A convertible if he's in an infant seat or vice versa. If nothing else it would at least put your mind at rest vis-a-vis some odd thing in the current one poking him.
- 1 decade ago
My son also **HATES** the car! He's almost 8 months...and has always hated it....
He hates regular music in the car(but it soothes at home, go figure!)
The only thing that will quiet him is if I sing CONSTANTLY, barely even taking time to breathe!
I just sing "boom-chick-chicky-boom-boom, boom-boom-chick-chick-boom-chick" You can vary it alot and despite being irritating to other adults, it works ans he usually falls asleep within 10 minutes of "boom-chicky"ing!
Good luck!
