| Author | |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: Nov 25 2009 at 10:22pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
We just endured the most harrowing trip ever (with this baby). 5 1/2 hours out of the 6 he was crying. He did not want to be in his car seat.
For the record, it may have been this bad with our first 4 kids too, but it's been a while and I've probably blocked the memories 
So.... any tips? We had toys, books, siblings trying to entertain, music, etc. Nothing worked. I also nursed him (contortionist style) while he was in the car seat. 
What works for you? I'm already dreading the trip home on Friday. 
Oh and yeah... Happy Thanksgiving!!!
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mary K
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 14 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 945
|
| Posted: Nov 25 2009 at 10:29pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi,
Can you travel during his naptime? Does he eat cheerios or anything like that? I'll say a prayer for a smooth, quiet trip on Friday.
God bless,
Mary-NY
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 12:12am | IP Logged
|
|
|
was it dark? mine scream when it's dark and they're supposed to be awake.. I found this great light with the camping supplies in walmart.. I think it's called a glow light.. it's a small flashlight.. first click.. flashlight.. second click flashlight and the whole stick glows.. third clicke it just glows.. forth click the glow blinks and then you click it off.. I duct tape it to the seat where it can't be reached and have it just glow.. I got red ones since red isn't supposed to disrupt night vision.. it helps tremendously.
Otherwise.. I don't know.. ear plugs for the driver (and others)? 
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4 lads mom
Forum All-Star
Joined: Sept 26 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1944
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 12:43am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh, can I relate....I could have written your post several years ago....one of mine was the worst traveler EVER. The minute we would get in the car, the banshee screaming would start....I need to wipe my brow, post traumatic stress starting here To this day, he still has to have his DS or a book to keep him busy in the car.
Seriously, though, did you check his car seat? Is there a lump or something in the covering that is annoying? How about bubbles on the way home? Lots and lots of bubbles. Can you get an annoying leap frog product, that talks and lights up?
I honestly think that riding backwards in those car seats really freaks some kids out. I know mine all do much better when we turn them around.....but I think your little guy might be too small still.
I sure hope it goes better on the way home!!
__________________
Mom of four brave lads and one sweet lassie
Scenes From This and That
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ALmom
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 18 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3299
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 2:12am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Well, there was a lot of fussing with ours - but honestly nothing like with one of ours who screamed non-stop from the moment he was in the car and especially intense on curves, and at night. We discovered that he got car sick - (that was the 2 hour trip that took 6 hours. I believe we stopped at every exit - nursed, held him, thought he was teething so we used some cold rags and eventually gave him some tylenol in the hopes that we would finally make it home. He stopped crying as soon as the car stopped and I pulled him out of the carseat. We'd put him back in the seat and start driving and he was screaming again. Poor guy, when he lost all the tylenol as soon as we started to drive, that is when we finally figured it out).
Driving during the day, frequent stops planned into the trip - but if they are asleep and resting, you drive even if everyone else's bladder is bursting. And for a while, we simply only put him in the car when it was absolutely essential.
Try to make sure they are high enough/tall enough to see out the window. (When they simply were too small and the seat had to be rear facing - the only kind thing we could do was minimize travel, really!) Putting this child as close to the front of the car as is legally and safely possible. (Ours were little back when it was fine to put them in the front seat and that helped a lot - with air bags and such, it isn't safe to do that anymore).
These children cannot read or play while you are driving - at least not looking down. They have to be looking out, have good air flow/air conditioning - heat will cause problems. We did a lot of games that involved looking out - First one to see a McD sign wins kind of stuff, if they are old enough. Listening to something like Uncle Arthurs Storytime (but no book to look at) also helped.
Another mom who had experience with car sickness also said to make sure you always make sure to have something like crackers and eat before leaving. Some children get car sick worse with an empty stomach. I'd have never guessed that but have seen it prove true.
Plan extra time into your trip from the start so you are not stressed when you have to stop a lot. Oh and we always tried to find somewhere where they could really, really run and burn off steam.
Janet
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mathmama
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 07 2006
Location: Pennsylvania
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 771
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 5:35am | IP Logged
|
|
|
My first two were terrible travelers as babies. I suppose this one will be as well :( We have tried everything except traveling at night. I have been reluctant to try it because I don't want to reach our destination and need a couple of days to recover, plus, I don't see my kids sleeping in the car at night. My oldest 2 will not fall asleep in the car or if they do it is for 15 minutes and they wake up super duper cranky. Anyway, no advice here just commiseration
Beth
__________________
Beth, wife to Tom and mommy to 4 beautiful girls:
Therese 11/04
Anna Mary 6/07
Veronica 10/09
Theodora 11/12
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 7:59am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh Stef, this is so difficult. And, what I'm going to type doesn't give a great deal of hope. Like Janet and others, I suspect that we had three babies that were prone to car-sickness and suffered intensely turned around backwards in a car seat. Now that two of those children are older I can see that is true - they are still prone to carsickness. Every minute riding in a car was pure, unadulterated AGONY - for them and for us. We tried everything - in the end the solution was get there as fast as humanly possible and limit long trips. They were so much more comfortable when we turned them around forward. My pediatrician suggested I might want to keep my dd turned around facing backwards for another year after her first birthday...I said, "Are you kidding??????"  
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
hylabrook1
Forum Moderator
Joined: July 09 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5980
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 8:20am | IP Logged
|
|
|
At times this has happened with one or another of my dc, too. Talk about fraying the nerves of everyone else in the car! You definitely have my empathy, Stef. Has he done this routinely or was this trip especially bad? It seems to me that just about every time this happened with us there was some underlying cause that just hadn't yet declared itself. One time the child had the yarn mane of a toy horse wrapped tightly around a finger (ouch!). Other times it has been teething or coming down with an ear infection. Other times I wondered whether the little one might be car sick, just not to the point of throwing up. That nursing contortionist-style is a familiar image as well! When the children were a little older and could understand what we were asking them to do, we gave them camomilla (sp?) pills to dissolve under their tongues, and that seemed to help. What if you plan to begin the trip at a naptime (maybe he'll fall asleep and not notice?). Sorry not to be more helpful, but it's probably a trial and error sort of thing. I'll pray for a better trip home on Friday.
Peace,
Nancy
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
guitarnan
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Maryland
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 10883
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 8:26am | IP Logged
|
|
|
My son was just like this...but he was never car sick. He just hated confinement and the extra-hot car seat. (His body thermostat doesn't work all that well.) Car seats can get really hot and uncomfortable.
He especially hated traveling in the dark.
Once he was old enough to hold onto and play with some toys, things went better, but we avoided road trips longer than an hour for quite a while, at least until he was 18 months or so.
__________________
Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
wifemommy
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 10 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 732
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 9:14pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
# 5 once screamed the whole way on a 4 hour car trip and then we were driving back the same day...actually she was quiet on the way home  not sure why but she was a screamer when little and now she is the quietest 6 year old....so there is hope Praying for a quieter return Annie
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Marcia
Forum Pro
Joined: Aug 20 2007
Location: Illinois
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 437
|
| Posted: Nov 26 2009 at 10:55pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I'm assuming you were hoping to connect your AP-ness to your need to follow the car seat rules?
You did it. Just your physical presence to your child during his *upsetness* during the drive was being AP. It doesn't mean that our adult expectations (no crying) is always met.
That being said. It's very hard to listen to constant screaming while you are driving/riding. I hope that you can find a time during the day that might allow him to ride calmly. Try to put yourself in your child's shoes. When is he naturally most calm? Can that be the time that you drive? What makes him the most happy? Can you do that during the drive? I too have done the nursing while hanging over a child in a car seat...uncomfortable, but helps everyone else's ears so much.
(((Stef)))
__________________
Marcia
Mom to six and wife to one
Homeschooling 10th, 7th, 5th, 2nd, PreK and a toddler in tow.
I wonder why
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: Nov 27 2009 at 9:43am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks gals. We did have food but he was refusing. He does have a bad cold now, so it may have been that developing.
Jodie, the light suggestion already occurred to us but I have not tried to find a solution. Thanks so much for the suggestion.
And I never thought of bubbles!! Thanks!
Yes, Marcia -- I just can't reconcile AP with car-seat-training. I probably need a shift in thinking. I feel like when I allow a child to suffer so when he's in his car seat it somehow negates what I do when he's out of it. I just feel so bad for the poor thing, I know he just wants to be hugged, and we're being mean. 
My dd-18 says the best thing about babies is that they don't hold grudges. Thank God for that!
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Nov 27 2009 at 9:02pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh dear...my daughter was like this,,,and she is 13 now and gets carsick very easily. My son, now 5, was like this to a lesser extent. Music often helped at least somewhat, and with him it was always the 12 Days of Christmas,,,  He was born in October, and we sang and sang and sang that darn song so many times! At least he doesn't get carsick now. He loves going for a drive.
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mom2mpr
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 16 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1550
|
| Posted: Nov 27 2009 at 10:32pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
How funny Melanie, my dd would only quiet to us singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star .
We once did it for 2, yes 2, hours. Anytime we even thought of stopping she ramped up. So, we'd start again. It was quite humerous.
On this trip I was ready to pull over at a hotel. I couldn't stand her screaming anymore-we stopped and I tried to nurse her, and she wanted nothing to do with me-she was just MAD!! The baby years were tough.
Oh, and she is fine now, at 6. Not our best traveler but no longer screaming in the carseat We made it!!
Anne
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
wifemommy
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 10 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 732
|
| Posted: Nov 28 2009 at 10:30am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Stef Granted this is coming from a former pediatric ER nurse but frankly the car seat is APing at it's best because you are doing what is absolutely the best thing for your child a live screaming baby beats a dead one anyday and your daughter is right baby's don't hold grudges  Annie
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Nov 28 2009 at 5:21pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh, good point Annie. You reminded me, there was an accident around here a couple of years ago, a mom was nursing a baby in the car, had it out of the carseat and they were in an accident, the baby was thrown from the car and killed. It bothered me so much because I have been so, so tempted to do the same thing at times. I resorted instead, on rare occurance, to the contorsion nursing, to the distraction of truckers everywhere I'm sure.  Usually I am the only driver though, so we either suffer through or pull over somewhere to nurse.
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: Nov 28 2009 at 5:25pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Just coming back in here to say THANKS again.
ds-10 happened to have his little flashlight with him so baby played with it ~1 hour. He slept about 3 hours, cried for about an hour total and played the rest of the time.
Your suggestions and prayers really helped! Thank you!
And yes -- Annie and Melanie -- so true.
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Attachment Parenting + Car Seats?
