Babys First Year Blog
The Kid Hates the Car
car seat crisis
Tate hates the car. He will sit in his car seat, happy as a clam as long as the seat isn’t clicked into the base. The babe is either crying or sleeping on a car ride. I thought he would start getting used to the constant journeys but it doesn’t seem to be happening. I have tried sitting next to him and holding his hand, stroking his face, and talking to him, and he just seems to get more upset. I have tried turning up the radio, changing the station, and turning the radio to static – with absolutely no change.
Today, while I was driving, I flipped to a classical music to station, not really on purpose, and almost immediately Tate stopped crying. He was still upset and letting out the occasional whimper, but was definitely calmer. My husband tried out the trick later in the day with similar effect.
So, it appears that something about the music soothed him. Perhaps this is a trick I can implement on the ridiculously long journey to our new home in Texas. However, I’m afraid it may be too soon to assume that classical music will have the power to calm my baby consistently and every time. But rest assured, I am going to use this tactic until it becomes ineffective.
So I’ll through it out here. What do you guys do to sooth your crying baby in the car rides? Does anyone have any clever techniques out there. Because let’s be honest, a trip to Texas from Utah is not like taking a trip to the grocery store.
Go Back To Babys First Year Blog
9 Comments
Jessica commented on Aug 12 11 at 1:09 pmMy 9 month old has also hated being in her car seat since she was 2-3 months old. She will scream just like your little now. Now we have to fight her to even get her in the seat. She immediately arches her back and starts turning over. I have found that singing to her helps the best. Classical music works as a close second. Someone sitting in the back with her helps because they can distract her by reading to her, playing peak-a-boo, making silly faces, etc. We try to limit our trips now. I am excited to read what others have tried :)
Sarah commented on Aug 12 11 at 2:13 pmMy daughter also hated the car when she was very little. I found that it helped if I talked to her constantly (at that point she had no object permanence so she probably thought she was all alone in a weitd place riding backwards). Keeping up a steady stream of conversation calmed her a bit, as did a CD of lullabies. At the ripe old age of 7.5 months, she’s come to enjoy it (for brief periods) because she can take in more of what we’re driving by and it doesn’t overstimulate her.
Camilla commented on Aug 12 11 at 2:22 pmOn our trip to CA we got a $10 mirror from Target and when she was awake she sat there staring at it and all that she could see in it. Also I tried to sit back next to her when she was awake and played with some toys with her until she fell asleep. We also have 3 cd’s our of the 6 in our cd player that are “her” music– meaning calming tunes that we change to quickly if she starts to fuss. I’m hoping your move goes well!
K commented on Aug 12 11 at 3:39 pmMy 3mo is a lot better now that I’ve gotten very careful about embarking on car trips only when she’s well fed and either just woke up or is beginning to get sleepy.
I also put in a mirror, which helps because I can glance back every so often, and sometimes if I see her starting to fuss I can preempt it by talking to her.
I leave the carseat in the car and carry her out to it, because she doesn’t like the click when it snaps into the base.
Whenever I put her in the seat, I spend a minute or so in the backseat with her smiling and talking and playing with her while she’s in the seat. Often if I can get her to start out happy, like that, she stays happy. I think I used to make it worse by being tense when I put her in, worried about the screaming that was to come.
Since she started liking holding on to things, I’ve been giving her a burp cloth to hold, which she likes. Often when I glance back she’s chewing on it, or moving it around.
Marie commented on Aug 12 11 at 3:49 pmWe played a CD of songs we listened to frequently while she was in utero and that we sang to her, and that made the 1-4 month old car hater into a car tolerating kid (yeah, she didn’t like the car for 3 months). Classical music worked all right as a last resort.
Morgan commented on Aug 12 11 at 5:59 pmMy 4mo was the same way until we realized we needed to adjust the straps. Without realizing how much he had grown, the straps needed to be raised. Once we did that, he was totally fine. Also, a couple toys seemed to help. In the morning when I try to get him to take his first nap, I put on classical music and he sleeps like a champ. I wouldn’t doubt that classic music is helping your little dude out too!
Amy commented on Aug 13 11 at 7:13 pmMy baby also hates the car, and we started using her sleep sheep on her carseat and also set up the mirror I use to see her so she can see herself. This has worked with some success, though she still fusses some, its not the full on screaming fits that we used to have. Also, for longer trips, we’ve been using the swaddle me blankets that fit in the car seat and she sleeps, she loves being swaddled as much as possible. We’ve also figured out that she gets upset when the sun is in her eyes. Good luck on your trip, hope it all works out!
Emily Goeke commented on Sep 10 11 at 9:04 pmOkay, I know some people would totally look down their noses at me for this…. But the thing that has done the trick— DVD player–tuned 95% of the time to Baby Einstein! He loves it!! And I love not having a screaming baby in the back of my car!!!! Good luck on your big move… (if it hasn’t happened yet–I havent read every blog;))
Emily Goeke commented on Sep 10 11 at 9:11 pmOh, and today he actually made it a couple of short trips– 15-20 minutes– with no video! Maybe he has better feelings about the car? Who knows? We had tried pretty much every other trick I’ve read suggested– so…
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lauren Jimeson 
Lauren Hartmann 
Emily Elling 
Meredith Carroll 
Emily Malone 
Molly Thornberg 
Selena Burgess 
Casey Mullins 
Madeline Petersen 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
9