Crying 10 Month Old in Car Seat

maybe he gets car sick. I have a friend whos lil one as a baby got car sick. I myself got car sick as a child. Lemon scents, ginger and fresh air help

Hey N.,
Since you are approaching the 1-year mark, I just wanted to bring your attention to the data about how much safer children are in rear-facing even after 1 year old... see this you tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo which has been posted to Mamasource in a previous post. I had no idea and had switched my baby to front-facing, watched this video, then switched her back to rear-facing.
Good luck with the car rides, it's so hard when baby is unhappy in the car.

My son, now 4yo, was HORRIBLE in the car! Nothing helped.He would cry so hard he'd throw up. We didn't dare go anywhere for months and months. It wasn't until he was 3 and could really express himself that he said he got a tummy ache in the car! He was car sick the whole time. Poor little guy. See if the doctor has something like childrens dramamine to try and see if that is what it is?

Hello N.,
I totally understand. We have an 18 month old that freaks out the minute we strap her in. She would cry so hard that she would make herself sick. Things have gotten better since she turned one but its still not pleasant. I would recommend trying the DVD player. Failing that...we ensure that she has lot's of snacks, something fun to play with, play music and sing along. I know he's a bit young but we talk to our daughter and tell her what we are going to do. It's verbal preparation and some say over time it works. I'm desperate so I will try anything. Our pediatrician said that some kids have a hard time transitioning from one thing to the next so it may reassure them to over some preparation. I'm sure you have tried all of this..so we have resorted to ear plugs & ignoring the behavior.
good luck:)

You may not realize, but these kiddos are pretty smart. If you start giving in to his fit throwing now and keep giving him things when he is crying...its going to be a long road. You may just have to live with it for a while...but it will pass, sometimes you just have to ignore it.
Good luck

We have been dealing with this for quite a while. The portable DVD player with Baby Einstein DVD's has been our lifesaver!! We secure it in with the seatbelt next to our daughter and she sits and watches her "movies". We bought ours on ebay for $40. I have seen the baby einstein DVDs on there also. We tried all the things that you mentioned as well, and this is the only thing that consistently works. She even looks for it to start playing while getting in the car. Good luck! I know how hard it is to listen to your baby cry in the car & not be able to do anything about it! I hope you find something that works for you.

Have you considered that he might get car sick? It is a miserable condition.

Our son who is now 15 months old did the same thing when he started being 'very mobile'. He wanted nothing to do with a carseat and facing forward did help a bit....and then we also found 'special' car only toys that helped. We also had a CD of fun songs for him we only played in the car. You can try that. We also found that making it seem like each time he can bring 1 thing he chooses from the house to take with him worked sometimes, or the other option (our fallback) is a spillproof container of cheerios. Good luck. As they say, 'this too shall pass.'

When children are learning to walk they sit down very heavily, especially at first. One of these 'prat falls' could have been harder than his body was ready for and disturbed the alighnment of his spine.

One of your responders said it wasn't till her son was 3 that he could tell her he got car sick. If your son's spine has been jarred, especially when he first started moving around on his own, (maybe 3 months ago?)one of several things could be hurting when he is put in the carseat. Possibly sitting in the seat hurts his back now, headaches, or being carsick, but he can't tell you.

Have him checked by a chiropractor to be sure these things are not the problem. You may save you and and your son years of stress and discomfort.

N.,
Our son liked certain music. We've always played the music we are currently into, rather than children's CDs. My son's really into Coldplay and Zero 7. Those bands (especially Zero 7) have always soothed him! Maybe you can keep playing music (to help distract you) and find music that you like that seems to somewhat soothe and distract him. You could also give him a snack trap with cheerios or something else small. Watch him in the mirror, though! Snacks seem to be the best trick for us!
Good luck,
Amy

My stepdaughter did that when she was little, and we tried everything...Neither of our boys acted that way. It may sound a little mean, but the only way we could get through a trip with her was to turn the radio on and wear earplugs...Anyhow, she outgrew that phase probably between 11 and 12 months.

I am going thru the same thing right now with my little guy. My little guy is happier when he is not wearing a jacket so I try to take off his coat before I strap him in and cover him with a blanket. I always give him a toy as soon as I strap him in and dont underestimate the quieting power of food. I have a container of veggie puffs or cherios in the front seat to keep his hands and mouth busy so I can go to the grocery store. On the way up to the cabin last weekend (4 hours) I sat in the backseat armed with a bag of treats and another bag full of toys along with the DVD player. It is alot of work at this stage to keep them happy if it lasts as long as my 3 year old she needed to be entertained until she was almost 2 even facing forward or she would let her displeasure known. I hope you enjoyed the days where your baby would sit quietly in the backseat, because in my experience those are gone.

This goes along with using special car only toys and songs...We had a copy of the song 'Green Onions' and when things got really bad we would play that. It helped more when the kids could see us because we would move our hands around to the beat of the music:) We have another cd with a bunch of up beat jazz songs and they seem to like it. it's only for in the car though.

I do not know the last time you had your son in to see the pediatrician, but we went through the same thing and found he had a double ear infection. Just a thought to get it checked out. As soon as he was on his antibiotics for a couple days, it was "happy trails". It happened one more time following that time and we went in to the Dr. immediately and found another ear infection. Doc. explained that there are pressure fluctuations and sound changes that affect the ears! Just a thought.

My son had trouble while he was rear facing too! He did so much better once he was facing forward! Part of it may be that he can't see where he is going, he doesn't want to be strapped in, who knows! The only thing that worked with my son was sitting in the back with him and constantly distracting him, although I wish I had thought of the DVD player! I guess I don't have much advice, but know that it's very common and so frustrating, but hopefully it will get better!
Good Luck!