For the last few weeks, my almost 4-month old son will cry everytime we put him into the car seat/baby carrier. I've checked that the straps are loose enough and that there is nothing uncomfortable in the seat iteself. He is small child (less than 13 lbs) so I can't imagine that he is too big for the seat.
Once he gets settled into the seat he is ok until we put him in the car and then the crying starts all over again. I'm not sure if its the fact that he can't see his father or I or if it is too dark or if this is just a stage?
Any advice out there? Anyone else gone through this? Will he outgrow it?
My daughter, now 5 months, hated her car seat from day one. We accidentally stumbled on the solution about 6 weeks ago. She still wails when we strap her in, but she quiets down with a blanket over the whole seat. It goes over the handle, so she has a little tent in there. Maybe you've already tried this, but it has really saved her tears and me heartache.
Yes it is a stage. I feel for you. When my now three year old was a baby he hated the car seat. I thought, I'm the only one whose infant doesn't peacefully fall asleep in the car! He would cry the whole time, sometimes for 45 minutes when we drove out to the suburbs. The good news is that he did outgrow it.
I think a lot of it was he couldn't see us. What helped was getting some toys to dangle, and when he can start swatting them it might help a little, but mostly it is just a time thing.
Now my son has no problem with the car. And he calmed down before he was one.
Make sure that your baby can always see you. They make various mirrors that work for babies in rear-facing carseats. This is most likely the problem. He is more aware of his surroundings now--more aware of not being as close to you as he would prefer because he is in the seat.
Amy
Interesting... My John did the same thing for a few weeks and I did what you did, checking the straps etc... Eventually, it stopped. But, I ended up trying to make the car a happy place for him. I think he associated the car with a doctor's appointment. He loves TV so I bought a potable DVD player to play his favorite signing times CDs. Once he sees the TV he stops crying.
Try putting up a mirror or something that he really likes to distract him. I personally think it is a phase.
Good Luck.
Barb
been there done that:)I gave him little plastic cups that he can hold. Also I put him in the seats while we are at home not direct in the car. And carry him close to the door, on the beginning he was terrible, I told him going out after 2 week of struggling he understand. Good luck
Our little one hated his car seat until we bought this activity bar thing that we clip onto the sides of the car seat. We got ours at right start. It is like an activity bar that would go on a bouncy seat but it can clamp onto what ever you like. As soon as we started using that, he was sooooo much happier. He is just a really busy guy, so I think he gets very bored and unamused when in his car seat. If we leave it in the other car though (therefore forgetting to have it clamped onto his infant seat) he is a nightmare!! The toys that you hang from the handle just did not do it for him. We also started linking a couple toys to the seat so he could play with those. He also likes to look in the mirror that we have in there so we can see him, but that alone is not enough to keep him happy.
We just switched to the next stage car seat, and you can't clamp that bar onto to those carseats. So we had to find a toy that would work for that kind of seat.
I have heard some kids just don't like certain carseats, but unless you have disposable money and want to purchase another one, try some really engaging toys first.
Like the previous post said, toys do help. You can also just put links and toys up on the handle of the infant carrier.
Also, I think it's a very common phase. My daughter did the same thing. She didn't like how deep the infant seat was (it's really deep for their bottoms compared to rear-facing bigger seats) nor did she like being restricted. It settled in around the same age - the time when she was learning to sit up and roll around and basically get some more independent mobility. I have 2 friends who went through the same thing around the same age (4-5 months). I think it's just the restricted motion being a carseat and as deep as they are.
As soon as my daughter was over 26" (the max height on the infant carrier) we put her in the rear-facing seat and she was MUCH better in the car. She was also a peanut weight-wise (she only weighed 17 lbs at her first b-day)
My daughter was the same way, only she would cry the entire time she was in her seat. I think it was around that age that I started to use music to calm her down. I bought some Raffi (Very Singable Song is the title) and one of the Wiggleworms CD's and these seemed to calm her down. I don't know if there are songs you enjoy together, but if so, sing those while getting him in the seat and while he's crying. If that helps, I think that's a sign that he's ready to try kid's CD's. Good luck - I know how hard it is to drive when your little one is crying.
