Hi moms! Ok, I was just hoping this phase will pass too but it seems to get worse. My daughter cries everytime we put her in the carseat. EVERYTIME!!! Last Sunday my daughter cried 45 minutes to church and 45 minutes back home. It was painful to hear but I had to keep reassuring myself because I know she is ok. She's not hungry and diaper has been changed. We put a mirror in last week but that didn't help. She just got diagnosed with GERD. Could it be that? Someone on another post suggested a different carseat (not an infant carrier).
Help!
I think she probably does not like the car/seat. Try the convertible car seat. I never used those infant ones. Convertibles are bigger more comfy.
Well, it could just be that she doesn't like to be strapped in. Is she starting to crawl or walk? Every single baby at my DD's daycare hit a phase where as soon as they hit the car seat in the evening, they would wail. It seemed to coincide with the start of crawling or other moving around. I really couldn't blame them. I would play music, give her toys, and trust that it will pass. If you go to another seat, get one that both rear and forward faces to a high limit. We liked our Marathon, but there are others like the Radian that RF and FF and go to a booster and last 10 years.
A carrier type of carseat is pretty small for an 8 month old child. They should be sitting in a rear facing full size car seat. A carried probably hurts her since it's designed for an infant that will be carried around.
It's probably not GERD (though I'm not a doctor, so what the hell do I know), because babies with GERD often sleep better IN their carseats. Having their head slightly elevated usually makes them more comfortable.
Some kids feel all alone and don't like it. I can understand. I don't think I would like being alone in the backseat, facing the other direction, with adults sitting together and chatting or listening to the radio or whatever. So if there is more than one person in the care with you, you could try having that person sit in the backseat with your daughter. My husband used to do most of the driving (still does), and I would sit in the backseat with the kid(s). It was harder to have a conversation that way, but it worked for us.
Some kids just fight being in a carseat. Hopefully she will grow to accept that this is the way it must be.
my daughter hated her carseat.. cried everytime she was in it.. hated the swing too and didn't really like the stroller.. she liked to be held..
she got better in time.. and she stopped crying so much..
Sometimes GERD babies do better in cars because they are propped upright and the motion helps move things around so they burp more. But maybe it's working then other way too.
Some kids just don't like the noise or the confinement. Make sure she's not too warm either - sometimes the straps and the sides press all the clothes closer and make kids heat up. Do you have toys attached to the carseat so she has something to occupy her? Something else besides a mirror attached to the front of the seat in front of her? If there's more than 1 seat where you can attach the car seat, you could try varying her view a little. Still I think 45 minutes each way is probably more than boredom or entertainment.
Before you go buy another carseat though, see if you can borrow one or two different ones from friends, and use each one at least twice before you commit.
Oh my goodness, that post could have came from my son's babybook. We were just talking about it this weekend, he's 8 and loves to ride in cars now. He was never diagnose with GERD, he just HATED cars. It has nothing to do with his car seat. He just didn't like them and screamed the whole time. I hated long rides from San Antonio to Dallas, so I moved to Dallas. Seriously, until he was about year and half, he screamed the whole time. Never knew why. He did like for me to hold his hand, which is hard when you are driving and he's in the back. I did put my hand inbetween the seats. My arm would hurt after 30 minutes. But I would have 30 minutes of no crying.
I do understand the frustration, I just can't give you a solution but time.
Praying for you!!!
You may try a convertible seat like a britax boulevard, it prob has a bit more of an upright position that may help the GERD. Good luck!
