We took him to grandparents with a 5 hour trip from He**! They met us at airport to return him to us after a week. He was fine on the 2 hour trip to meet us. Grandma in backseat to entertain him. He was tired and due for a nap. Nothing I did stopped his crying, then screaming in the car. Stopped to check diaper, feed him, let him fall asleep in my arms. Back in seat-- back to screaming, crying, reaching for me. 2 1/2 hours of misery for all of us. Checked for anything sharp, or irritatiing in seat either. Doesn't seem to be car sick. Anything else I can check? Is there a particular brand of car seat that allows more comfort for sleeping? Ours is a large convertable seat from Target. We have 2 car seats and his reactions are the same in either car. He is fine until he needs to fall asleep. GP can't drive him as they are not local and need to leave for wedding/Chicago before us.
You didn't say how old he is. My daughter HATED the car seat until she was nearly 2 years old. Was not a sleeper, would just scream and cry and fuss if it was over about 15 minutes in the car. Was miserable for all of us. She grew out of it. Good luck.
Not sure how old your little guy is, but my son has never slept well in the car seat. He's 2 now and still just cries and cries without sleeping when he's tired on a long car trip. If I'm lucky he'll pass out for 30 min, but no where near enough time. Is there any way you can plan long car trips to coincide with his happy awake time? When it's nap time, stop for a meal and rest and let him nap, then continue on. It adds a lot of time, but when sanity is in the balance, I choose sanity!
I doubt that the car seat is the problem. Being tired was a great contributor. Any way that you can travel when he's more rested? Do you give him toys, read him books. Perhaps get some inexpensive new ones from The Dollar Tree. You can play music and books on the car's CD player. Perhaps there is a naturopathic remedy that might help. Or get advice from pediatrician.
the more you practice this....the easier it will be.
Make it 2nd nature, make it a normal part of life......& he'll get better at it.
Don't cater to him, don't baby him. Simply show him how you're buckling up for safety, give him some goodies to play with....& when it's time to sleep - put on the "sleepy" music.
My sis & I grew up on the road....our lake home was 2 1/2hours away. Our children have also grown up on the road. Take breaks, let him get his energy out....we always break on longer trips. Encourage him to embrace what's passing by (we used to count big rigs, McDonalds, etc) & have a stash of fun stuff for him to do. Let him have a fav stuffed animal, a blanket, & a pillow....all of this helps ease into naptime. Heck! I always travel with my little pillow!
AND I truly believe that the issues you had with him.....was the result of him being away from you for a week & just needing you to hold him. He was overtired & he needed you. He now equates the carseat with needing you - & you have to break the cycle by getting him back in the groove. Don't buy another seat.....he will adjust!
You didn't mention if you had a pillow for him to rest his head on. We've tried several types of pillows and the best so far is just to have his blanket with him and scrunch it up near his head for him to rest his head on. He still doesn't sleep well or for long but it helps.
age would be helpful...but mostly...this is life, welcome to it little guy! sorry. i just don't see how there's much in the way of options here. try to limit road trips! because being in a car seat is NOT an option, and if he is THAT miserable, a pillow or a snack is not going to make much difference. keep it positive and try to work around long drives as much as possible. now that you've all had this experience, it will be even worse because he will associate the car with all of that trauma. sorry mama. sounds like a nightmare for everyone :(
