We often take weekend vacation at some resorts 1-2hrs drive away from home. My 14month old is never a fan of the car seat. She only travels in car seat on weekends when we go out. The long traveling time in the car seat drives her crazy. I packed lots of toys, books, played her fav CDs, played with her, keep her entertained. It didn't work for very long. On some bad days, we stopped every 10mins to take her out. And she will be smiling with her tears on her cheeks.
Any advice?
rachel> my place is a very walkable town, so we don't need the car for daily activities.
Thanks for all the tips. Now my girl is 16 months and last month when we had to move to a place 2hr away. she was able to stay happy throughout the first 1.5hr after we upgraded her car seat to a britax roundabout booster seat. My hubby and I both think this has an effect on her. she is much happier. Another thing we tried when we travel long distance was we set off after dinner, so it was dark and she could nap during the ride. It was a trial and it worked well! Then, another tip we adopted was snacks. We tried giving her snacks and it helps a lot too.
Thanks for all the advice!
She doesn't like the car seat because mommy and daddy aren't paying attention to her. She has realized that if she screams enough she will get you to stop the car and pay attention to her. She is a smart little kid.
First you need to drive around more during the week. and Secondly when you do go out on the weekends -- let her scream. She is 14 months old and she needs to learn to sit in the car seat.
So I have a similar problem with my little one who is 25 months old but has always hated the car/car seat. I was hoping for some good advice but none of the previous posts have anything I can try. I am adhering to the no TV guidelines so I don't want to go the dvd route, plus she gets carsick so I could imagine that making it worse.
Sitting in the back with her can help. Our best success is with traveling at nap time. At 14 months she probably still naps twice a day, right? So get everything ready, pack up and plan to hit the road when she's tired & ready for a nap. We give her a bottle and if we are lucky she'll sleep for an hour or two. After that it's screaming most of the time.
Best of luck, I know it sucks and worse yet, everybody just thinks the problem is you when it's not.
Your daughter probably needs to get used to being in the car seat more often N.. My daughter has been on numerous road trips as far as a 5 day trp at 15 mos (just her, I, and two dogs!). I stopped numerous times for long breaks of course as she was so tired on that long trip. You are doing all the right things, the important thing is constantly talk to her, sing with her, seat dance, do whatever to distract her. Does she eat fruit, sit in the back and feed her strawberries, or just stay w/her in the back.
Hope this helps, take care!
C.
Mother of 2 y/o and pregnant w/son to be born in Dec!
I think it is just a matter of just keep driving. Turn up radio, open windows, use a comfort item (paci, blanket, stuffed animal?) All 3 of my kids are super car travellers, but I would never stop the car unless someone actually throws up. We drive from MA to GA twice a year and have a great time. You need to find something that works for you. Do you think she might actually be overstimulated? Sometimes my kids just like quiet. My kids are actually so well trained that they will ask to stop to stretch their legs (which is something we do, keeps the blood flowing).
Good luck!!
H. Z. (SAHM 6, 4 1/2 and 2 year old boys)
What do you do the rest of the week? Do you stay home the entire time? A few hours isn't long at all we just got back from an 8 hr drive to Canada and to make things easier we left to go there late towards bedtime so he would sleep in the car and when we left to come home we left early in the am carried him out in pjs and buckled him in so he slept some of the drive. When he woke I sat in back we watched a movie on a portable dvd player, we have special toys that are just for the car plus we purchased a few small items just for the trip. Where you aren't going far leave early when she is still sleeping or late so that she will sleep in the car. If she cries and you can't console her turn the radio up and keep driving. She is smiling when you take her out through her teary cheeks bc she is getting what she wanted she knows if she cries you will pull over and take her out. Our oldest was great to travel w/ our youngest not so much but he is better now that he finally weighs enough to turn his seat around but when ever he cried/cries I tell him daddy is buckled, mommy is buckled, aaron is buckled and that he must stay buckled so that he is safe.
Edited: Well there's the problem N. you need to start taking her for short trips in the car instead of just using the carseat on the weekend. So instead of walking all over town buckle her in her seat and drive there.
Why don't you try sitting in the back seat with her? If it's only an hour or 2 it might just be the win - win for both or you. You'll both arrive at the resort happy and stress free.
We do a DVD player with our daughter. That keeps her busy with her favorite movies like the wiggles and Thomas the Tank Engine. We started this with her at 12 months and still use it and she is 3. Good luck.
You mentioned that you do not go out during the week. Maybe a few small car trips during the week will help her get more comfortable with being in the car.
My lifesaver was a mirror... I think it's from Fisher price. It has lights, music and the center is a good sized square mirror. My kids loved looking at themselves (and when they could reach, they loved touching it). It comes with a small remote that looks like a plastic garage door opener, but smaller. You clip it to your visor and when you need to, push the button and it makes the lights and music on the mirror turn on for a couple minutes. When I got it for my children and it worked, I decided to name it my 20 dollars of car heaven!
Hope that helps!
Have you tried A dvd player with her favorite shows.
I agree w/ the advice of keep on driving, if you're stopping every 10 mins, she's happy to see you & that's what she wants. Try sitting in the back seat w/ her & definitely keep driving. We've taken our boys on 10 hour car trips & suffered through many yelling spells, but we got there. Frequent stops to run around help also on a longer trip. They are 3.5 & 19 months now so we have a dvd player that helps distract them.
Good luck!
