Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
My friend has a 4 month old and he flips out in the car.
I know that this is common and it is something he?ll grow out of (Todd did
eventually), but she?s willing to try more things to try to fix this sooner.
She wants to drive up to Pittsburgh to see family (4+ hr drive), but she can?t
take the crying and screaming for that long.
Sometimes music works, but not always. She was hoping to
have to cousin ride up with them and sit in the back, but their schedules aren?t
meshing. Her son won?t keep the pacifier in and she doesn?t want to give him a bunch
of toys for safety reasons.
We talked about the possibility of switching him to the
convertible seat RFing. I know that some of you moved your kids to the
convertible seat a lot younger than we did. Did it help with unhappy baby
issues? She?s concerned that it won?t help since he?s happy to be in the bucket
when it?s in the stroller, but she?s willing to try it if others have had
success.
Any advice is appreciated ? she might not come visit for
months if she can?t get him to calm down in the car. :-( I remember a number of really unpleasant car trips with Todd screaming in the back seat...so I don't blame her, but I want to help if I can.
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
Heather Margaret --- Feb '07 and Todd Eldon --- April '09

Re: Help for friend ? screaming baby in car
Wes was 5mo when we took him to the beach. He wasn't a crazy car crier, but he wasn't content by any stretch. We just made stops every 2 hrs, gave him some safe toys to entertain himself and let him watch some Elmo DVDs when the going got tough. Toys can be a double edged swoard without a sibling to help out in the back though, since dropping one can make matters even worse.
What about Benedryl? I've never done it, but I've seen it suggested for flying.
Is it possible he is getting car sick? Maybe a screen on the window so he can't see everything going by backwards?
Will he sleep in the car? Maybe a trip at night. Since it is only 4 hrs even if she left at 7:30, she'd be here in Pgh by midnight...which is late, but still gives a full night's sleep (potentially! ha!)
Good luck to your friend. Screaming baby in the back seat is no fun for anyone.
Gavin was like this - until I moved his seat to the inside (middle) of the backseat bench (versus being right on top of the window). I think he may have been getting carsick.
Night driving is a great idea - I never thought of that!
My three sons!
The night driving plan didn't work for us. We tried it once with Lanna and she slept for about 1.5 hrs and then woke up P*SSED for the rest of the ride. Both of my kids have a limit to how long they'll snooze in the car.