KatieJ Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Any suggestions for something to help out my DD whose 12 month does not like being in the car. Her family has an 8 hour road trip coming up next week. They probably will stop for the night after 5 hours on the way there, but on the way home, it will be straight thru. Looking for thoughts on Essential Oils or Homeopathy things that might help. She is about 20 pounds. They are looking for a stage 2 carseat this week, but they used mine last week for a few days and it didn't seem to help. she is adorable, loveable, very happy baby most of the time. Sleeps great, except no so much in the car. Cars are just not her thing. She is also cutting her first teeth. One or two in, and more on the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Darn it, I was going to suggest going to the next stage in the car seat as this helped enormously with my niece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Maybe having one of the parents sit beside her where she can see and interact with the parent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Videos on iPad? Not-too-choking-hazard snacks? (Assuming there's a person sitting next to her) My 2 year old hated the car until around 15 mos. Hated as in blood curdling screams the whole time. I get the shakes and feel slightly nauseated just thinking about the sound. We would just hope hope hope she fell asleep. :grouphug: to your DD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 my firstborn was like that - she hated her carseat with a passion until she was allowed to turn around and face forward. Her issue was a constant need for entertainment (siblings were the best solution for that issue...) Things I would do that helped for trips - I would sit next to her and entertain her - lots of books (she was into books from a very young age). I also planned trips around sleeping as much as possible - for the long drive back maybe they could leave at bedtime and drive all night?? Thankfully our regular car trip was a 2 hour drive to see grandparents so we would leave just before naptime and then she would cry herself to sleep and wake up just in time to be there. One idea my mom did when my brother and I were little for a long trip was shop at the dollar store for a lot of little toys and as soon as one toy was no longer keeping our interest she would give us a new one to open (it was around Christmas time but you could do it anytime.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenNotOfTroy Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Did they install the convertible seat at the newborn recline or more upright? I have heard that makes a difference for some babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Infant Tylenol can be a good choice for low-level pain. Hylands teething tablets are also (in my experience) helpful for both teething and general upset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Is it possible she has motion sickness? I have horrible motion sickness. I screamed in the car seat (yes, I had a car seat in 1970 because my mom was a pediatric ER/trauma nurse) because I was sick to my stomach. As an adult, if I have to ride backwards, it is so much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Videos. We try to limit media in general, but for a bored toddler in the car I pull out all the stops. Some like music as well, the same songs over and over. Pat-a-cake and finger play repeated ad nauseum. Peek a boo. Snacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueTaelon Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 My youngest HATED car rides with a passion which was not good since it was 3 hrs each way to the childrens hospital and we went several times a month. The solution was to play movies, she was only a couple of months old when we started and she loved the colors in Shark Tale. Now at 8 shes a lot better but the first few years were a nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Good ideas. Driving at night not a possiblity for lot of reasons. I do think my other grandkids who hated their carseats were happier once the seat was front facing. This 12 month old is not old enough. She hates driving around town in her carseat. I don't know if she is remotely interested in videos just yet. I will suggest that they have Mom sit next to her, but Mom loves to drive. Not sure what Dad does. They use Hylands teething tablets..but I was hoping for something other than Tylenol and Benedryl suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Leave very early in the morning so the baby will sleep through much of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Leave very early in the morning so the baby will sleep through much of it. That's not a possibity due to schedules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Good ideas. Driving at night not a possiblity for lot of reasons. I do think my other grandkids who hated their carseats were happier once the seat was front facing. This 12 month old is not old enough. She hates driving around town in her carseat. I don't know if she is remotely interested in videos just yet. I will suggest that they have Mom sit next to her, but Mom loves to drive. Not sure what Dad does. They use Hylands teething tablets..but I was hoping for something other than Tylenol and Benedryl suggestions. If your dd likes to drive, her dh could sit in the back with the baby. Dads can keep kids occupied just as well as moms can! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Our dog worked pretty well at occupying our dd at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a27mom Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I flipped my fussy dd to forward facing as soon as possible. But When dd was 9 months we had to travel 8 hours rear facing, we brought my SIL and she sat in the seat behind her and entertained. Definitely at least put an entertaining/comforting grown up where the little one can see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Gasp! My kids are adult, so you can't face them forward? House full of those who got carsick even riding forward, I can't imagine riding backwards. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Hylands teething tablets are also (in my experience) helpful for both teething and general upset. Yes, one child had a lot of pain when permanent fromt teeth were coming in, and obviously could talk at this point -- she reported they helped IMMEDIATELY and (amusingly enough) even fell asleep once after taking them, as predicted on the bottle. This was in a child, not baby. I found that interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 A determined set of parents can tolerate a lot of screaming to get to their destination. Grandparents shouldn't have to worry about that, just be ready to take the baby and let the parents rest upon arrival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 DD12 was a very pleasant, happy baby, until we put her in the car, whereupon she would become a screaming nightmare. Being trapped in the same space with a screaming baby for hours was terrible. She improved a lot when we turned her seat around, and we also eventually found some music that she liked, which we would play on an endless loop. We would pull out favorite toys to distract her or sing to her. Nothing helped much. As it turns out, she often feels carsick now, so I'm sure she was feeling ill back then but couldn't tell us :crying: . Perhaps they can try SeaBands, which are terrycloth bracelets that push on a pressure point on the wrist. We got ours at Target. I'm pretty sure they come in a child's size, but I don't know if they would fit an infant. I'd suggest they ask their pediatrician if something like this would be safe to try or if the ped has other recommendations for possibly carsick babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 A determined set of parents can tolerate a lot of screaming to get to their destination. Grandparents shouldn't have to worry about that, just be ready to take the baby and let the parents rest upon arrival. They are not driving to see me. I live near them. And yes, Grandparents do worry, but I am not. I am just looking for some suggestions for things they have not already tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaVT Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 This brings back memories of car trips with DS when he was younger. Sounds exactly like him. He hated the car - screamed every time we started driving for more than 5 minutes. It got a little better when we turned him around at 2, but now they want you to wait even longer than that. It was motion sickness that was affecting him. He's starting to grow out of it now, but we still keep our "puke emergency kit" in the car for any trip longer than 30 min just in case. I don't have any advice really, just sympathy! :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 My last baby got sooo hot. We put in a freezer pad before we put him in. Worked great. Also, a dvd player on the back of the seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 My son screamed after about 5 minutes in the car, front-facing or back. Until we sold the tiny Geo Metro, in which he couldn't really see out of the window, and bought a mini-van, in which he had a great view. He was bored and couldn't see where he was going. Since I doubt they can buy a new car, if that's the issue, I'd go with the movies and an entertaining adult sitting next to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmama Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 If your dd likes to drive, her dh could sit in the back with the baby. Dads can keep kids occupied just as well as moms can! :) This is what we did. I drove everywhere and dh would sit in the back to entertain ds. Worked great for us :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Facing forward helped a little. The biggest help was distraction, and for that we found a small, basic MP3 player loaded with kids music the best. For ds it wasn't just the music, it was having the music-making-gadget in his hands and being able to press buttons. We could also record us talking to him, or make videos of him, all of which he loved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiMi 4under3 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 On plane rides, I'd give my three young toddlers those giant Blow-Pops to lick. They're too big to bite down on and they last for hours. Bring wipes. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 On plane rides, I'd give my three young toddlers those giant Blow-Pops to lick. They're too big too bite down on and they last for hours. Bring wipes. :D Please don't give a sucker unless an adult is watching at all times, though. Ask me how I know... I saw my 18 month old dd choke on a sucker she bit off the stick and it scarred me. My dds weren't allowed suckers unless they were closely watched for a few years after that. (Maybe that makes me a helicopter parent? If so, I'm okay with that since they're still alive and well.) OP, I would have a parent sit in the back with the baby to entertain. I would also probably try new toys, plan on stopping often, and a portable dvd player. Night travel was always worse for us when our youngest didn't like traveling. I also wouldn't try any medicine/drugs on a road trip because they may have the opposite effect. Again, ask me how I know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiMi 4under3 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Please don't give a sucker unless an adult is watching at all times, though. Ask me how I know... Good point... Luckily, we had one adult per child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 We had to slowly get our dd used to the new carseat at that age. We brought it into the house and treated it like a big kid 'special seat.' Invited her to sit, giving a reward of a goldfish after a minute...whilst playing with her. Then stretching it, oh, mommy is going to get your dolly... It was that extreme. When she still had to rear-face we used a large Velcro mirror so that she could see, and that helped too. We must have done that for a few minutes several times per day for a week or so before she finally was ready to try it in the car. Then we had a small bucket of special-only-in the car toys. Okay...an for my either brilliant moment or horrible parenting moment, depending upon how you look at it. After a trip to the pet store for inspiration, we made her a food-dispensing puzzle, lol. You know, like the ones for dogs?! We made hers out of PVC pipe...you turned the pieces so they were aligned just so and a goldfish would shake out:) kept her quite busy and she was fed and entertained:) *hangs head in shame* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking Squirrels Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Mine was 17 months when we did our last road trip, so older but still baby/toddler age. I prepared a lot of activities for her and older dd. I made a quiet book, I sewed up some quick marble mazes, lots of sticker sheets (kids can peel stickers for ages), crayons, paper.... One hit was aluminum foil. I just packed a roll of it and I'd tear it off in 3' or so lengths and they could do whatever. Older tried to make things from it, toddler just crumpled. Lots of snacks within reach helped and a sippy cup of water that won't spill easily. Make sure the car seat is at a good angle. A 1yo with good neck control doesn't need the full 45 degree recline. That helps a lot of little ones out. And some just hate it no matter what you do :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Well, if they can't solve it, they can take consolation in the fact that I know a child who was the same way and finally gave up screaming in the car on a really long road trip. The shorter trips back home again were better afterwards. Sitting by the child and toys are things we've done with mixed success. Holding hands with one kid worked - it was like a magic button - hold hands (quiet), let go because arm is numb from reaching back (screaming), adjust angle of arm and hold again (silence). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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