Is there any easy way to get your child used to a car seat?

Question

I have a 1 year old daughter. The biggest problem we have with her is putting her in the car seat. My wife sits with her in the back seat and tries to keep her engaged with toys and books. But even then, it works for only 10-15 mins. After that she starts howling to get out of the car seat. Even music, which she normally likes, can't keep her engaged any longer. Looks like she hates the idea of being tied down to something. One other problem we have is that if she cries loudly for a short while, she has a tendency of vomiting out whatever she has eaten in the last hour or two. So we are a bit apprehensive about leaving her to cry by herself for too long.

Is there any easy way to get our daughter used to sitting in the car seat? Is there anything we can do to make her enjoy sitting in the car seat? Or is letting her cry and realize that crying would not help to get her out of the car seat the only way to go about it? We can't go for any long drives because of this problem.

Answer 1

She has got you tied around her little finger. It is a control issue. She needs to understand that you are the one that makes the rules not her. Your wife needs to sit in the front with you. Kids throw fits, its all apart of learning. She needs to see that you aren't going to give in to it any longer. Let her cry it wont hurt her. She will make all these awful noises and turn different colors to make you do what she wants. When she does a good job and behaves let her know that you are so happy that she was being safe in her car seat. Hugs and kisses are free, don't buy her anything just shower her with praises. As far as the throwing up, she will throw up and she will eventually get over it. When she starts up let her know that you will not allow her to act like that. Don't reward her for stopping or give her what she wants just so she will be quiet. Treats, and cuddling are for positive behaviors or just because you love her. I know you are a great parent who just wants to do the right thing for your daughter. Put on the armor and prepare for battle four gonna need it, she sounds tough!

Answer 2

Like the first person to answer, I also let my daughter climb in and out of the car seat in the house. Just make sure it is in a secure place so that she doesn't knock it over and hurt herself.

My daughter got impatient with the car seat when she was almost 2 years old. We ended up getting a DVD player for the car and 3 movies that she was only allowed to watch on car rides.

If she can't be made content, you may just have to let her cry. She has about 3 more years of being stuck in that thing - she's got to get use to it. Also make sure that everything is adjusted properly - she shouldn't have to slouch down because of a tight seat belt or anything.

Answer 3

I agree with bringing the car seat into your house and stabilizing the car seat where it will not fall with your daughter in it and do not leave her alone for very long while you are doing this. I did this for my daughter when she was small. She use to sit in it and watch TV (but she was alittle older than 1-I think) and when we got ready to go somewhere we would tell her that we were going and we needed to put your seat into the car. I would say this to her and at first only go for short, fun car rides. Maybe you could drive to the bakery or to the pet shop and look in the window. Start rewarding her early with fun little trips and then maybe she will get better for the longer rides. It's also hard when they are facing back in the seat and can't see their parents. When she gets older your car rides will be better when she is facing you in her car seat.

Answer 4

Maybe she would feel better about it if she got to pick out her own car seat. The one she has may be uncomfortable for her. Try taking her to the store and putting her in the display seats to see which she likes best.
Also, the vomiting when she cries might indicate a reflux problem. If you haven't, you should discuss this with her pediatrician.
If this doesn't solve the problem, you can try letting her cry it out. It won't hurt her to cry, even if she yaks, and maybe she'll find that freaking out like that isn't worth it if she isn't rewarded by getting her way.

Answer 5

Crying so hard she vomits is not harmful to her, it's attention. Your wife needs to quit sitting with her in the backseat. You need to put her back there, buckle her in tight, and then leave it alone. You should both be sitting in the front seat and ignore her. She's fine. Don't think that just because she is one that she hasn't figured out what to do to get attention. If you remember why you have her in her car seat (for her protection) then it will be easier for you. You aren't doing it to be cruel. Also, if she's not in the car that often, it will take a lot longer to get her used to it. You may want to take her for a ride at least once every other day if not every day. That way she can get used to it faster.

Answer 6

Dude, she's carsick. No amount of entertaining or Mommy sitting with her is going to fix that!

I know it's tough. My middle kid gets car sick. Riding facing the back of the vehicle where she couldn't see anything (which is the SAFEST way for such a young child to travel) made it worse.

Get one of those seabands for her wrist. You can consult with your pediatrician about other alternatives, but I don't like medications for little kids myself.

It does get better. Once my daughter could see out the window, the car sickness subsided. So you might try taking away all the books and toys and Mommy to see if she'll look out the window, becuase that really helps, along with fresh and/or cool air while you're driving.

Answer 7

Traveling with a toddler is not fun, no matter what you buy. Give yourself plenty of time to get through security. Remember that you can have the carseat and stroller and check them in at the gate when you get on the plane (so the stroller goes under the plane and the carseat would go with you). They have carrying cases for the carseats in many stores and they do work very well. You can also check on Ebay for them as they might be less expensive. Not sure how much you travel or how much use you will get out of it, so you might not want to get anything too expensive. Get a backpack for all of your stuff. It doesnt have to be made for 'babies', i used the one i had for college so it was less expensive and i just used baggies to seperate the foods, brushes, wipes, etc and organize it (since they dont have all the pockets that the baby bags have). I used a small carry bottle cooler to put his cups of milk in and then all i had to do was take that litlte bag out for security and not emptyt the whole backpack. As you must already know..... bring lots of things to do on the plane and lots of snacks. Good luck....

Answer 8

She is probably acting like this b/c she is getting carsick. My 2yr old cannot be in his carseat for long either or he starts to vomit. Visiting family that was hours away was a nightmare for us. He'd cry and cry to get out. I too, would go to the back to entertain him. We even bought those portable car dvd system so he could watch the cartoons and get his mind off his nausea. Sometimes it worked and relaxed him some. Yet there is not much you can do if the car is constantly is in motion and your stomach cant handle it. If we did leave out of town we would leave early in the morning when he was still asleep and would be for some hours. When he woke up we'd have to stop somewhere so that we could get him out of the car for awhile. It may have took us longer than usual to get to our destinaion,but it worked.

Answer 9

My daughter used to do the same thing. It is more about control and less about them actually not wanting to sit in the seat. Give her snacks or bribe her with stickers or whatever may work that she likes if she sits still and is a good girl. We basically explained to our daughter that she didn't have a choice not sitting in the seat was not an option and that was that. Get ear plugs if you have to and ignore her (as long as she is not choking) eventually she will accept it.

Answer 10

I had this problem once before. The only thing that I could get to help was take the car seat out of the car and sit it in your house and let her climb in and out of it by herself. Soon, she may try to buckle herself in and might get used to it. That was the only way my daughter got used to the dreaded carseat.