My 6-month-old hates the carseat: Advice?

My son is six months old and hates the car seat at night. He’s a very happy baby and rarely ever cries, but when he’s in his car seat at night, he screams his little lungs out. We have a mirror where he can see himself and myself, and I turn on the overhead lights in the back, so he isn’t in the dark. I always leave a toy or two with him so he can try to distract himself. Does anyone have any other tips?

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Maybe a new car seat. Try the britax 4 in 1

We had to get a little DVD player for our daughter. She hated being in the car seat at that age and the DVD player helped.

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You know those baby night lights with the stars and its has soothing baby music those work really well my daughter was also fussy at night in the car but that keeps her calm they even have like little tiny ones that can hang from his carseat handle and if you put the hood up on his seat too it wont be distracting while driving

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Maybe try it without the back light on? When I was trying to help my son get used to sleeping in his crib I let him cry it out with little baby bum. When I turned the TV off, it was pitch black and he was out in minutes.

If possible have yourself or someone else sit in the back with him. My son did this til I realized he just didn’t like being in the back by himself.

We have the iPad and downloaded Foxtel kids or abc app and it plays continuously through shows
We were lucky my son liked the car but git bored or dropped the toys
So we got the case for the iPad and it’s the best distraction

I have to pull the car seat out and sign baby shark and then put her in and buckle her in

maybe gets motion sickness, worse at night when there is no visibly outside.

Sit with him or maybe his seat isn’t comfortable…

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Don’t go out @ night :rofl:

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Play some worship music and change the atmosphere, brings peace.

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If there is more than one person in the vehicle (a passenger in the front seat) have them sit in the back with him so he isnt alone.

Try hooking up an iPad with a show to keep him distracted? Worked for my little one. She hated the cat seat as well

My daughter did this in my fiancé’s truck since he has tinted windows. We bring her noise maker in the truck with us. It’s what she uses to fall asleep so she watches it and calms her down. Maybe sit back there that way they don’t feel alone?

No advice except to try to make them as comfortable as possible. My first child fought the car seat bands as soon as she was in them. Nothing would ease her and she would fight until she fell asleep. It was hell to drive through.

Eventually they will cry it out. Unfortunately in our busy worlds there is car time. It sucks but when you have things like school drop off and such sometimes it is what it is. All 4 of my kids cried as infants in car seats. With my 1st 2 I pulled over all the time to try and fix things…never worked especially that young…

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Maybe he is strapped in too tight. It might also be the car seat is too small

My son hated the carseat to. Nothing helped. He just grew out if it.

I played music for my baby. He’s now 10 months and doesnt mind getting in

My son would not sleep in his capsule or car seat as he slept on his tummy!

Have you tried a mirror that lights up? I have one that like plays music and lights up and it stopped my son from freaking out in the car at night

Sit in the back with him if you are a passenger.

New carseat its uncomfortable to child

My boys both hated their seats day or night. I bought ridiculous expensive ones, cheaper ones, padded them, loosened straps, tv, lights, sitting with them, music, toys etc literally EVERYTHING.
They would both scream bloody murder from point A to B no matter what I did. I learned to know in my heart they’re not hurting and turned the music on and tried to get there and back without losing my mind. Good luck. It sucks.
They didn’t quit until they hit 1 year and I was able to use a forward facing seat (I actually did at 9-10 months) this was 19 & 16 years ago too when that was ok. But that was the only thing that worked for mine.

My daughter was the same until we bought her a stuffy that clipped to the car seat that had a noise box inside … also worked for my son they loved it so much with white noise they slept with it in their beds too

My son use to do the same thing he most likely afraid of the dark. the light is not enough because he see black out the back window. We played kid music for my son sometimes it helped sometime not. also have his ears check to see if there is an infection. When my son was at his worse he usually had a ear infection and the change in the pressure in his ears at nigh and then add the car to it was painful.

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I got the baby einstein’s Beethoven CD. It’s like magic! He would immediately stop crying and listen even if he wasn’t asleep.
Also, obviously if it’s just you and baby you have to drive. But if your going somewhere with someone else who can drive, sit in the back with him. I know it’s annoying and feels like you have a chauffer, but my son was fine if he could just stair at me lol.

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Gosh idk my son was the same way eventually he just grew out of it thank God anytime we had to go anywhere was like crazy and he didnt like pacifiers try music maybe if someone can sit in the back with him idk I feel what your going through tho ugh hopefully he gets adjusted mama

Many great comments, especially about the lights because it does seem like the dark is the issue. You could also find a cd they baby likes, it is annoying listening to kid songs on repeat but so is crying lol. My oldest cried a lot in his carseat when he was a baby, it was facing backwards that was the issue. He loved the Backyardagans CD, so that was on repeat in the car and he was fine. I still can sing all the songs almost 14 years later :woman_facepalming::rofl:. My other children didn’t care, except my youngest son who could take unbuckle his straps and get out of his carseat from a very young age. It didn’t matter how tight I made them, I almost bought a pad lock to keep them together lol. He still is my difficult child lol. My youngest loves Elizabeth Mitchell’s music and I think it is calming and tolerable considering the alternative. I use to play Mitchell’s “You are my sunshine” when she would get fussy at home, so I thought getting the CD for the car would work for her crying there too. It did.

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Check it out. There maybe a thread or piece of plastic poking him.

Make sure there’s no thread or small piece of plastic poking him.

I put my phone in my 6 month olds cup holders to his car seat and put on his nursery rhymes with bright all the way up. He watches it and listens. Keeps him happy for the most part. Hope this helps❤

DVD car system! My daughter doesn’t really watch TV but she will in the car things like Elmo with singing and dancing lots of colors works like a charm!!

Our son is almost 6 months and he has a toy on his carseat that lights up and sings. I would not switch to convertible seat at this age, his body is to little and fragile for an impact…

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Car seats for the littles on fb can answer a lot of car seat questions. There are CPSTs that safely answer questions.
They are a great group of ladies.
Your baby would most likely prefer a convertible that sits more upright but still rearfacing. Join the group! They have helped me with so much and understanding car seats, how to properly use and install them.

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my kids hated the baby seat once they got moved into the convertible that sat higher they were fine. the baby seat doesnt sit high enough to see out the window or anything along those lines. also the lights of the head lights that r coming towards u might be hurting his eyes when they reflect off the mirror

If you have an iPad or tablet you can download little baby bum on Netflix if you don’t have internet and put it on the seat where the mirror is my baby is hardly ever in her car seat but it definitely helps keep her mind off it she hates being in the car seat

My daughter screamed bloody murder tell she was 3 no matter what we did cartoons nothing worked she has since grown out of it

You can be ticketed for driving with interior lights on in your car. So I would stop doing that. And he’s throwing a fit ignore it completely. The more you feed into it the more he’s going to do it.

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Mine did this it helped when we switched to the convertible carseat so she is up higher and can see out the window 18 months now she loves the car

We did the dvd! Curious George was our go to

At this age, they all hate laying down in the car. Try installing a bit more upright or switching to a convertible seat.

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Toy bar with lights and sounds. Please DO NOT try to position it more upright. Keep it in the position required.

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Do not stick electronics in the kid’s face get him a glow worm or something that glows that is not going to be distracting to the driver.

Your can buy clip on reading lights. Clip on carseat handle and it would get light closer to him.

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Try a different car seat sometimes they get uncomfortable.

Lol this is normal i got a steering wheel and put alight up toy on it

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Ipad with Disney plus or Netflix