So. We are about to embark on our first road trip with little Ezra, 5 hours one way to be exact (well, 5 hours was before children, so add on the appropriate amount of time here). Here's the deal: Ezra still hates being in the car. It has gotten significantly better if I roll down the windows and put "Blessed be your name" from my Encore's greatest hits CD on repeat (I'm not kidding: if we let it go to the next song he starts crying), but most of the time he will still start crying within 10-15 minutes of being in the carseat, most of the time sooner. I'm not talking about whimpering and fussing, I'm talking about screaming inconsolably, to the point where when we get him out of the carseat he is all sweaty from crying so hard. I'm not sure what the deal is. We have tried singing, mirror in front of him, shade on the window, carseat shade down, carseat shade up, sitting back there with him (worked for a little bit), and I'm sure some other stuff. One of the main problems is Ezra won't fall asleep in his carseat. Yeah, I know this works for every other kid that ever existed, in fact I've heard of people doing this when their kids are fussy at night to GET them to go to sleep. Also, he loves both of his strollers. He falls asleep almost immediately when we take him in the jogging stroller around the neighborhood, and we use the stroller that came with the carseat to go shopping. We get him out of the carseat, put him in the stroller, and he falls asleep. He just doesn't like sitting so upright, I guess.
A few years ago when we first moved to Lubbock, we visited churches. One Sunday morning in a Bible class we were visiting where most of the attendees had young children (not the class we are currently in, in case any of you are reading this :), they were taking prayer requests and one lady raised her hand and requested prayers for herself and her husband because they were taking a trip and her son hated her carseat. I am pretty sure I rolled my eyes. If I didn't roll my eyes, I thought about it. To me it was ridiculous that someone would request prayers because their child didn't like his carseat. Oh silly, naive me. Of COURSE I got a child that hates his carseat.
Help me. Better yet, pray for me. Seriously though, if anyone has any suggestions, I will gladly take them.
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10 comments:
Melatonin. a VERY small amount will relax him, and help him sleep during the ride. A family down the street from me has a now 2 year old son, and since day 1 he has hated the car seat, and drives. Melatonin calms him down and allows him to sleep.
You may want to talk to your pediatrician, just to be sure how much to give him. But you can get liquid form of melatonin from most health stores.
I hope this helps :)
~Bree
Well, here is some advice that is a little hardcore, let him cry. I have been on many an 8 hour trip with many different ages of babies. Ezra is so little that he will eventually get so tired he will cry himself to sleep. It will be horrible for you, so put some earplugs in, but no baby has every been damaged in anyway from crying for awhile. So, that is my hardcore advice, and yes, I have done it, and it stinks, but he will learn as he gets a little older that the carseat is inevitible until he is like 40 lbs or 5 years old, so he just needs to get used to it. :(
Chrissy, that doesn't seem so hardcore to me, especially since at this point we don't have many other options. I am thinking speeding is a good idea to shave some time off the trip. :)
Coen hated the car seat too, until we moved him to a big kid seat...which is still down the road for you. Anyway, I guess he just didn't fit right in it. (my advice was going to be the mirror) We have had some long trips-it will pass and I agree with chrissy, car seats are inevitable-no choice, gonna happen and I will pray for your sanity.
PS-avry calmed down (still does) to Blue Sky's and Rainbows.....worked everytime!!
Sarah, sometimes Ezra cries with his eyes open...we think he likes to be dramatic and watch himself cry. Maybe we should take the mirror away since it might be egging him on.
You know I am very skilled in this area....since we do the 13 hours to blue haven every year and started with an almost 3 month old who wouldn't sleep either. Truly Lesley there isn't much you can do that you haven't already tried. Taking him out to calm him down will usually not help much except for the moments that he's out. That's how Elle was. She would start back up the second we put her back in. My only two suggestions are 1. plan to leave right after you have fed him, changed him, and burped him..not when it's nap time. But when he's just got a full belly and may be at his most content. 2. I'm not kidding when I say, bring headphones and good music. You just can't stop every time he is freak out crying and sometimes you just have to barrel through and the only way to block it out is to put your headphones on. I will say prayers for ya'll. It definitely is a test of your ability not to lose it also, which I did sometimes when Elle was little.
He needs to get over it. Sit back there with him so he knows he's not all alone in this horrible world where people put him where he doesn't want to be. If he screams for 5 hours I'd be really surprised.
Or you could just not go. If it were me I'd probably consider that option.
I always judged people whose kids were picky eaters. Joke's on me.
Please do not tell me if Ezra "screams inconsolably, to the point where when we get him out of the carseat he is all sweaty from crying so hard". I can't stand it.
Sorry, but that is life.
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