HELP! My 4 Month Old HATES the Car!!

Loud music in the car. Seriously. My son hated the car. But if I turned up the music he would hush. If I turned it down, he started squalling again. He liked rock-n-roll. Anything with a steady beat. I specifically remember Metallica and Led Zeppelin being quite effective. lol Oh yes, and before I get hate mail- his hearing is perfect now at 5 years old.

2 moms found this helpful

You can get a mirror with small hanging toys on it to help. It will keep her interested, and you can see her while you drive too which is nice.

Toys anything cuddly she should like. Just make the backseat more interesting for her. Put up a few stickers on the window she can look at. Or better yet put a picture of you. Maybe she is upset she cant see you well.

Best wishes!

my dd HATED being in the car until she could turn forward facing. Maybe you could put a mirror up where she can see it so she can see herself and not feel so alone/trapped back there.

my dughter is 5months n still feels the same way in the car... She has been getting better tho... She has her moments but in the beginig I got her a small mobile that goes on the handle and hangs n plays music n goes 'round. It helps a lot cause she was too small to keep pushing buttons to make noise on the bar toys... Now I hand her her shoe or sunglasses and she quiets down for a good while... Hope it helps :) oooooh oh ya and when nothing else works I play "cant wait to be king" from lion king from youtube on my cell, she loves that never fails!

my oldest went through that phase right around the same age. it didnt matter what I did or gave to him. he hated being in the car. he eventually stopped with the crying on his own, but honestly it took a couple of months. good luck

Pretty common. I always thought that my son must have felt all alone back there, because if I sat in the back where he could see me, he was fine. A crib mirror helped a little, but not much. Mostly, he hated it until he was old enough and big enough to turn around.

I didn't read the other posts, just in case this is a repeat answer.

My son HATED the car. Once we switched his car seat and put him front facing, he was fine.

Try it, just switch the seat around and go around the block, she might suffer from motion sickness and can not be turned around

Its a phase... Its a phase.
It will end.
Babies often do this.

I used to tie a Helium balloon... in the car where the baby can see it but not get tangled in it.
It distracts them.

You gotta go in the car, anyway.
They will do this.
But its a phase.
Or they are OVER-tired and overly stimulated.
Not a time to do doing errands.
Or motion sickness or the straps are too tight or pinching her somewhere.

But it will end.

Ok, I had a nice answer all typed up and it didn't post it for some reason. This will be a shortened version of my earlier answer.
I agree with some of the posts that say it is a phase and an age thing but it could also be the seat. My son was the same way and something made me check the padding in the seat. There was only a flimsy piece of fabric. I put a little extra padding under the fabric and it heped a little. We had his seat checked at one of the safety stations and were told that we needed a new seat. They sold us a really nice one for cheap and my son was happier the INSTANT we put him in it. He will still happily sit in it and he is three.
I know that you probably don't want to get a new car seat but it might be worth looking into. At least you might get a sane care ride.
I hope that you find a few tips and maybe a solution. I have felt your pain!

Have you tried singing to her or giving her toys? She might be lonely back there. Whenever my daughter acted up in the carseat, I found that singing helped and definitely a favorite toy. It must be hard to be a baby, facing backward away from mommy or daddy :-). Good luck.

My younger screamed in his carseat until we purchased a convertible seat he then happily rear faced until 2.5 yr

Is she too warm? My son would get super upset around that age and we finally figured out that the car seat was warm and we were dressing him warmly on top of that. We got an ice pack to keep the seat cool before we put him in and then would dress him more lightly for trips in the car.

It's the age, I think. Many babies at the daycare went through a point where they disliked the car. Try toys (soft ones that she can throw), music, soft books...they start to want to do more and then get cranky about being restrained. It should get better. Does it help to have someone sit with her sometimes?

My heart goes out to you. It will get better, I promise! Just have to keep
putting her in car and going. Most babies love the car but there are a few
that do no enjoy a nice ride. Good luck.