My 6-month-old daughter recently started protestly--LOUDLY--whenever we put her in her Graco Snugride carseat. So my question is two-fold:
1. Any ideas as to what might be going on that is causing her aversion to the carseat and how I might help her get over it?
2. Do infants stay in this infant carseat for the full year that they are supposed to or do you switch to a convertible (or other) carseat before that time? I suspect she hates it b/c her feet are starting to stick out and she hates being semi-reclined. Thanks for your help!
Thanks to everyone who responded--you gave me some great advice that I used, such as adding padding to my daughter's car seat, keeping her entertained with music or toys, etc. We decided to buy the Centro stroller by Peg Perego b/c it had all the features we wanted and we found the 2006 model at a great price. We are still searching for a good convertible car seat, but definitely decided it's time to move her out of the Snugride. Thanks so much!
My son outgrew the infant carseat at 6 months. They are too heavy to carry in the seat anymore at that point and can sit up on their own on in a stroller so the infant seat isn't really necessary anymore. Just get a convertible and keep her backwards until over a year.
I would suggest that it may be time to move to the reguslar car seat. We did around 5-6 months and my son was very happy!
Hi M.,
Do you have a shade on your back window? My son cried if the sun got in his eyes. Also, the infant seat might be too big. I think we changed to a convertible at around 4 months. We got the Britax roundabout and loved it.
Good luck!
My baby started crying uncontrollably in her Graco SnugRide starting at around 3 months. I would stop the car, take her out, look around. I never found anything wrong with the seat itself; and she would stop crying as soon as I held her. I tried talking to her, telling her we were almost home, etc. Nothing helped. Finally someone suggested playing baby/kid's music for her. I got a few cd's and that did the trick. I think as she got older, she just got bored in the back by herself. She definitely has her favorite songs. I play Raffi and this mix of children's music I bought from Target. When she is tired, the music helps her go to sleep in her seat. Now she is 11 months. I still have her in the Snugride eventhough I just bought the Britax Marathon. She hasn't outgrown the Snugride (in terms of the height and weight specifications) and I just love being able to take the whole seat out when she is sleeping. I do have to admit, I am going a bit nuts from listening to her music!!! Hope this helps.
I would first check to make sure that there is nothing about the seat itself that is making her uncomfortable. My daughter had a Graco carseat and the padding wore out so the hard plastic underneath was digging into her. I put some extra foam inside and that solved the problem for her.
You should definitely keep her in the rear-facing carseat until she is at least one year old. Check the carseat - many are adjustable so if she hates being semi-reclined, you may be able to tilt her up a bit more.
Good luck!!
