Pexels/Bashir Olawoyin
I’d been on what felt like house arrest ever since my daughter was born. A quick trip to a fast food joint during her second week of life revealed her disdain for the car seat. She wailed for the entire ride home as I hovered over her feeling helpless and afraid to take her out of the seat while the car was in motion. As you can probably guess, things did not improve once I was the one in the driver’s seat. For this reason, I had sort of resigned to staying home unless our trips were 10 minutes and under unless someone was around to travel with us. And even then, I refused to take her on trips longer than 25 minutes. I was literally scheduling all of my appointments around times when my husband was home from work or my mother, who lives out of state, was in town to help out with the baby. That was all good and dandy until it wasn’t.
One day, I was banking on my mother being in town so that I could attend a time-sensitive dentist’s appointment. Something came up, which meant that she was unable to make it and I honestly didn’t know when she would be available again. I felt angry. Then sad. Then hopeless. Prior to having a baby, I prided myself on being independent. It pained me that I had to wait for others to take care of my business. After feeling sorry for myself for a few hours, I went into problem-solving mode. I reflected on all of the trips we had taken and compiled a list of trips that had gone really well and trips that felt like they were straight from hell. After a while, I began to notice a trend. Below is a comprehensive list of all of the tricks, strategies, and mindsets that have helped me to successfully travel alone with my daughter. We’re still keeping our trips 30 minutes and under these days, but I’ve noticed significant improvement. No single item is a cure-all, but when working in orchestra, they have made traveling a lot more pleasant for both myself and my baby.
Leave early
First and foremost, don’t wait until the last minute. Every mom knows that getting yourself and baby out of the house can be a major undertaking. The stress of potentially being late for an appointment paired with the weight of knowing that you may have a ride with a crying, screaming baby ahead is a recipe for disaster. Babies feed off of your energy. When mom is calm, baby is much more likely to chill out. I have found that my trips are much more successful when I plan ahead and leave early.
Some of the things that I do to set my trip up for success include laying my clothes and daughter’s clothes out hours in advance, thawing out milk and making bottles about an hour before we plan to leave, and packing the baby bag the night before.
Take breaks
I don’t know about you, but I can’t take hearing my baby crying and screaming in the backseat for too long. For this reason, I build time into my commute to pull over and take breaks. Sometimes that looks like pulling over and getting in the backseat with the baby. Sometimes that looks like both of us getting out of the car and heading into a convenience store for a brief change of scenery. Sometimes that just means standing next to the car and allowing baby to get some fresh air. When you give yourself extra time, you’re not forced to power through 30 minutes of listening to your baby scream.
Avoid car seat feedings
A rookie mistake that I made often was feeding my cranky baby a bottle while she was still seated in her bucket car seat. This is a recipe for gassy disaster. Each time, my daughter would gulp down her bottle and be left with horrible gas afterward. If possible, pull over, take your little one out of her seat, feed her and thoroughly burp her after. Painful, trapped gas is one of the primary reasons my baby put up a fight in her seat.
Invest in a backseat mirror
My daughter would get so worked up that it became hard to distinguish between her cries. Everything sounded like she was in danger and the world was ending. Placing a car seat mirror in the back gave me the peace of knowing she was safe. It also allowed her to see me so she could realize that she wasn’t alone.
Sing
Another thing that reassures my baby of my presence is by singing to her. I was surprised when she began trying to sing along around the 3-month mark.
Tell stories
Storytelling is also an effective way of soothing and entertaining your baby from the front seat. Sometimes I tell the classic fairytales, sometimes I make them up. My daughter is often asleep before the story is finished.
Bring toys
My baby has always loved to stare at the toys that hang from her car seat, but somewhere around three months, she also began to amuse herself with other toys that I would place in her lap.
Pray
You may choose to opt out of this one depending on your religious beliefs, but I always pray for traveling mercy and a peaceful ride whenever I drive with my baby.
Take short trips daily
I take advantage of any opportunity I can to take short drives to build up my baby’s tolerance for the car seat — whether it’s a quick ride to the post office or a mini sprint to the drugstore.
Expect that there will be some crying
Crying is how babies communicate, so if your baby cries at some point during your trip, understand that this is completely normal. Accepting this point and mentally preparing for it has made me a little less frantic in those stressful moments.
What are some your best practices for traveling with car-seat hating babies?
