my nerves are SHOT from the constant screaming and whining in the car!

OMG..my DD (11 months) is horrible in the car! I literally cannot go anywhere without screaming and whining and crying and carrying on the ENTIRE time we are in the car. This happens on rides of ANY length from 5 minutes to 15 minutes to a hour!

Besides being upsetting for me and her obviously, it is a serious distraction while I am driving! Nothing soothes her...not me talking to her, singing, playing music, giving her toys, ...nothing! and it happens all the time whether she is tired or not, hungry or not etc. Her straps are not too tight. The only time she is not crying in the car is if there is someone sitting in the backseat with her, doing a whole song and dance to keep her happy. In general, she is a happy baby when out of the car so this is really baffling me, not to mention making me want to just be housebound!

What can I do to make car rides easier on her and on me? I am at the end of my rope with this!

Message edited 6/10/2010 2:52:31 PM.

Re: my nerves are SHOT from the constant screaming and whining in the car!

My niece was the same exact way. She stopped being like that once she was forward facing.

Re: my nerves are SHOT from the constant screaming and whining in the car!

Have you tried stuffed animals? Music?

I don't know...sometimes DD gets mad when I put her in the carseat but I give her elmo and she's happy

maybe the front facing carseat? I forgot, maybe she's still too young?

Hope you find a solution, I couldn't imagine....

Re: my nerves are SHOT from the constant screaming and whining in the car!

I feel your pain. At 2 and 3 they are still scutches in the car. They are only great when they are sleeping- it's screaming- who's bothering who. It's usually Amelia b/c she likes to scutch. My Dh wants to drive to Montalk again for the weekend- I told him that I'll take the train and I'll meet you there.
Seriously thought- my nails are bit down to the skin (gross I know) b/c I have so much anxiety while driving. I chew them off b/c that's how I relieve my stress.

Got no advice except it does get easier. They have gotten better even though I still want to

Re: my nerves are SHOT from the constant screaming and whining in the car!

Get a dvd player.

DS went through phases of screaming in the car. He is usually ok if we are on the highway. He gets upset in traffic. In the winter (he was 10-11m), it was sooooooooooooooooooo hard to even strap him in. He would fight because he hated being in the car seat so much.

Now he's a bit better because he is forward facing. We live in the city now so we only drive on 2-5 hr road trips. We try to schedule around his sleep time. It isn's so bad with a dvd player. He'll take a nap, eat, look around, and then when he starts getting upset, we'll put the wiggles on and he's a happy camper.

Re: my nerves are SHOT from the constant screaming and whining in the car!

my son was the exact same way. Cried the entire time!!!! Would scream his head off. It drove me mad!!!

Hang in there. It gets better when they're front facing, which we did at 10 1/2 months even though he was a pound off the requirement.

Now for the past few months he's been great in the car. I would say since 18 months really. So there is an end in sight.

I ran through many stop signs and many lights when he was younger. That scream just kills you, but hang in there.