My daughter is almost six months old and is in her rear facing car seat. The weight and hight on it is 5-22 pounds and 19-29 inches she is 17 pounds and and 24 inches. and HATES her car seat which I know some kids do, but she didn't start do dislike it until about a week and a half ago. Now when we put her in it all she does is scream and cry until we take her out. This use to not happen. Use to we could be driving around for hours and she would just play or sleep. Now we can't drive ten minutes without her being totally angry. We don't even go out any more unless we have to and then it is just there and back. So my question is is she too big for it and just not comfortable in it? Is it time for a front facing car seat or what do we do?
Thank you all and we are looking into the convertible car seats and are going to buy a some car toys this weekend. Thing you all so much for he help.
You definitely cannot allow her to be forward facing yet. She has to be at least one year old before that can happen. You can, however, buy her a convertible car seat and make that rear facing. They are larger than the infant seats, and much more comfortable as they get bigger.
She is nowhere near big enough for front facing yet! Google joel's journey for more information. Most kids hate the car seat at one point or another. Does she have anything to play with? Can someone sit in back with her? That's what helped us. And making sure nothings too tight (but not loose!). They now recommend rear facing to two years, some states say it's okay at 1 year AND 20lbs, but it's safest to keep them backward as long as possible. You could switch her to a convertible seat, which faces rear and forward, the britax ones are the most comfortable, have the highest safety ratings, and some of the highest weight and height maximums (my tall and big six year old still fits in ours!) so they're worth the money. Try out seats at babies r us, use a coupon, or order new in box on eBay or at albeebaby.com.
Buy a convertible carseat that can be rear-facing. It is waaaay too early to turn your child forward-facing (the AAP recommends she be at least 2 years old and the law requires she be at least 1). Two good websites to recommend convertible carseats are:
http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/tp/topconvcarse...
Hi Belle,
In TN, if your child is under 1 year, she must be rear facing. Pediatricians recommend to keep kids rear facing as long as possible - until at least age 2 if possible with size and weight that your car seat allows. So with that being said, you need another solution! Before going out and buying the convertible car seat, you could try some different things that may entertain her in the car - different toys, books, a mirror, toys specifically made for the car that have lights and sounds, etc.
Don't stay home just because your daughter doesn't like the car seat - try to help her with being in the car, but don't let that stop you from living!
Best of luck!
Cyndi
It is not time for a front-facing...she needs to be at least 20 pounds AND a year old. The current recommendation is to keep them rear facing so long as they can fit in a rear-facing seat.
She is probably just going through a phase. Babies generally have to be pretty dang uncomfortable before they actually complain about it. Make sure nothing has worked loose and isn't poking her in the back.
Find some new car-only toys...a mirror...something to entertain her.
6 months is NO WHERE NEAR old enough to be forward facing.
Have you checked to make sure there's nothing actually bothering her in the seat (even something small stuck under the pad can be very painful for a little one when they sit on it).
My guess is that she won't like any carseat for a while. She's getting to a more social age and the car seat means she's separated from her family :( Any chance one of you could ride in back with her from time to time? Does she have one of those little mirrors so she can see herself (or you)?
Get her some cool car-only stuff so she has something to look forward to back there and see if she comes around.
HTH
T.
Just the fact that youre asking this question leads me to believe that you (like SO many other parents) are clueless about car seat laws.
Check out:
www.seatcheck.org
and click on "Inspection Locator" then GO to a local inspection site and find out what you NEED to know. It's free and well worth an hour of your time. It could save your child's life.
My gut is that she is bored rather than squished. My 12 month old 19lbs and 29 inches and still fits OK and I plan to keep her rear facing as long as I can.
She is absolutely no where near ready to be forward facing. I know it is tempting, especially with the crying, but I know you would not want to risk the safety of your little one. (or break the law)
They make convertible car seats that you can use rear facing, then turn around and still use until the child is 40-50 lbs (depending on the model). I would look for something like that. The trade off is that they do not come out of the car (but at 17lbs, you probably don't want to carry her much longer). The other option is one of the 30lb infant carriers (I know Graco and Chico makes them). I would not buy one at this point, but you may have a friend who could loan you one.
We put a mirror and some decorations around the headrest, so our daughter can see us and has something to look at. We paid $10-12 for the mirror and it plays music and has a remote control. As an act of deseration, you may even try a portable DVD player!!!
Best of luck!!
This happened to my daughter who was really big and tall for her age, we got a convertable car seat, actually when she was about 4 months old. We got the Britax Boulevard and love it. We kept her rear facing until her first birthday, we would have liked to keep her rear facing for longer but she weighed more than the rear facing limit already. She was a lot more comfortable in the bigger seat, so I reccomend that!
My little girl was the same way around that age. it really made traveling anywhere difficult. She wasn't big on napping in the car but that was our best bet for longer trips - take them at nap time and hope for the best! I also minimized my driving while she was in this phase - she could only tolerate about 15 minutes before dis-integrating into screaming, i hated driving to my in-lsaw which was 30 min because I knew how it would end.
Eventually, at some point she did stop hating it so much but she still doesn't love car rides like some kids.
Good luck.
Oh no don't go front facing, some states wont even let you do it till 2 yrs now I believe.
Is she in pain...needs an adjustment from a Chiropractor
She is a new mobil baby she might not like being contained. Can you blame her...all these new things she can get to now more then likely.
You could try a rear facing convertable but more then likely you will still have this issue. I highly suggest not moving to a front facing. If you have ever seen a child go through a car accident even at 35mph you would know why I say this. She is a fragile baby. A little fussing isn't going to hurt her but the chances of injury in a front facing position being fatal at this age is high.
I highly, highly doubt it is the car seat.
PS, my sweet daughter is almost 8 months old and close to 19lbs and she is as confortable as can be in her seat that goes to 22lbs, sure she was fussy for a while after getting more mobil but now is happy...she's got her days
The TN state law requires they have to be 20lbs AND one years old. You cannot turn her around until she is both. You can try getting a portable dvd player and play Baby Einstein or something like that to keep her occupied. You can play baby music on the CD player kind of loud, if you are not alone you can sit in the back with her while someone else drives, go on your outings at nap time and hopefully she will fall asleep. Good luck! 6 months will fly by.
I would say she is squished in, has nothing to look at and is miserable. The other thing is that she is bored, and knows when she is strapped down, she can't much move. Get the larger seat, and get a toy for the seat, you can link things on.
Don't put her in FF car seat until she is 1 year old. Before that her muscles and skeleton have not developed enough to handle a crash. My sister is a paramedic and she has some horrible stories about kids who are not secured properly. It's just too dangerous. However you can buy a convertible carseat that will turn FF when she is a year. These can be installed either way. My son outgrew his first seat at around 8 months and we had to buy another seat. He's 2.5 now and is still in that seat. When he turned 1 we just flipped it around. He seems so much more comfortable. If you get a new car seat and she still cries she might be manipulating you. As hard as it is she will just have to learn that everyone has to be buckled in to there own seat while you are driving. Trust me once she starts to understand and talk to you it will be much easier to keep her entertained in the car.
We had the same problem with our daughter. If you are using one of the "carrier" carseats, she has outgrown it for her comfort. We went and bought a "convertible" carseat. It sits more upright and she could see over the back of the seat. The kids can then face forward in the carseat so it will last years.
