Driving with baby

Hello How do you find driving with your baby? Do they like it? Hate it? My LO is 15 weeks old and she used to hate the car seat .. I think she still does but because she can see more around her then she probably gets more entertained. My husband and I have been terrified of leaving her in the car seat so we never drove for more than 30 minutes each trip and one of us must sit in the back to check she breaths (for context, she is our rainbow baby). We also fit a mirror so we can check on her while driving. I want to go to a baby group next week and that is one hour walk or 15 drive from my house. I could just walk but she also doesn't like the pram very much 😂 anyway... I was thinking of using this as a test to build confidence in driving with her. I am a good driver generally speaking so I am confident in my driving skills... I am just terrified she will kick off and I won't be able to comfort her while driving. I am probably overthinking this...

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She might be fine, she might cry. It will be ok 😊

I just make sure my little one is fed and changed before setting off. If he is crying really bad I will stop and get him out / feed... but sometimes you can't stop and that's it. If you know baby's needs are met and cries for 15 min, that's fine

This has been exactly my life. My son is 12 weeks and he has started to be more settled in the car but not for a long time. For me, it was all about timing so I made sure baby is fed, burped and bum changed before going in the car seat. Even better if you can do it when they are due a nap. Then any cries i know are due to situation rather than anything else. I bought a camera rather than the mirror to be able to see baby. Much better. Mine is off Amazon for £35. Put on some music they like and sing along so baby knows you are there. When i first started I used a nightie I slept in and laid it in the car seat and rubbed all around it (sounds strange but to rub my scent on the seat so he could smell me). You definitely should drive there. It is hard because when they cry it’s your natural instinct to go to them but as long as you know they reason they are crying is not because of the key things and just because it is new to them that’s okay. You’ve got this!

My baby hates the car seat and we live somewhere rural so impossible not to drive! It’s so so horrible😭 It took me two and a half hours to do a half hour journey because he was so upset and i kept stopping. I know some people are of the mindset of letting them cry, and sometimes it’s unavoidable but personally i can’t do it! It feels like making them do cry it out and i get so distressed it’s not safe, so i pull over when i can. We’ve just started putting him in the front (rf, airbag off etc) and that has helped massively. He occasionally still gets that upset but not to the level it was before as i can pat and comfort him. I would say keep trying the car and build your confidence with it! If you change and feed before hand, you might find your little one doesn’t mind it too much! Also now they are bigger and move/make noise it’s much easier to be reassured using the mirror that they are okay☺️

You can do it! My little fella hates the car seat too. But remember a crying baby is alive …. That helps me a lot when driving coz my guy cries every time the car stops

My little girl hated the car seat and would cry for ages in the car. Last week (13 weeks old) we took the newborn insert out and it made such a difference! She will now only cry if she’s hungry when we’re in the car. Obviously check the height for your car seat but mine said 60cm it can be taken out and she was like 59.5cm xx

Thank you all ❤️

It’ll be fine! Worst come to worst,pull over and comfort her🥰

I belt my car seat in the front seat, I’m able to see and check on him and put his dummy back in when he needs it. I don’t think my anxiety would let me put him in the back seat 😅

@Laurie hahah I know what you mean. @Rheo thanks I'll look into that. I was wondering when I could remove the newborn insert. And yes, a crying baby is a living baby @A.R.

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