Apparently, an infant car seat is equal to some sort of evil torture device, or at least that is the message I’m getting from the backseat of my car every time I put Anna in her car seat. The girl just does not like her car seat, and by does not like I, of course, mean absolutely HATES. And, she is not shy about letting us know. Before the buckles are even done up she is usually screaming her head off and unless she happens to fall asleep (which is a rare occurrence) she will scream until you take her out of it.

Maya was a fan of the car and her car seat. She would sleep comfortably in it as an infant if she was sleepy. When she wasn’t sleepy she would just calmly watch out the window or stare at her reflection in the little mirror we had put up for her. If we took her into a restaurant in the seat she would pretty much sit calmly in it the whole time we were eating. We could use it as part of the travel system we had purchased to take her for a walk. Take her into a store and put her in the cart to watch the world go by as we went shopping. It was a useful tool. I had no idea that other kids didn’t feel the same way about their car seats, until Anna was born.

The car seat is now used strictly for transporting a pissed off, screaming baby from point A to point B. It is rarely used with the travel system except for those rare occasions when she falls into a deep enough sleep on the trip to Maya’s preschool and I can plop the seat in the stroller to make dropping  Maya off at school a bit easier. I’ve managed to use it to take her into the store twice now. Once it went well and she drifted between sleep and observing the wonders of the grocery store for 10 minutes we were there. The other time ended in her screaming and me leaving the store abruptly (luckily Lorne was there that time too and was able to make our purchases while I took the screamer out to the car). She finds no comfort in her seat. The shorter the period of time she must sit in it the better.

As a result of her disdain for the car seat I’ve taken to wearing her everywhere we go. She spends a lot of time in the ERGO carrier when we are out and about whether we’re headed to the park, dropping Maya off at school, grocery shopping, doesn’t matter what we are doing she is in the carrier. Which is fine with me since I love babywearing. But every now and then it would be nice to be able to leave her in her car seat for a quick 5 minute trip to the grocery store. It would also be nice not to have to listen to her blood curdling cries every time we take a trip in the car.

Unfortunately, I can’t wear her when we’re driving. Instead I have to listen to my sweet little baby cry her full on angry cry and there is nothing I can do. I wish there was something I could do to help her like her seat better. I’ve tried toys, she has a mirror, I’ve tried giving her a pacifier (she won’t have it), we talk to her nonstop, nothing helps. I’m hoping she out grows this dislike of her car seat or else our next road trip up to Canada to visit our families is going to feel a whole lot longer than it already does.

Any of you suffered through a baby who hates their car seat? Did you find anything that helped? Did switching from an infant seat to the bigger convertible car seats help? I’m willing to try anything at this point.