We conquered the demon that is the dreaded car seat.
I wish I could say I have wise advise for the mother who's child goes through this little episode next, but I sadly do not. I'm not sure how we've come out on the other side of this one, but the important point is that we have. Tory is no longer a car seat hater.
Well actually, if I had to guess I'd say it was a mixture of forcing her to cry it out during our drive from Miami to Key West last month, removing the infant insert and the snugly sleeping bag thingy we put in her car seat for winter. Those three factors have drastically reduced the crying, not that I recommend any of you drive in a car with a screeching baby for two and a half hours. No, that wasn't the most pleasant moment of parenting I've experienced. The winter sleeping bag thing was a hand-me-down from a co-worker and I wasn't sure I liked the looks of it so I had bought a new JJ Cole Bundle Me car seat cover for 50 freaking dollars. But now I'm so terrified of wrecking the good thing we've got going, I think I'll return it. If she likes the used one, we shall use the used one! Who cares if someone else's kids used it.
Of course, the new tolerance could be because Tory's getting older and becoming more mild-mannered these days. Within the last week she's more willing to lay on her activity mat without someone (namely, me) hovering over her. She's even chill enough to wiggle on a blanket while I do laundry and twice (TWICE!) last week she fell asleep on her own. They say babies do that, but that surely never happen to use before. Tory and I went to City Hall last week to drop off some paperwork and she even fell asleep in her car seat on the drive home. I'm still so shocked and thankful about it all it's hard to express it in words.
While this may seem like the silliest thing to talk about at length, it really is a big deal for us around here. This means we can take her places like Target and to the bank without a full-on total meltdown. I just wish she would've discovered this little trick BEFORE my maternity leave was over. I wouldn't have had to be such a hermit at home for the last 13 weeks.
I know I keep commenting saying "me too", but ME TOO! Charley seemed to conquer the carseat hatred one week after I went back to work, causing hermitness in my house too. Yay for pleasant drives now!
ReplyDeleteNot to be a Debbie Downer but...just remember that you should never put anything in the carseat that didn't come in it. That's why the JJ Cole covers are great (we love ours). Just make sure it's the one that doesn't go behind Tory but wraps around the carseat itself (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4389487). With work we have to be carseat certified and if you put anything in the carseat (blanket behind baby for example) it negates the safety factor of the carseat. Hope this helps you out and congrats on the fact that she doesn't mind her carseat any longer!!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so afraid of Baby M hating hers - especially because every stupid pediatrician visit will take 25+ minutes one way (living in the country is fun! Woooo) and I hear it's frowned upon to swill wine while driving as a stress reliever.
ReplyDeleteBut also, boo to the Bundle Me. Tara mentioned it in her comment but the safety risk comes from the baby being more likely to be ejected from the car seat if something (material from a Bundle Me, material from a baby snowsuit) is between the baby and the back of the seat. I posted about the Bundle Me Arctic on The Bump and was promptly INFORMED by the car seat peeps, so we went for one of the cheaper shower cap style (just goes over the top) carrier covers.