Car travel with unhappy 7 month old

[happygelfling]

My 7 mo DS is not travelling well in the car at the moment. I think it's possible that he just wants a cuddle... Does anyone have any suggestions for how to make him more comfortable?

We recently went on holiday just 1.5 hours drive from home. For the first half of the journey he slept. Then he woke and cried so we fed him, changed him, played with him for a bit, popped him back in the car seat and set off. Within 5 minutes he was crying hysterically. We stopped and I cuddled him (he calmed down within a minute) then as soon as we set off again, he started crying.

This week we're off on a family visit which involves 5 hours of driving each way. We plan to split each journey with an overnight stay and a day trip style stop, but I'm dreading the howling and a can't think what could be wrong with the little mite. My only idea is to squash into the back of the car between him and DD (2.9yo, happily plugged into DVD player) to see if I can entertain him.

All ideas welcome!

[stressbucket1]

Is he a good sleeper at night? Could you maybe leave at his bedtime and hope he sleeps through the journey?

[Iggly]

What kind of car seat? Is he getting too hot? My dd would get very sweaty even in just a vest and nappy.

Have you removed the newborn sponge bit (not the head support)?

[happygelfling]

Thanks for the suggestions.

He does sleep quite well at night, so leaving at bedtime would probably work quite well for DS, but DD would then wake up on arrival and not go to sleep until 3am... I'm not sure which is worse, and DD may have improved since we last tried that so it's probably worth a try.

He does get hot in the car seat when he's yelling but if he's happy then he seems comfortable. Yes, I think we have the seat set up correctly, but it's always worth checking!

[minipie]

DD was always grumpy in the car until she was old enough to entertain herself by looking out of the window and chatting (this was about 15/16 months, which is also when we turned her forward facing). I think she was mainly just bored.

Our "solutions" (rather restrictive but better than wailing child):

• I sat next to her for all long ish journeys and entertained her
  
• Snacks. Breadsticks seemed to solve a lot of grumpiness.
  
• We only did long journeys at long nap time (ie post lunch) or after bedtime, so she would sleep pretty much the whole way.

[happygelfling]

I think we're going to try the first leg (2hrs) of our journey after lunch, which is nap time for both children... I don't think DS will sleep the whole way, but I can then move into the back of the car to play with him after he wakes.

He's not snacking independently yet, but I'll remember that suggestion for when he is, thank you. (He arrived a month early so his development is approximately that of a 6mo.)

On day 2 (3hrs driving) we'll probably try to leave around 9am (DS morning nap time) and find somewhere to stop for a play and lunch about half way, then do the remaining leg after lunch so they can both nap. DS will probably only nap for half of each leg, but at least that's a help...

I know this is likely to be something that he'll just grow out of, but it's horrible to hear him being so unhappy.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.