What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

How long do you let him/her cry before pulling over?

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

Oh man! This has happened to me so many times! I've only pulled over once in the DMV parking lot off the LIE. I'd like to know what other people have to say about this!

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

Drive faster to get to wherever I'm going.

But really, unless they are hurt or sick I don't pull over.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

I pop in his Elmo CD and he instantly quiets down. It's ridiculous... Elmo is the baby whisperer!!

If this didn't work I don't think I'd pulll over. I can see him in the mirror and if he's ok, I'll just keep going. Going back there will just make it worse when I get going again!

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

i was wondering about this too! the other day i was driving home and my DD was fussy and kept having fits of crying but i didnt know if i should pull over or not. i just kept talking to her all the way home and i noticed she would calm down when the car was actually moving compared to when we were at red lights.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

ive never pulled over. I try to distract her by talking to her making funny nosies or playing music she likes and singing along with it.. If it dosnt work then she just cries till we get to our destination or she falls asleep.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

See,the other night, I was driving alone. We were in the jeep which has dark windows. After insane crying fits, I pulled over and nursed him. Seemed to help. Started driving again. Again, wailing...pulled over again. I finally figured out that he was scared of the dark. I put the interior light on and drove home. Happy as a clam. Yes, I remembered to turn it off, but although I didn't want to give in and pull over, he was crying so hard he was sweating. I felt so bad for him.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

DS is 2 1/2, so it's been a long time since this was a problem. But I've never pulled over. I just would sing to him, or sing extra loud to drown him out . Once we started taking music classes, I would thrown on a CD of the songs and it would stop instantly.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

I have to pull over all the time. DD hates the car. It makes going out so hard. DD cries and holds her breath, so it freaks me out. I often have to nurse her in the car to get her to calm down, but she screams again once I put her back in the seat. It is not the car seat she hates, bc she has no problem being in it not in the car. In a 30 minute drive, I have had to pull over 3 times. Eventually I just give up and let her cry until we get to where we are going or we would never get anywhere. Talking to her does not calm her at all - I actually think it might make it worse for her when she hears me but can't see me.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

Not a fan of pulling over, I think it's dangerous.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

try putting both back windows down a crack. someone told me this creates "white noise." it has worked for us, same with his music together CDs

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

i dont pull over. As long as I know she was fed, relatively dry, nothing is hurting her, I keep going. DD HAAAATES the car, so if I had to pull over each time she screamed, I would never get anywhere.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

so far ive never pulled over. but DD lovvves the car so far. yesterday we drove to baltimore (well almost ). she literally slept the entire time. then the car broke down. she woke up and was happy but i gave her a bottle and then played while we waited for the tow truck. we got a tow truck that had a backseat so we were able to strap the car seat in. again she was awesome except got a little whiney when she was hungry. but she slept like 75% of the time we were on the road - which totalled about 10 hours!! she was great!

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

Depends on why she's crying.

If it's been awhile since her last feeding, I'd pull over right away. But it's usually b/c DD isn't a fan of being in her carseat, and she's ticked off about it. If that's the case, I'll sing along to the radio to try and get her to stop. I've also gotten very good at tuning her out.

eta: We've only pulled over on long road trips, and even then I insist on finding a parking lot so we can safely stop.

Message edited 8/13/2011 1:37:38 PM.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

depends...

DS has very speciic cries for things. When he's just annoyed to be stuck, or when he's hot, cold, tired, hungry, thirsty ... its clear as day to me.

So if its something I can pull over and take care of, I do. Otherwise I just talk to him reassure him, play some music, sing, talk about the things he may be seeing in his seat, street lights, trees leaves, planes ... etc ...

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

OMG..this happened to me yesterday. DD is usually hit or miss in the car. Sometimes she will fall asleep and other timess she will cry. Well yesterday we were stuck on the Southern State in massive traffic and she started screaming. She was crying soo hard that she turned bright red and started throwing up. She is 4 months old and has never done that so I got off the first exit I could and pulled over. I tried to calm her down- I nursed her and held her. She calmed down for a little bit. I put her back in the seat and then she started up again but we were closer to home. Then today just driving home like 5 minutes she did the same thing. I am hoping its just these past two days ..I dont know what to do either if this is a new thing.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

It depends. If she is crying b/c we are stopped or going too slow, I reach back and rock her car seat. If she is fed, clean, fine...just keep going and hope she falls off to sleep. If she needs something, I pull off and tend to her. She HATES getting into her seat so I try to just keep her in it once she's in until we reach our destination.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

I don't stop because usually it's when we're on our way home.. and it'll take more time to stop and console him than it would to just get home and take him out of the car. If he's crying because he's hungry though I will stop to make him a bottle. If it's just fussiness I will keep driving and put on some of his favorite songs.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

I have pulled over many a times to nurse in their car seat then all was ok

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

If I pulled over I would NEVER get anywhere.

My 3 month old HATES the car!! She screams bloody murder the entire time we are in a car....so bad that she practically turns purple from screaming and not catching her breath...yea its been fun here

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

DS is usually great in the car. We've been all over the place with him and he usually sleeps, or 'talks' or looks out the window. Only 3 times have we needed to pull over, and once we stopped for coffee a little earlier than we had planned. DS doesn't cry a lot, so usually if he iscrying, it means he is having a problem. and if he is creaming his head off (as he was in these situations) then there is a big problem. Twice he was hungry and the other two he had a, umm, severe diaper malfunction

As long as I deem the area safe, I'll pull over. I've pulled over on the LIE twice by myself, and with DH we've pulled into a Dunkin Donuts parking lot and a hospital parking lot (just because that was the closest place to pull over - not that there was a true emergency).

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

Landon (as a baby) always cried in the car. He just didn't like being in the car. So I would turn up the music and keep driving!

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

I sing to them! With the windows closed Wheels on the bus works like a charm.

When they were very little and they cried I would only pull over if they were crying so much they were coughing etc. They I would get off an exit and pull into a parking lot. Too dangerous on the side of the road. This only happened a few times.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

My kids are past that age now, but I only pulled over on long trips when I thought it was her diaper or time to nurse. I'd pull over if I thought they were hurt, but that never happened. I did get out at a red light last week to check on my 1.5 year old because I heard her throw up. She was super chatty and singing and then I heard her throw up, confirmed by her sister. She was fine and had just stuck her fingers down her throat and gagged a little. We kept going.

My little one hated the car as a baby. Cried every time almost the while drive. If I stopped every time, I wouldn't be able to go 5 blocks. I figured it was better to get where we were going rather than calm her down just to make her even more upset by putting her back in the car.

Re: What do you do when you are driving alone and your baby is crying?

I never pulled over. I sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow. That's his stop crying song. Sang it to him in the belly. Also have the Fisher Price musical mirror with remote control and that worked like a charm too.