Okay, I need your help. And quickly.
A week ago, when we left Pittsburgh for vacation, I had a sweet, mild-mannered, easily pleased little pre-toddler. After several days of practicing her walking skills, my little munchkin has grown into a full-fledged mover and shaker and has absolutely zero tolerance for sitting still. And she’s growing in leaps and bounds with new tricks every single day.
I’m serious.
Just this week, my beautiful baby girl started:
- walking effortlessly
- clapping on command
- playing peek-a-boo
- dancing on command
- hugging on command
- saying “mama” appropriately
AND she got her first molar. AND today she kissed a teddy bear (no kisses for mama or dada yet though).
one week ago...happy, clapping baby. one week later, not so much.
I mean seriously?!?! We really had no idea things would move this quickly. That’s just this week. Next week she could be doing complex algebra. Ahhhhh!
It’s good, it really is, but here’s the thing. My lovely, pleasant, smiley little munchkin has suddenly become very serious and fussy, most noticeably when she’s unable to move around at her own pace. She’s absolutely intolerant to sitting. Forget high chairs. This kiddo needs to be on the move. All. The. Time. And we haven’t been able to keep her in a bathtub for ages (forget showering…she hates splashing water).
And here’s where I need your help.
She hates her car seat.
You know, the one she needs to sit in for TWELVE+ HOURS this coming weekend. The one she had NO TROUBLE with last weekend, but suddenly now cannot stand.
Yeah, that one.
So here we are, in the Outer Banks, with two long travel days ahead of us, and she starts completely hysterically melting down within 45 minutes of being in the car.
Help!!! We need ideas pronto!
- No DVD players…don’t have one.
- Sitting in the back with her doesn’t work.
- Rear-facing seat doesn’t switch to face forward.
- She’s unimpressed with toys and food.
- We’re not interested in the Benadryl “solution”.
And while I’m asking for help, any ideas for managing a suddenly temperamental toddler? The terrible twos seem to have arrived a year too soon for my monkey girl.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m crazy about her. Crazy. Love. But she can be flat out bonkers. One minute she’s giggling and flirting and playing peek-a-boo, and the very next she could throw her entire body backwards and fly into an inconsolable rage of tears and fists of fury.
this one happened after she ate the last bite of peach ice cream we were sharing.
I guess this is normal, but geez! She can be downright bipolar.
So help, please.
We are feeling pretty humbled by the terrible twos outrageous ones. Please tell us this is normal. Please?
Download some apps for your phone! There are a ton of toddler ones. Matthew loves one we have called toddler lock. It locks your phone and lets them draw with their finger. Also try little snacks she can eat one at a time like Cheerios. And lots and lots of stickers to stick on paper. Downlaod kids praise songs on your phone.
Good luck!
Its not the drug them benadryl approach but more of an all natural calm (lavender, etc)… I use it for long travel days for me (the adult version) and for my 1yr old son… Rescue Remedy for kids! Its been our life saver. I don’t use it for day to day though—haven’t figured out that trick… except send him to grandmas! LOL
If possible, allow no naps the day you leave. Then, if whoever’s driving is okay with driving at night, head home after dinner. You may have a rough couple of hours at first, but odds are you’ll have a peaceful and quiet second half. If it doesn’t work out, you grab a cheap hotel. Better to call it quits at 2am than at 2pm, you know?
My sweet little boy became a demanding monster around 18 months. He decided that he wanted to be in charge and would stomp his little foot and say “no!” whenever something wasn’t going the way he wanted. I recall a terrible 8+ hour ride to my in laws with him hating the car seat. We stopped approximately every two hours for him to run…rest areas, mall parking lots, whatever we could find with lots of open space! Good luck! I feel your pain! By the way…9 years later and he is my sweet boy again.
I know you said no dvd players but seriously from a parent with experience, we bought one and got the attachment that attaches to the back of the passenger seat. You can get educational dvd’s. We got some of the “You Can Read” dvd’s and would play them while we traveled and she transformed immediately! I have a friend with 2 children that are young and she only pulls hers out on long car trips and in the beginning she was against the whole thing but seriously it helps so consider it!
I second the stickers suggestion. It saved our lives on a recent plane trip. Miss Mouse also likes being read to in the car…if that won’t make you puke! We pick some favorite board books and I hold them up so she can see them while I read.
Kate recently posted…In which Miss Mouse pees on Noahs Ark- but also in the Potty
As toddlers, when my guys were working on a new skill, it was VERY common for them to be irritable. It was as if their little brains were exhausted by the developmental concentration and just couldn’t handle anything else on top of it! Between 12-18 months there is so much that goes on. Sometimes I think they just don’t know how to handle their newfound autonomy. Hang in there!
Girl, Regyn does the same thing! We haven’t found a fabulous solution BUT keep lots of different toys handy and each one will grab her attention for a few moments. Swithc when she gets tired… Cheerios are great and I realize you have no DVD now (hind-site is 20/20) but def get yourself one when you get home. AMAZING!!!! Good luck coming home- I hope I get to see you!!!
Okay. I have four kiddos to travel with, and I’m completely against the whole DVD in the car thing–they get enough of that. We play old-time travel games, that will NOT work with a one-year old: Car Bingo, License Plate Game, and Sign ABCs. They work with my 7, 6, 4, and 3-year old, even thought the 3-year old is actually clueless. My best advice is to play the nap and bed time and to switch to the front-facing car seat–even if it means a stop at Walmart or Target. As my kids grew, it seemed that the rear-facing seat made them a bit car sick, a feeling that went away with the front-facing seat. Good luck with the ride home.
I second the purchasing the forward facing car seat idea, on the way home, at Wal-Mart or Target. It can’t hurt and it will probably help. I found the ages between 1-4 to be the hardest travel years, so basically didn’t do much of it unless really necessary. They are too old to sleep all the time, and too young to be patient and sit still. Lots of hugs to you. Your sweet baby girl is still in there…..she’s just in a phase where she doesn’t understand what’s going on. She’s trying to process a lot of new things at once and it’s overwhelming her.
Does she sleep in the car? I would leave right before bedtime. We just did 2 days of 12 hours each day, and I think the only reason it went well was our DVD player.