Mike and I always said that our child would have to be raised "portable." To us, that meant that we would get him used to the car and being in a car seat as early as possible. Driving with him has always been such a joy. When he was very young, he would fall asleep within the first few moments, and as he got older, he would coo and babble and just love our road trips from work, to Grammie's and Nana's and even to the corner store. At some magical moment, when Jackson turned one, the sanctuary of the inside of the car quickly turned amock. The little monkey, when not entertained, let's out a sporadic squeal that is so completely ear piercing it sends shivers down your spine. This morning, after enduring the screaming for the 40 minute ride in, we hung our heads in defeat and sought outside help from the daycare teacher.
We had tried everything. Numerous stern and forcefully "NO! Too loud Jackson", redirection, chatting with him, breaking out into "Patty Cake" or "Miss Mary Mack", giving him books, pacifiers, food and other toys that would eventually just litter the floor of the car. Nothing worked. The suggestions from daycare were also the same things that we had tried, with the exception of attaching toys to his car seat. Please tell me that this is a stage?? Anyone??
One thing I learned today: High pitched squeals grate on the eardrums in a way that is quite indescribable. Actually, torturous is a word that might be sufficient to capture the agony. One can only breath deep and hope that, this too shall pass.
4 comments:
Do you have him forward facing yet? i know some people try and wait but he is over a year...
Kree, I saw this online. Maybe it will help.This will pass and another phase will begin :)
"You thought it was cute before, so he got lots of reinforcenment for squealing. Now, you may be reinforcing it in negative ways.
My suggestion is that you totally ignore the squealings -- giving neither positive nor negative feedback. After he squeals, turn away from him. When he babbles or utters some sound in a normal tone, then turn back to him, give him eye contact or play with him. Give it a few weeks or months to make a difference.
The alternative is to wait until his voice deepens at puberty."
Thank you so much for your thoughts! We do have him facing forward . . . today was much much better. I traded out the toys for more age appropriate ones and that really helped a lot too. Will try the other suggestion tomorrow! Thank you!
It's definitely a stage, to get attention. It will pass, though each day seems like an eternity when you're in the midst of it. You're doing the right thing by having him be a happy traveler in the car seat. I wouldn't give that up because it'll be great for him to be used to the car for many years to come.
When either of our boys did this, Tom and I resorted to blasting the stereo and singing at the top of our lungs. When you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Put on music YOU want to listen to. The worst that happens is he still screams, but at least you can be cracking up. The best case is that he's totally baffled by his parents that he quiets down to listen...or sings along. Ha!
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