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Binky for sure if he'll take it. But honestly at that age there isn't much you can do! He can't replace the binky when it falls out, and if he's pissed, he's probably just going to be pissed. I'd just try to keep trips short for a while as he gets used to it, and keep talking/singing/reassuring as much as your sanity allows (and if you're going absolutely freaking nuts turn the music up a little and sing to yourself and try to tune kiddo out because an anxious mom freaking out about her kid crying is a road hazard to yourself and your kid and everyone else around you). It will get better

@travelgirl1: it gets better but in small small steps! ds HATED being in the car and I try to take him every other day somewhere very close just to familiarize him with it as time goes on. it's ROUGH.

DS totally hated the car. He outgrew it (mostly) but what worked for us was getting him a mirror and playing a white noise/rain app loud over the radio (static between radio stations works in a pinch).

@travelgirl1: c hated the car for the first few months, it was awful. Surprisingly I think what helped was when I started using her infant car seat in the stroller. I had been trying to use the bassinet, which she also hated, but for some reason she actually liked being in the car seat snapped into the stroller. After that she started freaking out less and less in the car too. It was bizarre, and of corse it could have just been timing, but I think maybe she had more positive associations with it since walks in the stroller facing me were nice? Is that a possibility?

When L was 4 or 5 months and we did our second road trip to Montreal by ourselves, he started screaming. I was driving and couldn't pull over and almost went into panic mode. I finally thought to give him my iPhone and put twinkle twinkle little star on YouTube. It worked and from then on when I do road trips, I time leaving right before nap time. Then after he wakes he is chill for a bit. And then if I want to keep going longer, I let him watch videos. He is typically on the screen for a minor portion of the trip. But I decided it was better than him screaming and road trips were not a regular occurrence.

Also since we do use the car a lot in our every day life, I guess he has always been used to small car rides around town. We've always had one of those soft mirrors so I can see him and he started getting entertained by looking at himself in it a long time ago so I think that makes the rides fun for him too.

@travelgirl1: it's great. now that he's a toddler, i realize i don't really need the mirror, but it is still nice since he is still rear facing. And he uses it to see other things and likes pointing out red lights, buses etc that he sees in the mirror....so the mirror is still helpful! And i can make faces at him in it my rearview mirror and get a reaction out of him.

I agree with the others -- you just have to wait it out. We put various things back there to entertain DD, but that didn't help until she was old enough to really engage with/handle them, starting around 4 months. Also around that age she started communicating a bit more, so we would hear her griping a lot instead of that full-blown undifferentiated infant cry. Much easier for mommy to handle in the front seat! Even so, at almost 5 months we just had an awful 20 minute ride this week. Had to make two stops to console her, when she was absolutely fine on the ride out.

Other tips -- time trips either just before or just after naps. Don't ride in the backseat! This just ticked off my LO, as seeing me made her want to be held. For that reason, the mirror is not really helpful to her. Seeing me can make her cry to be rescued from backseat boredom.