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15th June 2017
02:15pm BST
It’s hard enough to concentrate on the road without glass-shattering screams behind you, so here are six tops tips to help you travel in sanity and safety.
1. Introduce the car seat at home, letting baby sit and play around a bit so they become familiar with it; then they’re less likely to be horrified when you put them in it for an actual journey.
2. Enrich the environment – zoos do this to keep animals fulfilled and entertained; perfect for your own little monkey. Attach some toys within arm’s reach so baby can look at them and bat at them from their seat. Stick a poster on the back of the seat to keep them engaged, or splurge on an in-car screen.
3. Keep soft, foamy or furry toys in the car to hold their attention – avoid hard ones that might cause injury if you stop suddenly.
4. Rotate some tunes; classical music or even white noise to see what baby finds calming. Swishing sounds that mimic in utero noises relax them, or try a bit of whale song/plinky-plonky panpipes. Baby may turn out to be a straight up gangsta rap fan.
5. Special mirrors to attach inside the car let baby see your face while you’re driving, which makes them less anxious.
6. Short trips are the best way for baby to get used to the car; don’t let your first time out be a long road trip or you’ll arrive wild-eyed with clenched teeth and a freaked-out kid.
Once they’ve learned to associate travelling with fun stuff, baby will be a lot more amenable to chilling in the car seat. Before you know it they’ll be old whining “are we there yet” and elbowing their siblings. Success!Explore more on these topics:
