Getting my 13 month old to sit in her car seat has been a major struggle for a while now. She is tall and strong for her age. Every time she sees the car seat, her back and legs stiffen. If I do get her seated, she quickly gets to her feet, turns around, grabs the back of the seat and tries to climb over it. Eventually, after anywhere from 15 to 30 mins, I win the battle, either by persistent gentle force or bribing with a new toy. However by then, I am usually sweating, worn out and late for work.

I’m looking for new ideas on how to handle this, especially from other parents with kids around the same age. I have read many posts online, but the suggestions are usually for older kids. My daughter does not understand things like: "you’re a big girl", negotiating, telling her where we are going, etc. And I am stern with her, which sometimes gets her upset enough that she’ll just sit down. Recently though, the stern route has been leading to a meltdown and more struggling. And the new toy or sippy cup thing only works for about a day, so at this rate, I’m going to go in to debt buying bribe toys and cups.

Any other ideas out there? (BTW, I do not spank my daughter, so please don’t bother responding if that is your idea.)
Sammy C – First, I say ‘bribing’ in jest. Maybe ‘distracting’ her would have been a better description. For example, she is moving on from bottles to sippy cups, so I distract her with the new sippy cup we are trying to get her to use.

Second, I’m not sure how old the kids are that you take care of, but I am almost positive that time outs aren’t appropriate for a 13 month old. If she has a meltdown in the house, I do put her in her crib, in her room alone to calm down. However, she is certainly not at the stage of comprehension where I could sit her somewhere and formally put her on a time out. It would make no sense to her. I am definitely anything but a pushover. And while my daughter listens to me and knows when I am being serious in almost every other place, the car seat is the one area she has chosen as our battleground.
Okay, maybe this isn’t the best resource for my issue.

Sweetdaddy Rex – That’s great that you raised four kids. I am guessing that you come from a different generation of parenting than myself. As I posted earlier, I am not interested in hearing from folks who suggest spanking. I was raised in a home where I was spanked often. It did not teach me what I needed to be taught. It was a way for my parents to get out their frustration. It only taught me to be afraid of and dislike my father. I do not want that to be my daughter’s experience in life. We can agree to disagree. And before you pass judgment on anyone’s parenting skills, you may want to think back to when you were a first time parent. Remember you weren’t always the ‘pro’ you like to at least tell yourself you are. If you remember that next time you answer someone’s post, you may sound like less of a horse’s a** than you do here.

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