Why do most babies find travelling in cars comforting?

R

RMCF

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I know this is nothing new, but with my newborn I have seen how he sleeps without any issues when in the car, yet doesn't when at home, even if getting rocked or in one of those seats that has a vibrating (supposedly soothing) motion.

So why do cars have that desired effect of making most babies sleep?
 
Apparently I was a nightmare - often this was the only way to get me to sleep and my parents had to make road trips in the middle of the night or in the wee hours.

I dunno - I wonder could it be a (very) vague approximation of a cocoon and by extension, womb effect? Pets seems to like it too.
 
I started to doze in the car one night over Christmas (i was knackered after work and was getting a lift home) and i remembered that wonderful feeling of being asleep in the car as a child.

it's a combination of the warmth, the rocking motion of the car and the murmured voices and muted sounds around you. I wish i could get the same feeling when i go to bed! there's nothing like it.
 
Caveat said:
Apparently I was a nightmare - often this was the only way to get me to sleep and my parents had to make road trips in the middle of the night or in the wee hours.

I dunno - I wonder could it be a (very) vague approximation of a cocoon and by extension, womb effect? Pets seems to like it too.
Click to expand...

I bet some still say you are;)

Sorry couldn't resist.
 
My own view is, that the motion eases any wind (colic - don't want to break the ) that they have, same as being in a pram or being walked around.
 
I remember my parents putting my little brother in the car and letting it run while the rest of us looked out the window. They both had to sit in the front for it to work. I asked him when he was older if he remembered it it but he didn't. What he did remember was 4 kids shouting in the back seat while he was stuck sitting on the gear stick. That's what I remember too.
 
I had the reverse experience with my daughter, she hated the car. Until we switched her from reverse facing to forward facing (at about a year) she screamed from beginning to end of the journey. Very stressful driving. My brother has the same issue with his child.
 
I brought my elderly mother from Dublin to KK recently (on the new road) and she fell asleep for the entire trip :).

I reckon it was the warmth, the vibration and the reduction of external stimuli. (I tend not to talk much when driving unless spoken to, preferring just to think).

(Casiopea, apparently some cars give off conflicting/discordant resonance or vibrations - just an accident of manufacture: proportions, metal thickness etc. Also you'll know that many people - adults included - get car sick. This, afaik, is an inner-ear/balance issue in many cases)
 
Our smallee is a nightmare in the car...sleeps like a baby (sorry) at night though so happy with that. Maybe we should buy a van and put her cot in the back :D
 
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