Anxiety in car

[newmom4]

We need help in dealing with an issue that seems to be getting worse and worse.  Our 6 yr old daughter and only child asks a thousand questions when we get in the car: where are we going; do you know how to get there; how many times have you been there; which road are we taking; and then in the process of driving, she'll comment that we're going the wrong way and then start to cry,becoming more and more hysterical.  We've tried various ways of dealing with this:  answering every question truthfully, ignoring her questions, trying to show her sometimes we've never been to a place before but it doesn't mean we're gong to get lost and if we would get lost, it''d simply be an adventure, and even making a game of it and talking about how much we can learn from simply being carefree in a drive.  We've also tried to ask questions to pinpoint issues like how do you feel when you know you're lost: her answer is scared.  We answer that she may be scared but she is with us and that we would never let anything happen to her  and that the important thing is that we are together.  A couple of times we've gotten lost and then pointed out to her that we found our way back to the house or to the highway without any undue problem and then maybe if we hadn't gotten lost we'd never seen that new restaurant being built or maybe wouldn't have found a new way to go to school.  This line of reasoning doesn't appear to help or alleviate any anxiety.  Nothing seems to work except to stop the car when we arrive home.  

The situation is so bad sometimes that we dread getting in the car with her.  And we are anticipating moving (driving) to another state and we have no idea how to deal with a situation like this for several hours on a road except to take lots of Valium (I'm kidding of course).  Do we need to consider professional help??

[RockRose]

Wow,  your post brought back memories for me.  One of my best friend's sons was like that when he was six.  I had him in my car a LOT,  and then just out of the blue one day he started acting exactly as your daughter is.  This boy himself had Sensory Integration problems,  and she explained his behavior that he himself really didn't have any idea where we were,  and couldn't really understand how a driver could know where we were going in unfamiliar territory.  

He finally grew out of it,  but it was quite awhile -

Does your daughter have problems with directions or have any sensory integration difficulties?

Best wishes.