road trip tips?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
road trip tips?
7
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 12:25pm
i'm an old hand at plane trips, they don't stress me out at all, but i'm going to see my dad next week (it's an 8 hour drive) and i have no idea what to do to make it there sane and with the kids all in one peice! do you guys think i should travel at night? i'm thinking maybe that is better because then they might sleep the whole way, but then again they might not, and then i would have two babies up till midnight. ackk! any ideas?

clarity

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2000
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 1:06pm
I guess it depends on how well you would do with no sleep all night. When Ben was little, we used to hit the road about 4:00 in the afternoon for long trips. We would stop at 5:00 just any old place - like Walmart - to let him use the bathroom and run around a bit. Then we would stop again at 6:00 for dinner. We tried really hard to keep him awake until 7:30 or so, then he would sleep through the rest of the trip. Of course, he usually woke up fully rested and ready to play at midnight when we reached our destination exhausted.

If you are traveling solo (no other adult) you have the added headache of not being able to do a rest room pit stop for yourself if the kids are asleep in the car (unless you can get them both out and into some sort of stroller still sleeping and wheel them into a disability stall).

Do you live near a good library? If the kids will be awake during at least part of the trip, your DD is old enough to get into books on tape. Our library has tons of them and we never hit the road without checking out five or six books. There are usually at least two that turn out to be worth listening to.

If you have a tape or CD player in the car, also borrow new kids' music from friends and neighbors to amuse everyone on the trip.

Also, this won't help you with this trip, but check out www.bookcloseouts.com sometime. Do a search using the word "sticker." They sell big sticker scene books that usually cost 5-6 buck at Border's for 1-2 dollars each. I order a bunch about twice a year. We keep a stock for doctor waiting rooms and such as well, plus some we give as gifts.

We have friends who called everyone in the neighborhood a few days before they took a trip and asked every family with kids to donate a couple of kids' meal toys that they were planning to throw away anyway. The mom would get about 40 kid meal toys and wrap each one in wrapping paper. She handed out a gift to each of her 2 yr old twins about once every 15 minutes. The kids probably had as much fun unwrapping and scattering wrapping paper as they did playing with the toys.

Hope you have a good trip - Suzanne

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 2:24pm
wow, you are just full of good ideas aren't you?? those are some great ones, especially the books on tape and happymeal toys. i don't think i know enough people to hit up, but the local goodwill is usually very well stocked for a quarter apeice, so i'm going to do that. they'll love opening them. and yes, it's a stupid solo trip, but i've got the bladder capacity of a camel and i'm not adverse to peeing in a bottle if that's what it takes! lol. i was thinking of leaving in the afternoon like you did, around 3 or 4, so that by the time the kids were bored to tears and driving me crazy they would be ready to fall asleep as well. and as long as i have lots of coffee (which may interfere with that camel-bladder but is a deffinate necessity) i should be good until at least midnight.

thanks for the great ideas :)

clarity

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 4:19pm

Books on tape was my first thought, as was music. For us, we can't do anything without music where Julia is concerned. She has a ton of toys but the ones that play music and are more "interactive" are the ones that hold her attention the longest. She has a small Leap Frog "See and Learn"

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2004
Tue, 05-18-2004 - 8:53am
Me and dh just got back yesterday from a 14 hour drive with our 16 mo old. We chose to drive at night while he slept since we had such a long distance to travel. Usually we set up the laptop and use it as a DVD player for him, but we didn't take the SUV this time because we think the transmision is slipping and the car we tood wouldn't fit it where ds could see it.

If you kids ars still in booster seats or car seats I would put them in the reclining position.

My dh did most of the driving while I slept. :)

Good luck.

Tanya

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Tue, 05-18-2004 - 9:08am
Hi there! You did't mention how old your kids are, but I'll give you what we've done. As avid garage salers, we picked up a couple of really cheap, yet fully functioning, Game Boys for the older four kids. The younger one tried to play even tho' at the time he couldn't read yet. Those kids were so quiet you'd never know we had so many stuffed into that van! Our youngest at the time, who was 1 1/2, was very good. We haven't yet traveled with the 5 month old, but I'm ready to take a solo trip myself to visit my elderly grandmother in Canada, and am taking four of the kids with me so this should be interesting. I would also bring a lot of crayons, coloring and reading books. Even my 2 yo likes to "read" books like her older book worm 11 yo sis.

Good luck!

Carson-- SAHM to six

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2003
Tue, 05-18-2004 - 11:36am
ahhhhhhh the joys of having a tv in the van.....it is a life saver...... when the my girls were little ( 3 and 4) we didnt have one and we took them on a few road trips, they always did great, but we have these little carry boxes from discovery toys called creative cubbies.. they are fun....we fill em with all kinds of stuff, from magnet letters to crayons , mini color books and felt people.. the box has magnet board, wipe off board, chalk board and lap tray....but they dont make em anymore.stupid co... anyway. you could do the same thing with a small brief case type thing. or even a cardboard box.. but just dont let them see it TIL you get in the car..and i sure wouldnt hand em to them til they are BORED..... my girls love looking at the scenery......so they would last a few hours before i had to break em out.but now that they are older, the tv is a great way to go...... and ours you can hook up the nintendo to it, so they can either watch reg. tv... videos, or play games........keeps em occupied for hours......mommy too....lol
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Wed, 05-19-2004 - 11:05am
thanks so much for all the great ideas, see why i love these boards?? the kiddos 18 mo are almost 5. my oldest is great, and if it was just her i wouldn't worry at all, but the little guy is very wild and i don't know how he's gonna do. but i guess worst case scenario he screams the whole way, maybe i'll just bring earplugs.

i went to goodwill looking for mickeydee's toys, and made a great find! i got a box full of perhaps 50 kids tapes-music, books on tape, stories, soundtracks from disney movies, and science ones- for 2$!!!! i couldn't believe my luck! so that will be plenty to entertain dd.

thanks again for all the ideas :)

clarity