Activities to Keep 15 Month Busy During Car Ride

We just got back from a 6 hour road trip with our boys. Both boys (2 1/2 and 15 months) are still rear facing and I wouldn't turn them around for a long road trip. The risk of internal decapitation seems a bit greater to me if an accident happened going 75pmh than if were just in town going 40mph. We just kept lots of books and cars in the diaper bag that I could easily get to and hand them off if someone got bored. We also took sippy cups with water and stopped a couple of times so they could get out and run around to burn off some energy and boredom.

She will do JUST FINE! We've driven back and forth to Texas a few times with our boys, and my 2 1/2yr old just went forward facing a few months ago.

*I* would keep her rear facing. If you have a DVD player, she will be fine. She's used to being rear facing, she can be reclined and much much more comfortable, and I agree with the other poster who said that going 75mph on the freeway is much more dangerous, so keep her rear facing!

Take breaks every couple hours, you'll be surprised at how quick the trip goes. She will nap, she will snack, she will watch a DVD, you'll take a break, she'll nap, you'll be there.

Its not worth the risk to flip her carseat forward facing... if she's only 20lbs, and she's in a convertible, it wil lrear face to at least 33lbs, so keep her rear facing!

Playing music (both your kind and kid kind of music) is great also handing her small snacks one at a time will keep her focused. Sippy cups and possible even a special toy. One that she has not seem before or in a very long time. I also think that window clings on the windows beside her can act as distractions. It also would help if you put a cooler or suitcase by her feet so that if she drops a toy it lands on that instead of the floor allowing you the ablitity to reach it. Just remember to relax and have a good time. It will go by faster that you realize!

I took a trip (10 hours) with my dd when she was about 17 months - just the two of us. I was really worried too but she slept a good part of the way. I had a container next to her with dolls, books, crayons, etc. anything that she could do in the car. the trip was fine. good luck

I took a 5 hour trip from the bottom of WI to the top of WI... my daughter needed to stop ever 2 hours for a 20-30 min break to get energy out. I could tell when the 2 hours were up because my daughter would scream her head off. At the time my daughter was 18 months and very active so a break ever two hours was needed.

I switched my daughter into a forward facing seat at 13 months, but she was 21 pounds and very long (too long to be in a rear facing seat... it was like she had to sit Indian style when I switched her). The toys my daughter really liked are the noisy v-tech books (that kind of read to her) and various little toys that made noise or played music. That kept her busy between snacks and get out of the car breaks. I also brought along her favorite toys, stuffy and blankets to make her fell comfortable/safe for the long ride.

We were going to take a trip to Nebraska over Memorial day but decided to put it off... not sure how a 10 hour car ride would go (end up being 13 hours with breaks/stops).

when I have traveled with my 12 month old for an extended car ride the best advice I give myself is expect the trip to take at least a couple hours longer than when you are by yourself or with someone else. We have done many trips that were suppose to take 4 hours and ended up taking almost 6 hours. My kiddo is walking so we will stop at rest stops and walk around and stop at a restaurant and eat and have him walk around there too. one thing i forget....I put a laundry basket in the seat next to him filled with toys and he would just grab different toys to play with....you can put a pillow in the bottom of the basket so your kid can reach all of the toys with ease.

Hi L.! When my DD was 14 months we went on a trip similar in length of time to yours. I put a basket of toys right by her carseat and a bunch of toys up front with me so I could reach back and give her one if she ran out of things to do. I filled the basket with noisy toys(noisy ones are better than crying), books and measuring cups(her favorite) and got a kids CD for her "listening enjoyment". I sang to her alot and she slept for a couple of hours. It worked out really well! Can she eat in her car seat? That always provides something to do if she is past the choking danger. Crackers and a water sippy cup can be very entertaining. Hey! you might not even need movies:)
Have a great trip!

Hi,
We just returned from a long road trip ( 5 hours too) with our 12 month old this past weekend. It went much better than we expected, so hopefully yours will too. Our son is pretty big--he's already 26 lbs.--so we did get the forward facing carseat. I think that really helped. He doesn't watch movies yet, but we brought along a bag of his favorite toys, including household stuff that he likes (wooden spoons, plastic cups, etc). We also put his sippy cup full of water into his cupholder, and he seemed to enjoy drinking that. He did sleep for about 2 hours of the trip, and I'm sure your daughter will too. I don't know if your daughter likes songs, but we did some singing, and that entertained him for awhile. Good luck!

Is it possible to drive in the evening, like when your daughter would go to bed? We've taken four hour trips, and we start after suppertime with our infant/toddler son in pajamas. As soon as we get going, he falls asleep for the entire trip; when we get there, we slip him into his crib. The next thing that he knows is that it's the next morning! (The only time we had trouble was when he was teething and woke in the night to find himself in a strange place--he just needed some midnight cuddles that time.)

This will be a sinch! Bring a picnic basket with all her favorites, a blanket, and a big ball. Make sure you get going when it is naptime, so she can nap in the car. Then after a few hours of that, stop at a rest area and have your picnic. Take a potty break and play catch with her with the ball. By the time she starts to grumble for the next two hours in the car, pop in a dvd and she'll be fine. That is a great idea to turn around the car seat for the trip. You may not even need to use the dvd player. Have fun! Oh and another thing--one of the greatest things my girls have discovered lately is a Doodle-Bear. They write all over their bears and think it's really funny. Maybe she'd like that!

Music CDs - Goofy ones with kid songs that you can sing along too - since it is just the two of you, you can sing loud, laugh and do voice changes. Your daughter will love the special bonding time with you!