Cross-country Driving with Little Kids.....

In addition to all of the other great advice, bring thin blankets (the old baby receiving ones are great) to cut down on the sun coming in the back windows. This helps at nap time in the car. You can simply roll down the window a few inches, stick the blanket out a half an inch, and roll the window back up.

Research towns along the way and find nice playgrounds or picnic areas for stops. Doing the research in advance saved me tons of time driving up and down streets trying to find a park when we stopped at various towns.

Dry erase boards were magic at age 2 - 4 for my girls. They loved using the thin markers to draw things and then wipe off with paper towels.

Pack towels, clean up supplies, and a change of clothes in an easily accessible spot. That way if there's a spill or puke, you don't have to dig through suitcases to get what you need.
Good luck!

I am a veteran of long car trips with kids. You've already been given some great advice. I have one more thing to add. When my kids were younger, I quickly learned to hate fast food places with play places. They are often super filthy, the kids then want to eat the junk food, the bathrooms are often nasty, and it's very hard to get the kids back out of the play structures. After squeezing my claustrophobic plus-sized self into one of those @#$% tube slides to retrieve a two year old in full meltdown, I decided that I needed a better alternative. And I found one. Almost any small town in America is going to have a small park with a playground or a good school yard somewhere near the center of town. Often these are near the town library, which will have fresh water and a clean restroom. Those are great places for the kids (and you) to get out of the car and move around for a bit. On a rainy day, a town library is itself a great stop. Get out of the car, walk around inside, sit for reading one book aloud, visit the bathroom, get back in the car. A 20 to 30 minute play break like this can change the tone of an ugly travel day.

When we've done road trips with the kids, at the same ages, we stopped every 2-3 hours for a break. It's frustrating and takes up all the time but it was truly the only way we could keep the peace and enjoy any part of the trip.

Unless you're going to put both in diapers and line the seats with plastic you have to stop frequently. Kids don't feel pain like adults do. We recognize we're stiff and then we stretch the muscles out. Kids just feel cranky and they don't even know they're starting to feel pain. Those car seats aren't as cushy as we think. They can't move like we do either. They're strapped in totally. Even if they fall asleep they can't stretch anything.

We'd get up, eat full breakfast at the hotel, shower and pack, load up, get on the road sort of early but not crack of dawn.

Then we'd stop around 9:30am-10am for morning snacks and play time. In hot weather we always stopped at McDonald's to have parfaits or something. The kids could run around and work out some kinks.

Then on the road until lunch. Good solid lunch will do wonders for them once they get back in the car. They should go to sleep with that full tummy and not wake up for at least a couple of hours. You should drive as long as possible here.

Once they wake up it's potty time. Then snacks and movement for at least 10-15 minutes. The back on the road. They're going to start feeling the effects of the seats by now and you may have to hold them down to fasten their straps. Ours never wanted to get back in the seat at this point.

It's up to you at this point. You're tired and ready to be there already, thinking about when they're asleep and you can lay down, how much you would love to have a massage...lol.

If you are stopping for the night it wouldn't hurt to pick a hotel that has a pool or some area where the kids can be kids and play. The cool water will help stop any pain from sitting by reducing any inflammation.

Part of the trip should be for play. It's not just about getting from point A to point B for kids. That's sheer torture for their little minds.

When we traveled we always picked several places that we could stop and do the sightseeing stuff or some other experience. Like if we have friends traveling through OKC we'd tell them to stop in the Bricktown area. There's a rock climbing place that has a super tall wall. They have toddlers climb too. It's totally fun!

The kids will remember this trip, even though they're young they will remember things about it. I went to Cherry Point when my brother was stationed there. I was pretty young. I remember passing a river that looked like it was flowing uphill. I remember stopping to look at quilts along the highway. I remember waking up at a motel and there was a water feature where the spigot ran water into the pool below. The water pipe went up inside the flow of water coming down but to a kid it was magic!

I remember my mom washing my dad's face with a wet rag she was holding in front of the air conditioner so he could stay awake. We wanted to get to my brother's house that night. It was very very late. I don't think I had started school yet. I remembered odd things. Pictures helped too. I have those pictures in my scrapbooks and my grand kids love looking at them too. Seeing me on vacation with my mom and dad is funny to them.

SO plan out your stops before you leave. Plan the trip you want. Do you want to enjoy the trip to and from the location as well as the location part?

If not then consider taking a 2nd driver and drive through the night. Then stop for breakfast, switch drivers, do the frequent stops during the day, let the other driver sleep as much as possible, then drive as far as possible the 2nd night but plan on stopping at some point so both drivers will be safe the 3rd day.

Lots of people recommended play centers, but we often take our fast food (or pack a picnic lunches/dinners) and head to a local playground/park. The kids enjoy being in the fresh air and have a lot more room to run. Plus, it gives you a chance to see some of the "local scenery".

We're getting ready to make a long move, from El Paso to the East coast. We also have a 2 and a 4 year old. I divide long drives into at MOST 6 hour increments, although I try to stick to 5 - 5 1/2 hours. That's the longest that my 2 year old can handle being strapped into her car seat at the moment. (Of course, it's actually longer than that when you factor in stops and whatnot, but actual drive time I stick to those limits.) We do watch movies and bring snacks. If you can, make sure the kids get plenty of time to run around and be crazy when you get to your daily stop points. I find that subsequent driving days are harder than the first (my 2 year old does NOT want to get back into that car on day 2). Best of luck!!

I feel your pain! We do a 22 hour trip South each year. Bring some new (to them) toys that will be special for the trip. It helps them not get bored with them so quickly. We did inexpensive stuff (Pinterest is a huge help!): finger puppets, reusable sticker pages/colorforms, books, colored pencils (don't melt in the heat like crayons), printed out some fun coloring pages online (favorite characters, etc.). The DVD player was a huge help - it was a nice distraction, and they loved it (though they only watched maybe 1 movie). We also took longer stops - even running around for 15 minutes made a huge difference before getting back in the car. We do some night-driving, as well, which is good for them (not so much for us!).
Best of luck to you and safe travels!

I love the idea a poster said about metal trays for eating/coloring, add
magnets to those metal trays to keep their coloring pages in place.

Scope out the area you are driving ahead of time for places to stop & rest
AND points of interest to check out.

Stop every 3 hours or so to get out & stretch those legs. While stopping
often is a pain, it is key.

Be sure everyone in the car stops to pee right before you anticipate them
napping so to you can power drive through those naps.

Don't do more than 8 hrs of driving a day.

Bring 2 DVDs so they can each have one & age approp DVD's to keep
their interest. Buy new ones.

Buy NEW toys they've never seen before & bring them out only when they are getting grumpy.

Dry erase boards & earasable pens.

Point out (esp to the eldest) things of interest (cows, horses, sheep, big
colored trucks, bulldozers etc.).

Sing songs.

Tell a story incorporating things you see.

Stop often! Did I already say that? ;)

We just did this trip. I have an 8, 4 and 9 month old. We did all the normal, snacks, dvd's, new toys, books, games....
What worked for us was driving at night. We left at night so the kids slept. Then they had one day and slept again during the night. We went from Idaho to Ohio, 28 hours.
Also, we drove straight through. Only stops - gas and potty. Usually that was a combined stop. I packed food in the car so we didn't have to stop and eat. When we stopped to potty/gas up, if there was a patch of grass safely away from cars, I had the kids run and run and run. For us it was best just to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Good luck. I grew up doing the drive cross country every summer. Some were "longer" drives than others, but we all survived them.

Frequent stops, to stretch their legs and go potty/change diapers. As bored as we adults get it's magnified about 20 times for kids ;)

Put their snacks for the day in Bento or divided containers, they can snack when they're hungry. This is a cute idea, too:
http://www.thethriftinessmiss.com/2013/06/diaper-wipe-con...

Comfy blankets and pillows so they can relax and nap when they need to. And a soothing CD to play when you or they are stressed.

When we went on long car trips we brought dvd's, hand held games and planned to make lots and lots of stops along the way, like every two hours.

Look at McDonalds and burger kings web sites for playlands that will be near your hopeful rest stops and count on everything taking longer then expected! I drove from Colorado to Delaware with a 9week old and almost 3 year old and we survived but the playlands were my saving grace especially on two rain days! Enjoy the experience!

have a "car bag" which includes a fresh outfit for both kids and you, a bottle of water, a roll of paper towels, some finger puppets and some goldfish, or raisins. this beats trying to get into your luggage roadside when/ if someone has an accident, gets car sick, etc.

have a hotel bag- toiletries, a change of clothes one toy each. IMO, no need to tote it all in, unpack and re-pack daily.

have a laundry bag.

scope out and make use of playgrounds.

pack a beach ball.

book hotels which include breakfast and a pool.

we did 12 days on the road in Australia with our then 22 month old. He would get up at 6 am. We would play romp eat breakfast check out and hit the road. He'd fall asleep for about 2+ hours. We'd stop for lunch and some playing, and then hit the road again for 4 hours, and book in early enough to get dinner, romp around the hotel room etc. It can be done.

good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

We drove from Chicago to New Jersey when the kids were 1.5 and 3. We drove through the night. It was great! We let them watch a movie, we stopped for dinner, drove another hour, stopped to brush their teeth, get in their pjs, and the little one slept 10.5 hours, and the older one slept 6, woke up for an hour, and then slept another 5.

Hubby took cold medicine ---a type truckers use to stay away-- and I stayed up to keep him company.

I brought lots of snacks, and it worked great.

On the way back, we had to drive during the day. I prefer it when they are sleeping :-)

I found some metal trays with fold-down legs at Wal-Mart of all places. They were a Godsend. It made eating snacks easier and they could play with toys like Legos and Polly Pockets, then color and snack again!

My advice would be to have 'fresh' toys and snacks for each day. The Dollar Store is great for this, and if they get lost along the way, you aren't out a lot of money.

When we traveled by car, we always planned a long lunch at a fast food place with a play center. They could play and stretch out while hubby and I had a salad and then we would clean up and head back to the car for the afternoon.

My must haves for the car were diaper wipes for cleaning sticky hands and just freshening up in general and plastic grocery bags for trash.

Good luck and safe travels!

I agree with all that was said as well. We also let the kids sometimes pick out DVDs at the Red Boxes we see along the way. It makes it so thrilling for them and it's easy to return it. One rule we have is that our kids can't turn on the DVDs until we are an hour outside of town. We use that hour to be sort of quiet and look out windows, observe, talk to eachother, etc. An hour goes by pretty fast. It makes me feel slightly better to have this rule just so they aren't complete zombies from the second we get in the car!!

At 2 my son didn't watch a ton of TV so what worked the best for him was play cell phones, play cameras, and a set of "real" keys that I put on a key ring (with lots of other random and fun key rings) from random/lost keys I found around the house. Kids know the difference between real keys and toy keys and there is just something about the jingle of the real things that bring joy! ;) I almost left them a few places during the years and each time people ran after me saying "you left your keys, wait!" Haha, so that's another good thing, they're hard to lose!!

I do think Geneva also makes some good points. We have stopped at rest areas before too and let the kids run around. We had a ball and some sandwiches in the car and it was nice to just play. That being said, we sadly mostly stop at McDs play places. :/ One thought though, although you probably wouldn't want to do this with the 2 y/o, is to let the kids play first and run around and then when you get back in the car give them food. This way the stop is centered around activity for them and then they have an "activity" to do back in the car to take up more time.

I like the tray idea too. For my kids I put together a coloring binder. I bought thin 3-ring binders and then tore out a million random pages from the million random coloring books we having lying around the house. I punched holes in them and put them in the book along with some plain paper. Then I put some velcro in one corner of the book and attached velcro to the bottom of a plastic cup (like ones I took home from a kids' meal at a restaurant) and filled it with crayons and markers. I can fold up the binders for easy storage and stack the cups while they aren't using them but when they want to color the picture is secure with the binder and the cup of colors is secure with velcro.

For snacks, I usually have a ton of random stuff and new stuff to keep them guessing. Dry cereal is a good snack and a little different than our normal stuff. I always take at least 2 plastic bowls in the car too so that if something is in a bigger bag (like Goldfish) I can just put some in each bowl. Or if we get a package of M&Ms at the gas station, they can split it, etc. I also always have a reusable water bottle in the car at all times. They drink it when they are thirsty and it hasn't caused any increased bathroom issues when we are on long trips.