Moving Out of State - Seattle,WA

If you have time, get one of the soft blue travel trays offered by The First Years. It's a godsend on long car trips. It's flat for drawing, holding books, holding toys, and has pockets on the sides for sippy cups and snacks. It attaches around the child and is soft and collapsible should the worst happen and there be an accident.

We moved from NC to CA with 4 kids, the youngest was 6 mos, then 3, 6 and 12. I won't lie, it was hard. We also camped in a tent.
We stopped at every state sign we could and got out and took pictures.
We played every dvd you could get from Cracker Barrel that was appropriate.
We stopped at the fun places; the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, DeSmet SD. We ended up in NV where there was arsenic in the water.
If she is sleeping drive!!! Do not stop for anything, ok maybe gas. You will get a long way of you drive while she slumbers. When she gets cranky stop for a few minutes and get out. Car seats are hot.
Sit in back with her and read, play with toys, feed her.
I gave my kids new toys, books or something they had never eaten, 12 yo had, like gummy bears and otehr snackies.

Make the stops in the daytime and travel by night. It worked for us on a long move. You don't say if you are driving the moving van or your own car. In the moving truck it is much harder than in your car.
Good luck with the move.

Tell her you are all going to live in a different house and all of her things are moving to that house, too. And that most of her things are going to ride in a special big truck and they will get there when you/she/daddy do. Try to do the bulk of your driving at night after she falls asleep. If you are staying at motels along the way, call ahead and see if you can check in at midnight, sleep in in the morning, swim in the indoor pool or ask if there is a nearby playground. Check out late (11:00 or noon if possible), have lunch, and make tracks during "nap". Stop to run around before dinner, then make tracks again until 11:30 or midnight. Plan an extra day or even two into your driving schedule if at all possible, just in case. Good luck with your move!

Plan lots of stops and try to drive during nap times if she's still napping (hopefully!). That's what worked for us best. We also set little goals for our son (like, we'll watch a movie after lunch time so that if we drove in the morning, he'd have something to look forward to later in the day). Rest stops are great for getting out and running around. I think you need to plan to stop for a half hour at the least during each stop, too. We drove to California and back and my son did surprisingly well. He was absolutely terrible about being constrained, too, so we were pleasantly surprised! The AAA books are really good for listing weird sites of interest, too. For instance, we drove across Canada and back across the States when my son was four months old and ended up stopping to see the Jolly Green Giant, the Spam Museum and the Corn Palace in the otherwise very boring prairies. Obviously these stops were for us as he was too little, but he'd love them if we did the same trip today! (He's 3.5 now).

We're getting ready to move ourselves. We bought the Berenstain Bears book "Moving Day" (I think that is what it is called) and read it to our son. He loves the book and is now excited about packing up his toys and books and seeing the movers put things in the truck. As far as the drive, take lots of breaks, maybe buy a few new "toys" (this could be anything really as long as it is new) to keep her occupied. When you do stop for breaks, try to make it in a place where she can run around a little bit. It well help her get some of energy out, and possibly sleep in the car better. Good luck!

We drove from Idaho to Kentucky and back. On the way there, we had DVDs, coloring and sticker books, stopped at McDonald's or parks so that the kids could run around, and had little iphone games for them to play. My kids are older than yours. It took us 4 days to get there. It was expensive to go out ot eat so much and stay at hotels, and it was not fun for me because I get carsick if I am not looking out the window. We also stopped at redbox dvd rentals to get new movies for the kids.
On our way back, it took us 2 days because we drove all night both nights, and didn't stop at hotels. The kids slept in the car the majority of the trip, and my husband and I took turns driving. There was one night where I pulled over at a rest stop and slept for 2 hours because my husband and I were both too tired to drive. That was it. We liked it better the 2nd way, and so did our kids.

Just wanted to say that I was entirely TOO STRESSED about taking my 2 year old on a move that was 4 days long. She did fine with little toys, our portable DVD player, and quite a few stops. Even a trip to a truck stop is exciting for them at that age! It won't be nearly as bad as you think.

In my experience, my child did better than what I worried about. You already got some good advice. Toys, snacks dvds etc. I had someone sit with my child in the back seat to entertain them and that is a huge load off if your driving. Definatley dont stop if they are napping unless you absolutely have too. You can get alot of driving done. Good luck.

All I can say is patience and creativity. As far as her seeing your stuff being moved out, tell her that it's on it's way to meet you at your new place and that you are all going on an adventure sort of like Jasmine in Aladdin or Tinkerbell.
I know that sounds corny but kids get it that way. Expect tough stretches during the trip - she's still little and needs to get out and move around. Best of luck to you

I moved from Montana to Indiana with my BF in the uhaul, and my mom and then 2 1/2 yo daughter with me driving our car(4 day trip).
I would say the biggest headache ended up being that we had way too much stuff in the car. I wanted to prepare to have lots of toys, books, snacks, drinks ect. for us and especially my daughter. However it was always a hassle trying to get through all the stuff in the car and very messy. She ended up eating or playing very little in the car. It tended to make her sick and so she just watched the road and sights, or we all listened to music.
Having enough stops, and eating out rather than in the car make a much smoother and easier replacment to having a lot of stuff in the car. Maybe just some sticker/color books, a couple dolls/toys, and the dvd player, but watch for car sickness.
Good luck!
PS. at that age I don't think they get the actual concept of moving that far away once it is over, so I wouldn't worry too much. Just let her know ahead and explain as you are going what you are doing, that was enough for mine.

Hi there!

We moved when my son was about 27 months old and I wrote him a book titled "Finn Moves to a New House". It was really simple: a page describing who we were, a page talking about our old house and old friends, a page explaining the boxing process, a page showing us loading all the boxes into a big truck, a page of us driving for a VERY LONG TIME, a page saying how well he did on the trip, a page showing us in our new house and a page saying that even under a new roof we were all still together and always would be. It quickly became a favorite and we read it a lot! He never really showed any signs of emotional distress about the move and I think that is why.

Good luck!!
T.

p.s.
the "illustrations" were stick figures and the like...drawn in crayon. It does NOT need to be fancy and the whole book took about 15 minutes to make.

Let her help as much as she wants and is able. Show her a picture of where you'll be living (google streetview can help). Assure her that you are all moving together (if you are) and that you're taking your things to the new place with you. If she can help pack the boxes of her stuff, see them go on the truck and then talk about them while you're driving, that might help her feel at ease. It helps her have some control over a situation that she really doesn't have control over.

With the trip itself, if it's possible for one of you to fly with her, I'd do that without hesitation. Other than that, plan to stop to run and play for at least an hour twice a day. Try to sleep while she's driving as much as you can. Have her eat her meals in the car if possible. I would even suggest that you split shift driving and drive overnight each night and then one of you can sleep during the day while the other drives and takes car breaks with her.

I moved from the UK to Alaska 2 years ago, flying from London to Montana, and than driving for 5 days to Anchorage, with a 2 and 4 year old. You may be surprised at how well she will do. We brought snacks, and a portable DVD player, and the boys did great. We would stop to relax or see a sight, or try to stop early enough for the night to enjoy a walk or dip in the hotel pool. The excitement of getting to live in a new place kept them motivated, and the movies kept them quiet for a time and kept us parents sane. Best of luck on your big move.

THere are plenty of childrens books geared towards this topic. I would stop by the bookstore and get a few. Books will help you better explain the move to her in more understandable ways, with pictures. I know of one we were given when we moved across the country for a job transfer 5 yrs ago, Berenstain Bears called "I'm Moving". Be sure you make frequent stops to stretch your legs and hers and to make more fun. You can freeze juice boxes over nite to keep them cold for the trip, take them out in morning and they will unthaw in car nicely. I would go to the dollar store and get a bunch of small toys for your daughter along with colors and paper, sticker books, an etch a sketch and or view master with plenty of disks that she can do on her own. Pack it all in a cute kid sized new back pack for her especially for the car trip. I would not let her use it or even see it until you are on the road. We did this for our child when she had to take long plane flight or road trips and it works great. Good luck on your move, how exciting for all of you.