Road Trip with Little Ones.

Hi S. i am a mother of 3 and have done a lot of long raod trips with my kids and the best thinks i have found is not to take them out too often go untill you have to stop then take a few minuts and let them run. most kids like to ride or sleep in the car if at all possable is in the back with them every now and then.

These tips have saved our saninty on long car trips:

1. a Portable dvd player is fablous. We watch little to no tv so it's a big treat for the kids.

2. Go to the dollar store and load up on little things. Wrap them up in gift paper and then pass them out at certain times along the way. You can even make a game out of it - tell your 2 year old that he get's a gift when he sees a cow or something else out the window.

3. Pack plenty of snacks, water, and so on and have meals in the car as you drive.

4. Stop every few hours. Pack a ball so you can chase it. A beach ball works great for this too.

5. Pack several sing-a-long cd's and sing along with them.

6. Drive as much as possible at nap or night time.

7. A cookie sheet covered with maganets kills lots of time. You can also use the tray as a desk for drawing, eating, and so on.

Good luck and have a good safe drive!

The best thing that my husband and I do is leave early I mean real early morning. My parents live 13 hours away. His parents live 17 hours away. None of them leave near a major airport so we just drive. It is an adventure but we have really got it down now. The night before we get the car packed with everything. We always try to leave before 4am or earlier. That way we have about 3 to 4 hours of the kids asleep in the car. By the time the kids wake up my husband or I wish whom is driving needs a pee break. Our first stop is a get dressed, strech legs and breakfast stop. Then after that we take stops when we need to. We do break the trip up into two days. It helps to leave early in the morning. By the time we get to the hotel it is afternoon and the kids are excited to run around new place. I hope this helps it works for our family very well.

I hate to say it, but having a dvd player or a tv/vcr in the car is a complete livesaver! We drove from WA to So CA with a 2 year old and 5 year old and it worked out well. If you don't have the portable dvd player, you can sometimes rent them or, if you're lucky, maybe someone you know has one you could borrow. We did our roadtrip before they were invented but we lugged our 13" tv/vcr with us (we had a mini van so this was a little easier) and got a power inverter for the cigarette lighter. They cost as little as $20-30 and are well worth it.

We were careful not to just let the videos roll continuously but, between lunch in the car (yes, it really will give you a solid hour or two of keeping them busy plus a nap beyond that), new things to look at and do (yes, loading up on stuff from the dollar store is also a must; don't give it out all at once, though; give only one new thing at a time and don't let them know you have more or that will become a new problem in itself), and down times when they are just riding, you should do fine.

For myself and my husband, we didn't do very well driving into the night. He's not a night person at all, so around 9:30 he was pretty much toast. I am, though, so I could drive on until around 2-3 am. Between that and sunrise, though, neither of us could do it. There's something psychological about it for us, I think. It just seems easier to stay alert when there's light out. Keep that in mind when you're planning your trip. It is easier to drive at night when there's less traffic and everything is quiet and the kids are sleeping but, if YOU'RE getting sleepy, too, that's no good! Good luck!

I have a 2 1/2 year old son. When he was 9 months old, we made a 10 hour car trip to leave my ex-husband and get out of a bad situation. During the trip, my son slept through most of it. I would expect that if you can keep your 2 year old from waking the baby, that your infant won't be much of a problem. For the 2 year old, I would bring books or small things for him to play with. My son loves book, so that's my first go to, but maybe your son has a favorite thing that he can take in the car. For such a long trip as yours, I would recomend stopping at parks along the way if you can find them. That way you can give your son a chance to run off some of his "wiggles" in a safe environment where there are not likely to be fast moving cars around. I find that if I let my son get out his "wiggles" that he's a pretty happy rider. Stopping at a park can also be a reward for letting your daughter get her sleep.

well I can not tell you how to get to Las Vegas but try traveling at night It can be tireing but when the kids sleep you can get a little furthwer on your journey as for the older one get a portable dvd player and see if it will help part of the time. the little one well you will have to play it by ear. God bless you and have a safe trip.

HI there. We are a military family so we are constantly moving around lots of stops for sight seeing and sit down dinners. We couldn't have made it without our DVD player. We have a dual screen that allows one child to play a video game (Our three year old thinks he's 16) while the other watches a movie or they can both watch the sam movie. Sam is 3 and Chris is 1 year. We never heard a word of complaint unless we turned it off. We had to turn it off to get my oldest to sleep. It is worth the investment. Word of advice though. SOme of the older ones play audio through the stero speakers keeping you from turning on the radio for traffic or weather reports without a fight. We got cordlaess earphones for our three year old sowe can listen to the radio in peace when using the DVD player.HOpe this helps. Drive safely and Good luck.

FOR THE 2 YEAR OLD TRY MOVIES OR LEAPFROG HAND HELD GAMES. THEY HAVE GAMES FOR THEIR AGE GROUP. THEY LEARN WHILE HAVING FUN, THE 5 MONTHS OLD TRY DIFFERENT TOYS. SOME W/LIGHTS,MUSIC AND SOME SHE CAN HOLD. TRY TO GET THE KIDS OUT OF THE CAR AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. LIKE WHEN YOU FILL UP FOR GAS OR WHEN YOU ORDER SOME FOOD TO GO. LET THEM OUT TO STRETCH. IF THEY ARE ASLEEP..LEAVE THEM. I OFTEN GO TO VEGAS AND TO SAN DIEGO AND IT DOSENT TAKE DAYS BUT ANYWHERE FROM 4-8 HOURS ON THE ROAD. DONT FORGET TO TAKE SNACKS FOR THEM.

We are avid road trippers. We have done several 2 day (24 hours strait through) trips with our kids, ranging every where from 6 months to 4. For us the trick is to leave around 11:00am.. One hour on the road and then we do drive through lunch, this both feeds them and gives them something to do for almost the next hour while they pick at food. 2 hour sitting and playing in the back seat or with you if you can get back there, and then nap time just like at home. When he wakes up stop for dinner, get out of the car EVERYBODY. If you choose to eat at a rest area great other wise a reasturant ( dont not eat this meal in the car.) After dinner RUN, take a half hour and run with you son wear him out play with him, it will make it much easier to get him back in the car. Hope fully by now you are only an hour or two away from his bed time and he can play in the car for a hour or so and then sleep all night. FOr us my kids were only allowed to watch Tv at night while they cooled down, so we also borrowed a DVD palyer for the car and only used it after the sun went down and they couldn't really see to play. (we drive all night cause we make the best time that way.) It will be harder when he wakes up, the second day is always harder cause they have been cooped up so long, which is why even though it's hard we drive all night, cause we don't really have to fuss over the kids too much.

I was nursing my daughter on two of our long road trips and when ever we could time "potty" breaks I would nurse her, and when ever we just wanted to keep going I would just pump in the front seat and then give her a bottle. You could always pump befor hand too, I just forgot to be prepared both times, LOL. Formula of course will be even easier.

I personally love road trips even with the kids, and if you just expect and accept that it won't go as smooth as it used to when you were pre-children, and remember that sometimes they just need to get out and run, you'll be fine.

Good Luck
H.

p.s. Sorry to type so much, I didn't mean to, that is just the schedule that works good for us. Taylor it around your own childs eating and sleeping habits!!!!

I took a road trip from Los Angeles to Seattle a couple years ago on more than one occasion- by myself with my kids who were I think 1, 2, and 4 at the time. The trick to my sanity was a dvd player in the back seat (listened to a LOT of baby einstein on that trip) and a potty chair brought with us. We had a minivan so I don't know if that would work for you- but we left a space for the potty and that way if we couldn't find a stop, no worries. I didn't like dragging all 3 kids out at a rest stop anyway, since I was alone and didn't wanna get murdered. :)

Get a portable DVD player. And drive at night as much as possible, that way they'll sleep. My aunt and uncle used to drive between southern California and Oregon to visit family and they found that the trip went quickest if they drove at night.

All I can say to you is geta portable dvd player with the screen in it if you don't already have one and bring lots of movies for the toddler. it will keep him busy and hopefully quiet and may the guardians be with you are your way down to see your safty.

Hi S.: My huband & I just did a road trip with our 32 month old from Florida to Washington. It took us 7 days to make the trek but with the frequent stops for potty breaks, meals, and hotels it went pretty smoothly. We were lucky enough to stop at a rest stop that had a playground. We let our daughter play for at least 30 minutes then told her what a good girl she was being for behaving so well on the road. A portable DVD player with her favorite movies helped out as well. I wish you the best of luck on your road trip and with Christ by your side you are all set!!!!

That's a good question. I'm scared to take the 4-5 hours drive to Vegas with my 20 month old. I may need to travel at the end of January and have been looking for solutions myself.
Try the link below. It may give you some ideas.

http://www.onestepahead.com/directory/117/85218/117.html

leave at night when they normaly sleep switch of driving so that one sleeps and the other drives that way you get there quicker and yes I will say it too a portable dvd player all this works well and lots of little toys or puppets so that you can distract them if the dvd doesnt

When my son was barely three, I moved from Oregon to Oklahoma... packed everything in my car that I could fit and we drove there in 42 hours! It didn't work out so well, so I found myseld driving back when he was about three and a half... 5 months later.
Here is what I found... kids like new things, a new toy will keep their attention longer than just any old toy out of the toy box. So, I went to the dollar store and bought several things and kept them with me during the trip... every 4-5 hours, I would give him a new one. Between stopping and letting him run around for a few minutes, giving him snacks, and playing clapping games, etc. with him, and introducing something new to the attention span every now and then, he did GREAT. I was totally impressed. Another thing that he LOVED, was a magnadoodle... the more I would clap and love his drawings, the more he liked to draw! That was my son, not sure if it would work for yours!

You know the best thing ever.. Get one of those little dvd players that u can strap to a consol lid or seat and that will work for the 2 year old and maybe even the lil one.. Thats what we did.. We moved from Missouri to San Diego and that kept her busy the whole way.. We watched Spongebob the whoooole time but it was worth it!