Toys for Car and Stroller

Hi M.,

I would get a lot of little toys. Keep them with you and whenever she gets bored or irritated show her a new one. If you trade with her then you can just rotate them. Finger puppets are great, because then you or your husband can perform a play as a distraction when she really gets frustrated.

I kept a bag of toys by the kids car seats so that they could pick and choose. Also include lots of board books with colorful pictures. Change the toys often because then they look forward to seeing what they have to play with.

Also, I have found talking in the car really soothes. If you are passing lots of trees point them out, or big trucks. When my son was about your daughter's age we went on a six hour trip with my dad (who does not like stops). My son was "big Truck" addicted. Everytime one passed by he would poing and say "big twuck, big twuck". There were so many he finally wore himself out and went to sleep.

I hope my suggestions help you. Have a great trip. Take lots of stops, if it gets to be too much.

Baby Einstein makes great car toys...my son started exert his independence at that age too, and didn't like the stroller or carseat for short period.

We got the caterpillar with remote control thing, and now my son at age 2 uses the remote on his own and loves it!

Also try...

- Books...my son started with the soft material ones and the squishy ones. I would tell him to read to me, he liked that.
- Snacks! Juice!
- Sing-a-long CD's from her favorite shows.
- coloring books, (when we travel with grandma long distance they color together)
- I put beads on a string, with different color and attach them to his carseat, and he plays with them for good chunks of time. Get the plastic ones at the fabric store and string...cheap and easy!
- my friend got the steering wheel activity set that attaches from Fisher Price, and her daughter loves that.

GOOD LUCK!

Hi
Have you tried a radio, music or singing to her when you go on walks. You could try talking to her about all of the things she can see (cars, trees, birds, etc). I would recommend that any toys you get for the stroller be the non-breakable kind as most kids love to throw them out
Good luck

Get a portable DVD player. You can get one at Walmart for under $100. We love ours for long road trips. We drive to Tahoe/Reno 3 times a year and this device is a life saver.
You can use it anywhere. You can also get head phones for her if the noise bothers you. We have 2 and it is the best invention ever!!! My daughter is 2 1/2 and we have been using them ever since she was a baby. There are so many educational DVD's. She can learn her ABC'c or whatever, I also recommend Baby Einstein DVD's because they are all about learning and are targeted to keep her attention.

have you tried letting her walk part of the time you take these walks? my daughter is 19 months and likes to walk a little bit when we take walks or go places (infact she would rather walk). for the car seat problem maybe get her the leapfrog little touch pad. it comes with books that go in it and its all touch. or try a small portable dvd player. there are many things you can get that are small to take on this trip. get a small size box that can sit next to her in the car so she can pull out toys when she wants. good luck!