Traveling in Car with 11 Month Old and 3 Year Old

We just made the same trip about a month ago. My son was 9 months old. We chose to leave in the late afternoon during his afternoon nap (around 3). He slept for about 2 1/2 hrs. When he woke up, he played for about 30 min before getting antsy. By this time it was around 6:00 and we stopped for dinner. This way he could get out of the carseat and play for about an hour. Got back on the road around 7ish and he played (just with his rattlers) for about 30 min before drifting off to sleep. His normal bedtime is 7:30/ 8:00 so he was out for the night. My husband and I were tired so we stopped about 1:00 am and got a hotel room. When we got up the next morning, we only had 3 hrs left. I woke my son up an hour earlier than normal. We had breakfast and were on the road for his normal morning nap. He slept for all but 30 min. By that time, we were by the beach and could put the windows down and he was a happy camper.

The best thing we did was buying the car DVD player for the little one and packing lots of baby einstein dvds. I think it was $99 at target, and it was the best money i've spent. That and plan on you having to ride in the back along with them if you are going to be driving during the day for 2 hours or more. I defintely agree with driving in the evening or at night as much as possible so they can sleep through it. I usually keep mine up through naptime on the day we are leaving so she's pretty sedated by 5 or 6 when we get in the car, and watches the dvds for an hour or so then falls asleep. Daytime trips require a lot more entertaining and riding along in the back seat from me (although sometimes they are unavoidable because of check-in/check-out times0.

Consider going to the dollar store and blowing 10 bucks on stickers and crayons and work books that you can pass back to your 3 year old, and lollies, too.

I usually try to grab a chapter book to read on chapter every hour or so. Winnie the Pooh is good for that age.

Also, do interviews of your three year old. There are some questions here and there online. Favorite color? Cars or trucks? What do you want to be when you grow up? What do you think you will look like? Etc. This can get pretty funny and is great for a scrapbook later.

We also started playing the penny game at about 3. Make a list of things like windmills, cows, horses, pumpjacks, American Flags, etc. Tell the kid what the list is several times and give him a penny every time he sees and points out one of the items.

For the sweet baby, I would consider asking your pediatrician if it is ok to switch him around early so he can be a part of the action. A couple of new little toys given in wrapping in intervals should help too. Good Luck!!! I love road trips.

If it's a long drive. Frequent potty break stops are sanity savers. Parents eat when you take a stop break. Your kids need the time to run around and burn off energy. Let them eat in the car. And bring lots of baby wipes. I live by them.

Plan around natural nap/sleep times as much as possible. I just made a 7 hour drive with my one year old and had to sit in the back of the car with her the whole ride (other than when she was alseep). And,although this was unsafe, I did have to take her out of her car seat and let her stretch her legs/ crawl around and nurse her while we were driving. It is just not realistic for a child so young to sit still for hours at a time. We do not do DVDs or TV for her (she is too young), so that was not an option. Best of Luck!