My mom and I were planning to make the trek alone (the U will join us in a week or so and then fly back because of work), but my brother has decided to accompany us on the trip, which makes us all a little more relaxed about the trip.
It will either work out fine, or it will be sheer torture for us all, but the idea of having all of our crap with us for the two weeks that we'll be at the beach house is priceless to me.
While I think that I've managed to feel comfortable enough on a three hour flight with HUT, I am not at all prepared for a multi-hour adventure in the car with him. As a child who has never been too fond of his carseat, this should be very interesting.
We plan to wake super early, hit the road, feed him breakfast in the car, drive for a bit, stop to stretch our legs, drive a bit more, stop for lunch, drive a bit more and arrive at our hotels each afternoon in enough time for HUT to run around, get his energy out, head to dinner and then do it all over again the next day. We've purchased a dvd player to attach to his headrest for entertainment and will bring a cooler with snacks along as well.
At least, that's the plan. I'm sure he'll dictate how that actually works.
So I'm asking for your help - if you've traveled with your toddler, or another, on a road trip - what worked best for you? And good tips or tricks for keeping them entertained?
Well, our last roadtrip was kind of a bust. We tried to drive at night and she screamed until she threw up. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut we have another one planned this weekend, and my plan is to get a few new small toys/books to dole out as needed, plus a stash of her familiar toys/books, plus some kids' music to jam to (some new + some old). Also, we will plan to stop every 2-3 hours as needed to let her stretch and I'm hoping she will sleep some, too. I have better luck getting her to sleep if I am sitting up front, so I'll probably alternate sitting in the back and up front.
Our drive is only 6 hrs though, so hopefully it won't be miserable. Which dvd player did you end up getting?
We ended up with this one from Amazon:
Deletehttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QGXWSQ/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i02
Reasonably priced and it has worked well for us so far! Good luck this weekend!
First: Even though cheetos make every little one happy, don't offer them in the car. I did and it was such a mess!
ReplyDeleteWe stopped about every 3-4 hours on our 16 hour drive. We tried to plan driving in chunks around naptime or bedtime. One of mine was pretty accepting of the confinement. One was not.
On the first leg, he woke up after 30 minutes of napping and cried in misery...you know that cry that breaks your heart! I was sure his little bum was numb with no wiggle room in that tight carseat. So I definitely turned around and massaged my kid's bum while B drove. It made him stop crying! After that, I think he just gave in and was pretty content the rest of the trip. But he did the exact same thing on the first leg of the return drive. Hard to just let him cry but he was seriously fine again for the rest of the trip.
For the wide-awake legs of the trip, I had prepared a fun bag. Books, books with sound buttons, slinkies, race cars, cell phone toys, DVDs, etc. I definitely put some new toys in there for a little suprise, too. I passed out one toy at a time or had song time and tried to reserve the DVDs as last resort. And definitely pack some food and cooler items with his favorites (and yours) or with new fun things to try.
We mostly timed our stops for meals. If there was someplace to run around then we did. At one gas station stop, we watched semi trucks go through a power wash and at another, we found boulders in a grassy area and raced from boulder to boulder.
Is HUT still rear facing? Maybe turning him around for the trip would give him a new perspective!?!
You are awesome - thank you for the tips! He's still rear, but we plan to put him forward facing on this trip in hopes that it will help!
DeleteMagna-doodle! I gave one to G when we drive from Indy to Two Harbors, MN (way up north, but way beautiful). On the way up we broke the trip up three days. The way home we did it in two, but we stopped at my parents in Milwaukee mid way home so that was nice. I think the trick is to hide it from them. G doesn't get to play with it at home, instead I give it to her on the 5 hour Trips home
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