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December 2010 Moms
GrayGhost13
member
Road Trip Survival Tips
GrayGhost13
member
We have to take a long road trip later this month, and I'm trying to plan tactics to keep DS happy in the car. He's fine on shorter drives, but gets restless after a while (don't we all!).
So far I am planning to pack:
- Books including a new "touch and feel" book that he hasn't seen before
- Kindle Fire with kids' e-books and apps (and maybe I'll add a new one or two)
- CD of kids' songs to sing along to
- A variety of snacks
- Lunches for everyone so we can stop at the interstate rest stops a few times to eat, stretch our legs and possibly nurse
I'm having a hard time thinking of toys that are fun for the car. Most of his faves are cars or building toys like blocks.
Any other ideas and suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Road Trip Survival Tips
We have a DVD player for long car trips (10 hr trips back home) and a variety of Elmo's world DVDs
What about a quiet book like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Constructive-Playthings-Quiet-Book/dp/B0010AG4JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338918305&sr=8-1
Try to time your trip so it covers as much sleep time as possible. We usually leave super early or right at nap time so that DD sleeps a good portion of the way.
If LO is sleeping and you can put off stopping DO NOT STOP! DH has a bladder the size of a peanut and DD wakes up everytime we stop. It's so frustrating.
Have one of you sit in back and keep LO company. DD usually isn't into toys unless we are directly interacting with them.
Have copius amounts of absorbent paper towels and disposible bags readily available in case of car sickness. (Learned this the hard way last trip, DD's only gotten car sick on one trip but it is worth the hassle to be prepared. There is nothing like being 3 hours from your destination and having a baby and car seat covered in blueberry-bananna vomit and there being no paper towels because all the rest area have are blow dryers, trust me it is awful.) It also wouldn't hurt to have a spray fabric cleaner and some aeresol handy too.
ETA for our next trip I am going to pick up or make some flash cards because DD loves being quizzed. I don't know how they'll go over, but that may be a constructive car activity.
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(under supervision, of course)
C has the Eric Carle animal flash cards and loves them! They are so worth it.
https://www.amazon.com/Eric-Carle-Animal-Flash-Cards/dp/0811852563/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338920910&sr=8-1
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!
I sure hope we don't need the cleaning supplies
, but it's better safe than sorry so good suggestion!
Ooh, I'm so glad you posted this! We are taking a normally 8 hour trip this month that I imagine will be much longer than 8 hours. :P
The only thing I've bought specifically for the trip is one of those magna-doodle things to use in the car since he loves to color.
Oh magna-doodle is a good idea. We have a short trip coming up but it's the longest we've ever traveled with C. He doesn't actually know yet that an iphone plays videos and I guess I'd prefer to keep it that way for now, lol. I'm selfish about my phone! C does have one of those books that has a ton of little sound buttons on the right sound (like sounds that correspond to each picture). I got a solid 20-30 minutes out of that once, but he did enjoy ripping a few pages in the process.
https://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-19180-My-Discovery-House/dp/B004MWJLHK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338922385&sr=8-1
This recently kept A busy for an entire 45 minute car ride (we don't go on many long long trips!)
Oh my goodness, yes, this x100. That thing is our ultimate car toy. W will play with it for a good long stretch. We also keep some other annoyingly-noisy-yet-worth-it toys in the car, like the Vtech Rhyme & Discover Book and Fisher Price Learn and Sing CD Player. W hates being in the car for more than about 10 minutes, so our portable DVD player and Baby Einstein videos saved us on our trip to Tampa this past weekend.
J LOVES his Mickey Mouse flash cards (thanks Halo!) since he loves being quizzed. It's a great way to keep them entertained.
When we went on vacation the ILs sat in the back and kept him entertained. When he got tired of them we gave him the iPad and let him watch Mickey Mouse and Elmo. He also had toys that the ILs played with him and of course his Mickey Mouse and Elmo buddies sat in his lap the whole way.
I definitely suggest leaving as close to a sleeping time as possible. If it wasn't for the ILs we would have left at night right at bedtime and drove the straight 8 hours but because of them we left right before nap time so it wasn't horrible.
Hazel hates all things that don't involve running, climbing, and destruction of my personal belongings. So car rides are hit or miss. She's either sleeping or yelling the entire time regardless of what toys you give her. Good luck!
Just did a 6-hour trip this weekend.
Post-its. Kept him busy for a while. Stick a bunch on a tray, doodle pro, or anything else. He pulled them off one by one and then stuck them somewhere else. Himself, the car seat, the door... Bit messy but easy to pick up and lots of fun for him.
Any toy he hasn't seen before: hit up the dollar store.