Super Long Road Trip But DD Hates Car Rides

beautiflaw · July 2013

DH and I are moving across the country in the fall, so in 2 months we are going to make a trip to see our families before our big move. They live about 8 hours away from us and we have made this trip twice with DD. Both trips were disasters. We would fly if we could, but we are having to bring a ton of stuff with us that we can't fly with. So... yeah.

All the other times we have made the trip, we made it a point to stop for meals and diaper changes, and try to let her get out and stretch her legs and explore. Unfortunately she is not a good car rider even on her best day. She hates to go on a trip to the grocery store 20 minutes away from home. She screams and fights against the seat, and just freaks out. Sometimes she cries until she throws up. Usually our trip to see our families takes about 16-18 hours, when normally it would only take 7-8.

This time we are planning to leave at night when its her bedtime so she can sleep in the car, and borrow a dvd player for the car for when she's awake. I know she won't sleep as well as she usually does because she is not a good car sleeper. But it will help some I think. We also have looked at different routes where there are shopping malls, parks, etc for her to run around in just in case. We have a bag of toys and books that are for the car only and a couple of toys she hasn't seen yet that we will bring out for the trip. But that's pretty much all I can think of. Does anyone else have any advice? Any moms who also have kids who hate car rides?

Also we may be driving from FL to CA in the fall when we move, instead of flying, so if anyone has advice for a loooong roadtrip like that I would really appreciate it!

LolaBelle11 · July 2013

My DS hated the car! Hated it! I bought a different car seat for the heck of it because I had tried everything else... it worked! We did a 5 hour car ride without getting out once and it was during his nap but he only slept an hour. The rest of the time he played with the melissa and doug reusable sticker pads, watched some DVD's ate some pasta, etc... it went better than planned!

cattynine · July 2013

Have you tried sitting in the back with her? We did a 10 hour drive last month and I sat in the back seat to entertain DD. I just did whatever I had to do to keep her content and distracted. She only slept 1.5 hours total (45 min twice) during the whole ride, so it was tiring for me, but she was okay for the most part.

What about finding some new gadgets and toys that she has never seen before? DD loves things with buttons so I just looked around the house for stuff like calculators and and old remotes. I tried to introduce new things when she started getting antsy. Also I fed her little snacks, like sliced grapes, to keep her distracted.

You've probably thought of most of that already, but thought I'd mention it just in case.

UMichGirl · July 2013

DS hates the car as well. We actually strap our iPad to the headrest and control it using an app on our phones to play different videos for him like MM Club House, these Gummybear music videos that DH just happened upon but DS loves. He's mesmerized by them. We just took a 5 hour car trip on vacation and between napping, me being in the back with him, and those videos he did great. I'm trying to tell myself it's ok he watches videos in the car bc he doesn't really watch tv at home ever!

Good luck!

preggersin2011 · July 2013

Get the kid ready for bed, put 'em in the car and drive the 8 hours straight.... If i am driving more than 2 hours away i will let LO have a binki and her doll & blanket at night. LO RF at 45 degrees sleeps much better in the car than RF at 30 degrees. I've done 16 hour trips with LO in the car awake and asleep. It might be the car seat.....? LO gets into her car seat min 2x a day, and on the weekends we are in/out of the car all day. Your kid might just have to learn to give into the fight and settle for being in the car.

krissymikey · July 2013

UMichGirl, that app sounds awesome!! Can you tell me the name of it?

sunnyday016 · July 2013

preggersin2011:
Get the kid ready for bed, put 'em in the car and drive the 8 hours straight.... If i am driving more than 2 hours away i will let LO have a binki and her doll & blanket at night. LO RF at 45 degrees sleeps much better in the car than RF at 30 degrees. I've done 16 hour trips with LO in the car awake and asleep. It might be the car seat.....? LO gets into her car seat min 2x a day, and on the weekends we are in/out of the car all day. Your kid might just have to learn to give into the fight and settle for being in the car.

I was going to suggest reclining the seat as much as is allowed per your manual for sleep times. DUring awake times, a more upright angle may make her happier if she could see a bit more.

StacyJYay · July 2013

My LO doesn't like car rides either! We do what you're doing: leave at bed time. Although his sleep is somewhat fitful, it works! Good luck.

YumYum2012 · July 2013

I have a question for the moms who leave at baby's bedtime at night. If your trip is shorter than the entire night (which it most likely is), how do you do the transfer from car to bed without creating too much chaos and disrupting their sleep.

shannm · July 2013

You are already doing what I would suggest and that is to drive at night. That is the only way we can do it with our DD who also hates to sit in the car.

shannm · July 2013

YumYum2012:
I have a question for the moms who leave at baby's bedtime at night. If your trip is shorter than the entire night (which it most likely is), how do you do the transfer from car to bed without creating too much chaos and disrupting their sleep.

Last week we had a six hour drive. We put the kids to bed at normal times, packed up the car and then transferred them into it around 1am. They both stayed awake for the first 30-40 minutes but after that passed out and we arrived at our destination when they were ready for breakfast.

meganandchase · July 2013

With two kids, my 7-8 hour trip home to my parents has become a 10-11 hour trip, which is bad enough. I'd rather listen to them scream for 8 hours than take 16-18 hours to get there!

What we have done that works best is put them to bed at regular time (8), then go to bed as soon as possible. We get up at 3 and try to be out the door and on the road by 3:30. This gives us 3-4 hours of them sleeping before we have to stop for breakfast. We stop, get them changed, let them run around a little, and then back in the car. We almost always end up stopping for an early lunch, and then they take a nap after lunch, so they are somewhat rested when we arrive.

The three year old is easy to entertain. He gets to watch movies, play with a doodle, play with a leap pad, listen to stories, etc. The one year old is tougher. She's rear facing and can't see the DVD player, and she's a little young for anything but stories. We have the dog, so there is no room for me or DH to sit in the back.

You would have to pay me serious money to drive across country with a small child!

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