Tips or Tricks for Long Road Trips

I will be taking a long trip with a 2 and 4 yr old next month. Someone recommended having some fun things while at the rest stop to help the kids be active, like bubbles and a beach ball. The kids can chase the bubbles to pop them and the beach ball can easily be blown up and deflated to take up minimal space while driving.
My other tip is to have plenty of wipes and diapers!
Good luck and have fun.

I agree with the first post - music sing alongs (with mom leading of course), and the dvd player is also a big hit. Also, consider having one parent sit in the backseat with the kids after one of the stops. You can read books, or play some simple games with flash cards (my kids liked to identify the names of pictures on the ABC cards) or GO FISH cards. Also, my kids LOVED the "easy listening" music or "environmental sounds" when it was nap/sleep time away from home. The soothing sounds helped to relax them. Also, to block out the visual traffic (for distraction and road-sickness)consider using pillow cases, trapped in the rolled down top of the window, rolled back up with just an edge stuck in the crack. This will not only eliminate the distractions, but also help darken the car a bit for a nap.

Hope this helps!

I always pack coloring books and sing along tapes for my small children when we take long road trips. Also if you have a portable dvd player,you can use it for the childrens favorite videos. This worked the last time we traveled to Florida via car. Hope this helps.

Not to certain on how old your children are, but a few tips I have is a DVD player can pass the time by quickly and have them settle down for about 2 hours. For movie time make a big deal out of it and bring movie snacks and give them a drink too. Tell them it is just like going to go see a movie! This works with both of my girls. The younger you don't have to tell the story, but they each get what is going on.

Play car games. Like finding the letters of the alphabet on billboards and signs. That was always a good one when I was younger. Or I Spy works well too. The only rule is that it has to be outside the car for all to enjoy (driver included). Or start a story that goes around the car. You start it with their help and then keep it going. Or picking out what the clouds look like.

Bring a book to read to them in the car. Coloring/activity books are good. There are cheap boards they can lay across their lap and store all their things inside of it. Like a lap desk. Also music is great distraction as well. The music works on all ages from what I've seen I have an 8 yr old and an almost 2 yr old.

Have a great time. And remember they lose interest in things quickly. Have a variety of things for them to do.

For your little one, I recommend this mirror made by fisher price for $20 that has a remote control so you can turn on songs and lights from the front set when she gets cranky. Best investment I ever made. Sold at BRU, TRU, and Burlington Baby Depot.

And for your son, since he is older, how about a new CD of sing a long songs and a new coloring book of some kind to keep him occupied? And snacks are always a treat in the car. My mom gave us peanuts and raisins with a juice box after a fixed amount of time and I still remember how special I felt!

Oh, and if you do decide to go for a book on CD, Cracker Barrel restaurants has a share program where you buy one there, and can then stop at any restaurant and trade it our for a different one. If there is a CB on your way, it might be worth looking into.

Good luck!

Hi N.

I just did this trip with a 4mos, 32 mos, 34 mos and 4 y.o with another mom in our minivan.

We left early to miss city traffic. We learned that if we wanted the kids to fall right back to sleep, we had to make sure it was still dark out. That meant leaving by 4AM for the trip down. On the return trip, we decided to eat bkfst before hitting the road. Although the kids did not go back to sleep, it was actually a better trip. (And we saved money by using the hotel hot breakfast instead of having to buy something on the road.)

The halfway point is Chatanooga, TN. We found that the Holiday Inn Express consistently met our hotel criteria: safe area, good price, pool, interior corridor, clean comfy rooms. (We stayed one night at the one on I75). I would recommend booking a hotel room or multiple rooms around the area you plan to stop. We wasted so much time ensuring that we had a room, good rate and safe place. Most hotel policies have a 4PM cx policy. So you could make a decision while you were on your trip and just cx the extra rooms. Also, the room rates via internet tended to be better than when in person. Remember rates from Sun-Thu tend to be less expensive.

Although we probably could have made the trip straight through, we would have had to stop to feed the infant and we were less comfortable with stopping between GA and FL in the wee hours of the morning. Also, the kids loved the hotel experience as much as other parts of the trip. We would have dinner and always had swimming pool time.

We played car games like "I spy" and made up stories and pretended to do magic tricks. When we stopped at rest stops, we got the older kids out and encourage them to stretch and run. Every chance we had, we took the baby out. (I also brought the baby bumbo along and this was helpful.)

In the minivan there are side rest bins next to the carseats. I filled these with toys: little map, play cellphones and play cameras. We would play pretend games with these. THere was also a doodle pad. There were also some books and sticker/magic marker books. The sticker/magic marker books were a huge success. You fill the brush up wiht water and it colors in the paper. No mess.

We also had a portable dvd player. We would tell the kids that "after the next stop"or "after nap" we would play a dvd. It worked out well.

Good luck!

My Children always slept well in long car rides. So we opt to drive mostly at night. Less traffic, cooler temps. and the kids sleep the whole time.

But here is our biggest tip....

We switch driving every 2-3 hours. Regardless if the driver is tired or not. Seems like the short sprints of driving don't fatigue you in the long run. Once my husband got stubborn and drove about 8 until I had to stop him. He admitted that he over did it and should have stop at 3 hrs.
We did a 17 hr trip with only stopping for gas, bathroom etc. No overnight. And I felt fine. At our destination, all I required was a short nap.

We travel that route frequently. There is a Wyngate by Wyndham in Dolton GA. It is about a 12 hour ride from Palatine. The hotel is lovely, extremely clean, has nice pool and a hot breakfast is included in the morning. We ate dinner at a Chili's which had a well rounded menu for all. Dolton is a little over an hour from Atlanta where you will find heavy traffic and delays. You are better off going through Atlanta than around it because they built up the areas on bypass so heavily that traffic is worse there and you will miles onto your total trip. We took our time relaxing in the morning to avoid rush hour traffic through Atlanta. Dolton is about seven hours from Orlando. Re: kids, they are very young. Try taking a portable DVD player with cartoons to amuse the 2 year old. There are many rest areas throughout the states you will be driving through that you can take a short break and let 2 year old run around a little. You can remove baby from car seat and move them around also.I find they get back in car, snuggle with pillows and tend to fall asleep. We also get books on tape for appropriate age level. Most kids like that. Go to your library and ask if you can mail them back when you to your destination. The drive goes fast if you are distracted and it is an easy drive. Enjoy your move!

Hi,
my husband and i just took a trip to washing d.c., 12 hours long. We took the little boy that i take care of with us. He is 3. I didnt bring many toys, just a few of his favs. A sippy cup with water and a small pillow and blanket. Children this young usually will sleep the greater part of the trip. It seems to be the car in motion. Thats my suggestion. Hope it helps you. Good luck on your move.

Hi,
We took our twin girls when they were 4 months old and drove to Florida with them. We left right after their last feeding for the night and drove through the night to Georgia. We stayed over in GA and left the follwing evening again after their last feeding. We found that when they were sleeping was the best time to drive. From Lombard to GA we only had to stop once to change and feed them and let the dog out, and then from GA to Port St. Lucie, FL we only stopped once again. So, if you can do it, drive when they will be asleep and it will be an easier trip for all of you.
Good luck with your move and travel safe.

I would get a portable DVD player for the car. We have one that we use on long trips and it's wonderful. We drove to Florida from Indiana 2 years ago and it kept our then 5 year old entertained for most of the trip. Good luck.

J. R.

We have a favorite trick that I actually attribute to an old issue ot Family Fun We call it the the clothespin game. You will need some ribbon and some clothes pins (you Find a place in the car where you can string a small piece of ribbon or you can put the pins on the visor over the passenger side can buy these from the the dollar store or from Menards.) You can make the clothespins for any amount of miles you would like the best is to measure them in small increments. When we go to Pennsylvania it is about 700 miles from us so we measure ours in 50 mile increments. On each clothespin write something fun to do. We use: Tell a story, Get a snack, Sing songs, Change seats (works if you have more than one child), Watch a movie ( if you brought a DVD payer) Stop at next rest stop, Play a game, Read a story, Your choice, Listen to a kid Cd, Get a surprise. We have a thing called 'Rabbits' These are special surprises that mommy can 'pull out of her hat. Usually dollar store stuff like glow sticks for night time,
or little magnet games or new coloring books. We use these for surprises. You can make up whatever you want. Write each one on a clothespin when the alloted miles or time passes you have a child pull a clothes pin we go from youngest to oldest. Then you do what is on the pin and put them uo where they can be seen. &00 miles seems long but when we break it down into 14 clothes pins it does not seem nearly as long. My husband and I have also been known to pull clothes pins after the kids are asleep. We have lots of fun and we avoid the watching of countless movies or listening to countless are we there yets. I have a paper o nthis that I wrote up for my girl scout troop. If you have a fax I can fax it to you. It is pretty much what I have here. Hope this helps. It has really made our trips memorable and fun.

I've seen a couple of others say it, and it really is true. Try to travel at night when the kids are sleeping, especially since yours are so young. If that is not an option then try little games that your son likes at home. Spot this color on a car or truck... Count the number of (you pick)... Do you see the letter... those types of learning games. I have traveled with kids in all ages and the biggest thing is to keep them engaged somehow. On one trip I was in the back of a van with a 2,3, and 4 year old driving through Iowa... we watched for Semi's and as they went by we made a truck noise (Vrrrmmmm)... this made them giggle endlessly for about 45 minutes and it wasn't that loud. So it really is the little things that can entertain. Also DVD's are a good thing for when you can't think of anything else. I hope this was helpful and good luck with the move.

Hi N.,

When we took our twin girls on a long trip we bought a dual dvd player and they each watched waht they wanted. It seemed to work out pretty good for us.

Good luck,

D.

We have a dvd player in our car. You can buy them and buy a case that straps to the back of the front seat to keep it secure. I have four and my youngest was a year old when we took a trip to North Carolina. She was okay in the car for 10 hours, but one more minute than that she went bananas. Also traveling at night wasn't good. Sure she would sleep but she would get uncomfortable after a few hours. A nap seemed to work fine however. Lots of snacks help too. If possible I would suggest sitting in the back seat with the four month old. Because she will be facing the back she only sees the back of the seat and she will get bored with that quick. They have toys you can strap on that may work, but nothing is better than looking at mommy. Have a safe trip. Good luck with the move.