Can anyone give me some pointers for traveling 10 hours with a 14 month old? This is the first time we've done this. PLEASE.
Some have already said this but when my boys where little and sometimes we still do this and they are 8 and 11 we leave at dusk, or later because it is just more relaxing for them! We also have the DVD player that goes over the seats so they each have 1! But sometimes they don't make thru the movie! Good Luck and have a safe trip!
Try to leave close to bedtime so that most of your trip will be while he/she is sleeping. If you can't do this make sure you stop often so your little one can stretch his/her legs.
I agree with Rachel leave close to bed time but you might also want to get a travel DVD player with some movies that will sooth your child and keep them happy. That has saved us on many trips. Mine are older but I think it will be the same for a little one. Especially since your child is too young to color in the car or read.
Good luck and God Bless!
we have three kids(7, 4, and 1) - we have done many many long road trips over the years. we have used a dvd player a few times, but not always, and we NEVER travel thru the night, i just think it's dangerous. for our younger kiddos, we make sure to pack plenty of snacks(kids can be entertained for HOURS with snacks - cheerios, rice chex, it doesn't have to be "junk"), some small toys or board books that they can look at. we also don't make a ton of stops, that just prolongs the agony of the trip for everyone. make sure your little one has a comfy carseat, i think that's one reason our kiddos have always done well on large trips - their britax seats are super cushioned. get a kids music cd and sing songs with the little one. it may not be fun, but you'll make it! i can't tell you how many times we did the knoxville to baton rouge trek, some trips went better than others, but we all survived it!
1st to avoid a lot of problems you or hubby should take turns siting with them. Brings snacks, toys books and be ready to sing every kids song you know at least 100 times. Maybe even get some kid song music. Good luck! It will be hard just try to stay calm, getting upset wont calm a child who is done with sitting in the car. Also I would take frequent stops so your child can move around/stretch their legs.
**EDIT** I just want to add that I agree with the previous 2 posters.
I think it will be okay. It sounds like a daunting task......
Take turns having someone in the back seat with him.
Hopefully the little one will sleep most of the time, but you can have fun looking out the window at things too. Bring snacks, books, toys, listen to music.....
My kids were really good little travelers, but they did better the less we stopped. Just getting where we were going worked best for us, but your little one might need to get out and run around a little bit.
Just try to make it as fun as possible.
Best wishes!
I used to drive to Ohio for 8 hours to visit my folks when my son was a baby all the time. Honestly, he would sleep for a lot of it. I would say keep to main roads or interstates where you can make frequent stops if you need to.
We never had a DVD in the car or anything else. I brought board books and other toys and music to listen to- my son was not a particularly cranky baby in the car and it always went fine. One thing I used was a jelly-roll pan - a cookie sheet with a little rim on it- as a lap desk because his little tops would not slide of off it as easily.
Don't worry- you'll get through it! Just bring some snacks and toys and the binkie and blankie and it'll be all right! :) Make plenty of stops to stretch everyone's legs and do jumping jacks.
It was always just my son and I - no one else to help. I just don't think kids need DVDs in the car and all that other stuff. I never had them when I was little and we still don;t have one now and my son is 10 and he and his stepfather and I have driven and flown all over the place and never missed it. Don't spend money on something expensive if you don't really need it!
There is a traveling dvd system that my mom likes. It is around $100, but it fits on the back of the seat and comes with a remote. You could get videos of Sesame Street, Blues Clues, or just music videos.
My dd is a fairly experienced traveler. We have driven over 8 hours on trips twice and monthly drive 3 hours to visit relatives. I pack a bag of toys next to her seat so that she can amuse herself at will. She also has Violet, this computerized dog she likes on trips. It sings songs and tries to teach her to spell her name. I keep snacks and a drink available, but try to have her eat a meal before we go. I also make sure she has some time before we leave to run around and expend some energy so she doesn't feel confined for the first part of the trip. For long trips, someone in the back seat with her is a must to keep her company. Books are another idea. Dollar Tree has some good cardboard ones and even plastic ones if your LO eats them like mine does. If you can travel at night, that would be perfect. Be prepared for stops to change diapers and let the LO run around for a bit. We scheduled our lunch/dinner around those times so we killed two things with one stop. Be prepared for a cranky child, though. I would make sure to have some baby tylenol with you in case they get over tired but I wouldn't use it unless it was extreme. I know singing silly songs helps my dd when it becomes really bad in the car. She loves the Muppets song...Manamana song. It is simple and at her crankiest would still smile. Hope this helps and good luck!
Portable DVD player, bag of "new" stuff to entertain and prayer. (And vodka--but not for the driver!)
Honestly? Drive at night when she usually sleeps! You don't want her sleeping all day or when you get there she'll be wired.
You and hubby can take turns driving and sleeping (you'll be tired that first day for sure!) but after that things should go back to normal.
Aside from that----snacks, portable DVD player and plenty of stops to run around outside and stretch those lilttle legs. Remember, she can't adjust herself in the seat to get as comfortable as you can.
If you can leave close to bedtime, that will be best. If not, plan to stop frequently to stretch and run around. We've had to do both. The night time drives were easy because our daughter slept most of the way. The day drives were tough.
We made sure we had snacks, juice/water/milk and stopped frequently to stretch, play outside for a few minutes (most rest stops will have an area to play or run around) and provided her with entertainment in the form of toys, coloring books, magnadoodle, and some interactive toys. We did not use a DVD player and I don't think the expense is necessary, at any age. I also would sit back with her for some of the drive so that I could engage her in play activities. We also brought along a few music CDs that she likes and that helped.
When she would get fussy we would try to calm her and if that didn't work, we'd stop and let her run it out. We also made all of our food stops actual stops instead of drive-thru and eating in the car. It took us a couple more hours to get to our destination, but we did so without killing ourselves doing it.
Take care and good luck! :)
We drove 18 hours when our daughter was about the same age. We broke the trip into 2 days which helped. I sat in the back next to her which helped also. I brought plenty of board books to look at, music she liked, a stories on cd from the library, little toys she could play with in the car and rotated them every once in a while, I even got her a few little new toys and had her unwrap one when she got bored, aqua doodle, so she could draw without a mess, and lots of snacks! Good luck!
