Going on a 1200 Mile Road Trip with My 19 Month Old Daughter! HELP!

Rold Gold Honey Wheat pretzel sticks are GREAT car food! As soon as I get my son buckled in he's got his hand stuck out for one!

We wrap presents for our kids that we give them to open when they start to get ansy. We would wrap up things like travel games, candy bars, small bag of chips, matchbox cars, dinosaurs, polly pockets. anything little and inexpensive that will entertain them for an hour longer:)

We also stopped at the travel center as we entered new states and found fun kid friendly places to go visit. In connecticut we found a place called dinosaur crossings which was basically a nature trail with big lifesize dinosaur models along the trail. Was perfect to get out and walk and stretch, and my kids will never forget how cool that place was.

Wow, are you sure you can't fly?
When we travel with our kids up to the lake I sit in the backseat with them. It helps my back from having to turn around constantly when they need something and gives me more instant control when the frustrated crying starts. We try to travel around their naptimes or bedtimes. I would bring lots of books, puppets, and expect that she will not be entertaining herself that you will be entertaining her, this will not be like the old days when you got to relax and read a book.

I also plan every 2 hours to stop at a park and for a diaper change, look at your maps and try to find outdoor parks on your route during the daytime hours, then she can go run around for 20 minutes and she should be a lot happier to get back into her carseat. Think about all of the photo ops at each park! Good luck!

Hi M.,

We just got back from a LONG trip that lasted over 2 weeks with lots of driving! My daughter is almost 19 months and did better than I expected.

1. Try to start the drive near bedtime if possible so she will sleep a big chunk of it.
2. If you decide to stay overnight at a hotel be prepared for your daughter to wake up and not want to go back to sleep in a strange place. We made the mistake of not having our daughter sleep for naps or night time in the pack and play we brought. That made it even harder. *Pack the monitor and a nightlight (or two) so if you have to stay at a hotel, you can put her down and close the door while you wait outside in the hallway for her to fall asleep. We turned on the bathroom fan to help make white noise.
3. I use a snack trap that keeps most of our daughter's snacks from landing every where. I changed it out often and gave her something salty (goldfish, mini ritz crackers with cheese) and something sweet (honey kix, teddy grahams). I also packed a cooler that kept her milk sippy cup, yogurt cups, and string cheese) She has a cup holder for her water/juice sippy cup on her seat.
4. I put the container of books, see and say, musical toys, and physical toys (stuffed animals, and small toys that have moving parts) on the middle back floor so that I or my husband could easily reach toys to hand her when we needed to.
5. Pack kid music that you all can sing along to.
6. Be prepared to sing!
7. I also had the pacifier and her blanket handy if we needed it. Normally she only gets the paci for bedtime, but we were traveling during bedtime or nap time. That helped her zone out a little. (This week we are taking the pacifier away!!! God help us all!)
8. Be patient and calm. Have the non-driving adult play with her.

Have fun and good luck!

M.,

I use the trip planner feature at www.mcdonalds.com. You can put in your starting point and destination point and it will tell you every McDonalds you will pass and whether or not they have a play place. I find one for lunch and stop, but let my kids play while I eat. Then I order their meals and they can eat in the car while we drive. They get their energy out, but it's not a 90 minute stop. Then they have at least an hour of entertainment in the car eating and playing with their happy meal toy. I really don't like McDonald's food, but it saves us for the road trip. I usually order the apple juice and the apple slices and throw away the dip.

I also try to keep their schedule as best as I can. We have snacks, but it's not a constant thing. It's more like breakfast, movie, snack, books, lunch, nap (put away all entertainment except maybe a stuffed animal and have quiet time. You daughter should hopefully fall asleep.) Wake up, movie, snack, toys, dinner, etc. Do one thing at a time to make the entertainment last longer. Giving them everything to do at once usually results in a meltdown.

You can also do an internet search for parks. You may want to make 15 minute stops every 3-4 hours and just let her run around or you may find that is more upsetting to her. You know her personality best. Make sure to bring new things she hasn't seen before. Lots of containers are good so she can pull stuff out or unwrap it.

We also stop and get out of the car to eat dinner. I bring in PJs and toothbrushes into the restaurant and have the kids get ready for bed in the bathroom after dinner. Then, if they fall asleep before we reach our destination, we can just pick them up and put them in their beds when we get there.

Good luck,
S.

The DVD player will definately be helpful, try not to break it out too early as you'll get bored of hearing the same Dora (or whatever) cartoon over and over and so will she. My DD is 2.5 months now but we've been taking regular car trips to Michigan since she was born. We have a lap desk that attached to the car seat with some basic hooks that we use with coloring books and stickers. Then I get some new coloring books, some with wash off and reuse pages, and sticker books before we go that she doesn't get to see until we leave. She also gets to pick some of her favorite toys to take with her (baby dolls and such) and I also take some puppets so, if she gets too ancy, we can put on a puppet show in the back seat. Books are also a good option, pick up something new (or something she hasn't read in awhile) before you leave so it is new and exciting to her. Kids songs CDs are also an option for a sing-a-long. My final suggestion would be to take a ball, frisbee or other outdoor toy and plan to stop at a rest area to run for a few minutes every 5-6 hours or so during your trip. Good luck and have fun!

If she can reach the window - some window gels to play with can be fun. Along the same lines, magnets attach to certain kinds of loaf pans and cookie sheets - great portable toy. If she likes to rip paper, bring along some magazines, scrap paper and a glue stick - you'll have a few collages to distribute at your destination.
When I had a long trip alone with my daughter (10 hours of two airplanes and a lay over) we got a notebook and made her kind of a travel journal. I put in some "hotspots" of our travel, like get on the first airplane, get off the first airplane, eat lunch at an airport - and then she could check them off or cross them off. She was older than 19 months, but it might help you feel like you're getting somewhere & she'll see progress (this helped us because time and distance meant nothing to my 2 year old, but the steps along the journey did).
As far as snacks, don't be afraid to break the rules a bit - you'll all need a break and reward. If she likes Cheerios - and you have the time - make here a Cheerio necklace.
Make up a few car seat dances when she needs to wiggle; if she listens to stories, the library might carry (or can order) audio books for the little ones too.
Good Luck!

Uff da, honestly, I think that's the toughest age to travel with a small child--they are big enough to not sleep all the time, and they are small enough not to be easily occupied (we tell our preschooler made-up stories for hours sometimes and he does fine). Here's what we've done on 9-10 hour drives with our toddler:

--plan to eat in the car and use breaks for exercise. We do drive throughs or pack lunches.
--if you must stop at a meal time, find a place with a fun land. Adults eat, kids play, kid eats when she's back in the car, or grab food and eat at a local park
--stop at small local parks for fun
--be proactive; it seems to me that stopping just before they get cranky helps a LOT insofar as getting them back into the seat when the fun's done
--perhaps be willing to travel early or late, to get the most out of sleeping time
--we have always left BEFORE nap time--an hour awake in the car is doable; the kid naps for 2 hours, then another hour awake before you have to stop gets you four hours without too much pain
--my kids really like music and it soothes quite a bit, esp after dark
--I found that keeping a bag of M&Ms or Skittles was a lifesaver. I'm NOT fond of popping sugary sweets at my kids when they're bored, but ONE m&M was enough to distract my toddler from a major tantrum. I 20 hours of driving, I didn't go through a convenience-sized package of candy.
--small stickers can occupy tiny hands for quite a while
--we save up happy meal/kids' meal toys and dole them out at stressful moments
--tape works well, too
--find a few of her absolute most favorite toys and withhold them for a little before the trip so they're more interesting to her at the time of travel
--encourage her to be a good passenger by pointing out "interesting" things out the window--that could be birds, local wildlife, deer, cows, barns, high wires, interesting stores...I'm amazed at what my kids actually think is interesting if only I can be interested too

Good luck--we travel by car frequently with small children, and while it's not EASY, it's definitely not awful! My 5 year old even ASKS to take long drives in the car, so he can spend time with family! What a kid...

Have fun M.!!
We flew with our then 18 Month old last year - needless to say with all the fun stuff Mom brought - he was the crying, screaming child on the plane!! - Things that worked for us: blue painters tape on take off and landing - we taped up the seat and made pictures with it! You could tape up the back seat...... He loved just taking the pieces off, guess he didnt like the mess! and sticky notes he could write a note and give to a friendly passenger. I am actually bringing playdough this year!! I am pretty good at cleaning it up so hopefully we wont be banned from the flight :) ( I am an art teacher too ) We found our favorite shows on DVD and some new ones as a surprise. Favorite books. Wrap them up in fun paper and give out something every couple of hours..... Ipod shuffle and ear buds. Stamp pads and a stamp that has four or six sides on it - found ours at Target 1$ isle. Can use markers on them and print with them as well. Cards to decorate and mail along the way.....
Have fun!!

First of all good luck. The dvd player will help tons if she is anything like my daughter was. Movies that she likes fo course. Books for you to read to her,
a doodle pad or magna doodle if she likes to draw. Favorite blanket for her to hold and animal. Car toys, like a little steering wheel that makes noise, car keys, even a play phone.

Hope this is a little help. ~ S.