Anyone driving long distance with kids?

[mistaroo]

Don't think I have any advice per se, but wanted to tell you I just got back from a 14.5 hour drive with a 12 month old and a 2.5 yr old. The trip was a piece of cake! On the way down we stopped after about 10.5 hours and stayed in a hotel overnight because we wanted to arrive in Disney early in the day. On the way home we drove straight through all 14.5 hours. We drove during the day. The kids were easily entertained because there was an adult in the back of the minivan with them. It was much easier than I expected.

The DVD player was really helpful on the way back because my 2.5 yr old was really sick with a cold and the DVDs were a good distraction for him. I was really, really glad I brought it along. Good luck to you!

 

[MommyBoo!]

Oh no, i know there are cup holds, but they are down by the floor boards and my kids can't reach them down that far when they are up in a car seat... Make since?

Got it! I have the Grand Caravan, essentially the same design, except my cupholders are on the sides of the seats. They fold out.

 

[rt2dz]

I haven't read the whole thread, so I may be repeating some things. Sorry if that is so...

First, get a cargo carrier for the roof. It will help with space tremendiously. If you don't travel by car a lot (we do), you can always sell it when you're done. Be sure to get the hard plastic ones though. The others are not water proof, only resistent. We've had problems in just light rain--and we put a tarp over the top. Thank goodness we also pack in water resistent duffles & put each item in ziplock bags. And still we had problems... He do keep toiletries inside the car with us and a packed bag with a change of clothes for all of us. Also, the hard top carriers lock for added safety if you do need to stop or go to a theme park before checking in/after checking out or stop for a meal/shopping.

As far as sleeping in forward facing car seats...My kids do it all the time; driving at night makes the trip so much shorter for them. My preschooler has an attachable pillow for the seatbelt (in a highback booster). I ordered mine through leaps n bound or safety first, however, they do sell them at Walmart also, I noticed. My toddler has a back type pillow that pretty much just keeps his head upright while he can turn it from side to side (convertable seat forward facing). Also a catalog order. I'm not really sure if I'm describing that right.

That's all I can help you with I'm afraid.

 

[Jalva22]

Hope you have a good trip! We took our 9 yr old and 5 yr old and drove 1,300 miles each way in June. It took us about 12 hours each day for two days on the way down, then stopped on the way home at Destin. So the final day was 6am to 10:30pm. It wasn't bad though. Kids watched their dvd and played games, had some good together time. I'd do it again tomorrow if the old wallet wasn't so bare now!

 

[katebeth]

We have a 12 hr drive from Nashville in Sept. My dd's are 2 and 4. One thing that I like to do is go to the dollar store a buy some cheap little toys, color books etc... and wrap them up ( I used cute disney paper last time) Then every so often, mainly when they started getting restless, I would pull out a present for each of them and It would keep them occupied for a while. This year I splurged and bought them each a DVD from Walmart. We have a new van with a DVD player and I thought that pulling out a new movie would work good

 

[house_of_princesses]

On one of our trips, I pushed the family a bit too far. I drove on and on and on ..... the little ones had had enough! They basically melted until I finally gave in and found a hotel for what was probably just a few hours. (Well, maybe six or so hours.) My dd's are really very good travellers, but it is just not comfy in those car/booster seats! Don't get frazzled if they can't stand the positioning any more. One of those things that you'll only know once you try it. Have fun!

 

[stacy1229]

We're heading down from NY end of Aug with DSs 8 and 1, and DD 3.

I am also stressing over packing car. We have 2001 Sienna (no stow n go). My biggest items are the double stroller and DH's golf clubs. We are debating whether to get a rooftop carrier. DH doesn't seem to think we need it. I think it would just make things sooooo much easier, but I do understand he's worried about yet another added expense. I think I will try to get him to do a trial packing next weekend and see how things go.

 

[gabbysmom04]

we are traveling from ny in Sept with my dh dd 1, and my mother in law! I am a little worried about my dh last time we drove to wdw she was only 6m and was great in her seat. This time I am afraid she will not want to seat for so long. we plan on leaving at 2am so she can sleep for part of the ride. Last trip we drove straight through to jacksonville, fl and got a hotel there. who knows what will happen this time. Oh yeah I will be 7m pregnant with ds!!!

 

[fausz4]

We are traveling in early Sept with DS3 and 8, me, DH and DM, DD....in their Town and Country. WE are getting a cargo carrier for the top of the van ( a friend is allowing us to borrow hers! Yipee!) They have a DVD player in the van! Again YIPEE!

We traveled from Illinois to Brownsville TX two years ago when DSs were 6 and 1 and found the DVD player we used was a God Send! My DH new all the words to Finding Nemo without EVER SEEING IT!!!

I also made a binder for my DS6 that had some travel worksheets I found on the internet. The trip was at Thanksgiving and he was in kindergarten - so we had some homework papers he could work on too.

We also used books on CD - Charlie and the chocolate factory was our favorite and we are going to rent it from the library again for our trip. I asked the librarian to search for some age appropriate books and she did a nice job finding us a few (another I believe was The witch and the wardrobe).

This trip we are going to drive south of Atlanta and stay the night - then continue on the FL (we are going to Daytona Beach for another night) So my DH and DD can see Daytona USA and the track -- Big NASCAR fans here! If it were just DH and I - we probably would just drive straight through - by my Dparents need/want to stop each way.

Good luck all you long haul drivers - Be safe out there!

 

[Pixiedust34]

My kids get a kick out of playing with pipe cleaners in the car. They are easy to find at craft stores. Silly Putty is another winner. I also printed out some "travel bingo" cards, but I can't remember where I found the website.

We listen to books on tape. With a long drive, there is time for Harry Potter on tape!

We also pull over every 2-3 hours to give everyone a chance to stretch legs for a few minutes. These mini-breaks make a big difference in the quality of the ride!

And, I stash a goodie bag with Tootsie Pops and gum. Getting treats now and then also keeps the kids happy. And quiet!

We're driving from MD, and will spend the night in Georgia on the way to Orlando. For us, breaking the drive in 2 days works better than driving straight through.

My kids are used to 4 1/2 hour rides to visit family. Driving to Orlando will be their longest car trip ever.

 

[buddy&wooz]

Here's an idea I haven't seen before- post-it notes. Don't ask me why, but my kids found a pad of post-it notes and it kept them happily occupied in the car for a long drive to grammas. They wrote silly stuff, drew silly pictures, then stuck them to the back of the seat and inside the back side windows (tinted glass.)

All three of my kids were doing this- including the 15 year old .

 

[langin]

Lots of great advice ! We are leaving in a little over 3 weeks from today and how to get through the drive has been the biggest concern! It will be my DH, myself and our 3 boys (age 12, twins 9 yrs). We will be leaving so we can avoid the larger cities during rush hours, my DH works shift work so he will do the first night straight through since is body will be on "night shift"! I just hope I can sleep a little while he's driving or if I will be too nervous about him driving/sleeping!!!! We hope to get to SC or Georgia and then we will spend the night, we would like to spend a night in Savannah in the historic district, has anyone stayed in this area? Is it worth it, it might depend on the time of day we get there! My DH wants to try to rig up his laptop so the kids can watch a movie but I don't know if it will work well if the roads are little rough/bumpy.
Good luck to all of us who are driving down!!!!

 

[lorli]

We are driving from the NY PA border hopefully straight through with DH, DD (4), DNeice (7) and myself. I'm hoping the girls will be kept busy enough.

 

[Disneyrsh]

I HAVE read all the posts because it annoys the snot out of me to read the same advice six times.

We road trip down to Disney about every 2-3 months from Atlanta. We've been doing this for about ten years. First car was a pickup truck with no ac and no radio. This was before kids and my husband's fondest memories were getting my undivided attention for 7 hours!

Next car was a Dodge Grand Caravan with a one and two year old. That was probably the toughest driving down since they were infants and weren't interested in a DVD. We used to leave at 7 pm and get in at 1 am, the kids would sleep the whole way.

Current (and definite fave) is a 2003 Mazda MPV minivan. It's one of the smallest minivans made but everyhting fits. It has a DVD player in it and let me tell you, it is a GODSEND. We tie the movie choices to what rides we want to see in Disney, (Dinosaur, Peter Pan, etc), and rent them from Netflix before we go. The seats for the girls are both captains chairs and can recline a bit-the graco booster seats had head support and also reclined-we're talking reclining just enough so their heads didn't loll forward and choke them.

We've tried leaving at 4 am, 12 noon 7 pm, and the evening drives are always the best, cooler, less crowded, easier to see the dvd, kids more likely to fall asleep.

Another tip, don't have fruit juice in the car, just carry bottled water. The fruit juice jazzes the kids up (not good in the confined space) and your car ends up sticky and smelly at the end. We do popcorn (not sugary, easy to clean) and bottled water.

We've never used a trunk container, so I can't comment on whether they'd be good, but the less junk you take down, the less junk you have to take back. We still fill every bit of space in that car-the rear seats tumble down into the floor and all our stuff just gets shoved in.

We also use dark colored fabric to tie up along the girls windows and the rear windows-it doesnt affect our vision, but it cuts out almost all the light of the florida sun and makes it easier for them to sleep-I have little velcro ties on the top and just wrap them around the hand grabs above the doors.

Be careful where you stay in Savannah, some parts are pretty skeevy. And it's pretty expensive. You might want to find a nice place to stay far outside of Savannah, unless you want to stop and do touristy stuff.

Road Tripping Can Be Fun!

 

[bigmac5]

We are from St. Thomas Ont. We plan on making one night stop. My husband has bad hips and knees. My suggestion is to make a break every 2-3 hours, even if it is just to strech your legs. It may seem like a hassle to get everyone out of the car but then everyone is refreshed and good to go.

Ikea for breakfast. Great idea. Are there any near I-75?

 

[ntburns22]

We are driving in October from the Cleveland Ohio area which will be a 20+ hour drive. We are not leaving until 1 in the afternoon. My big find to help us out with the kids is a table that attaches underneath the carseat. So my DD and DS will each have a table with a drink holder in it to color and what not. It is like the size of the fold down table on airplanes. I found them at Big Lots in the baby section for $10. We tried them out when we went on a day trip and they are worth every penny.

 

[MamaLema]

We drove from Toronto (about 22-24 hours) with our DS' in October. They were 12 months, 6, and 8.

I will admit that parts of the drive were not fun, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be

 

[Torontogal]

St-Thomas, eh? I will actually be there next weekend. I am taking my 5 year old to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Yes, he is spoiled! First Thomas and then Disney a week after that!
Anyway, as for the Ikea locations I suggest you look at their web site for locations. My husband did the research and I can ask him in the morning. Just PM me with a reminder.
I think we will be going to one in Virginia which happens to be near a Toys R Us. They are great stop points as well. Most Toys R Us have Thomas train tables which keep the kids occupied for a little while.
Have a safe trip!

 

[Torontogal]

I have another recommendation. It is a good idea to put something alittle high wear your children's feet will be. For example, if your child is in a booster or toddler seat, make sure their legs don't dangle since that could be very uncomfortable. I usually put a big rubbermaid comtainer (filled with small toys and goodies) so they can rest their feet on it. It helps!

 

[lissawynn]

My sister, myself, our two sons, and one of our friends are driving from PA to WDW this Friday. The boys, ages 6 mo. and 4 3/4 , will be in their car seats in captain's chairs. Two of us will be in the front, and the other adult will be in the back on the bench seat (my sister has an Excursion). There will always be an adult who can get to the kids for whatever they will need. We're taking the portable dvd player to keep the 4 yr. old entertained. He can get kind of challenging on long car rides.
I'm hoping it's a relatively easy drive down!