Driving w/kids long car trip tips

[EthansMom]

On our drive from CT to WDW last spring, we dressed the kids for bed in sweatpants and then quietly put them into the car at 3 a.m. to leave for the roadtrip. The kids slept for a lot of the drive and we made it through NYC with no traffic.

We bought the portable dvd for the trip, but it didn't get watched as much as I thought it would. The biggest hit for entertainment with the kids was a little coloring kit that I made up. Each kit was in a clipboard with storage space in the bottom for crayons and paper. I loaded the clipboard with plain paper, a set of 8 crayons, stickers, and color pages printed off the http://www.disneyworld.com site. The kids colored for hours! The clipboards cost about $6 at Walmart.

 

[graygables]

We saw Europe on 9 comic books and a pack of Juicy Fruit! We were the ultimate "road trippers" when I was a kid. Of the 7 years I lived in Germany, over a year of that time was spent in the car on our various trips. My mom would buy comic books in sets of 3 (one for each kid, then we'd trade), depending on how long the trip was. If it was a month long trip, we got 9. There were no snacks, no video games, we were left to our own devices for the most part. We could bring along our own books and one stuffed animal. (and we couldn't whine about being bored, either!)

That said, I don't believe in over-entertaining the children in the car. We get a Cracker Barrel map and plan out potty breaks every 2 hours. I'm older now and after fracturing my tailbone twice, I can't sit longer than that! We stop in CB and I let each DD choose a Dover book (the little $1 books). By the time they get settled back in and play with their book, we've burned another 45 min to an hour. Give them a map and let them track your progress. One toy I do like for the car is window clings or colorforms. We bring music and sing along or soft music so they can nap. Pillows and blankets are also a must for a road trip. I do allow snacks, but try to keep it things like pretzels, trail mix, etc and we do tidy up the car at every stop. We do tend to drive through for lunch, but that's because we've had the stop already at CB. DDs favorite game is an ABC game where you look for signs, license plates, billboards, truck logos for the alphabet in order. Just remember, it's not your job to keep them entertained, it's their job to keep themselves entertained, you just need to give them a few tools. If they get bored, tell them to find a way to get "unbored" and their brains will have to work in new ways to alleviate it...it really is a good thing for kids to be bored every once in awhile!

 

[golfgal]

My kids are perfectly capable of entertaining themselves at home, in the car we bring a DVD player, DS' XBox, books on tape and a CD player or two. There is only so much they can do in a car for 10, 15, 20 hours. Our kids travel great because they have things to do in the car other then watch the corn fields. In fact, we have 2 DVD players, one with 2 screens so each child can watch their own movie (one through the XBox), play XBOX or what ever. Heck, DH and I like to use one of the DVD players in front (the one that isn't driving).

Books on tape are also great. We usually take the Harry Potter book since they are long and we all enjoy them. We travel from Minnesota to St. Louis to visit my Dad and Step-mom a couple times/year and usually the only thing we hear from the kids is "I need to go to the bathroom".

When the kids were little we would leave at about 4 AM. We would just pick them up out of bed in their jammies and put them in the car. They would fall back asleep and the movement of the car would keep them asleep until about 8:00 or so. We were stop for breakfast then and it make the ride that much shorter for the kids. I also got a book from McDonalds that listed all their restaurants and which ones had playlands. We tried to plan our travel time around those . I would guess that information is online now.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

My parents took us on a lot of road trips - we lived in MN and all our extendend family was in IL - but the longest road trip we took was driving from Minneapolis to WDW (28 hours of driving)!

It was pre-DVD/electronic games, but mom got clever with a few things to keep us entertained on our road trips.

We each had a bag with multiple pockets for our toys. We got to pick toys (with mom holding veto power) to put in the bags to bring with us, but everything had to fit in the bag.

We also each had a lap desk that my dad made out of a small dishtub and a wood top (I think a plywood top he cut to fit the dishtub). The top was fastened on with hinges and some rope on the side to keep the lid from fipping too far back. Dad painted the wood with chalkboard paint. Mom was the one who packed the lap desk - coloring books, activity pages, crayons, chalk, snacks, etc. I think she also had baby wipes with her for cleaning us, our chalkboards, and the car/van.

I second the suggestion for having kids bring their own pillows and blankets - I know I slept better having my own stuff as a kid.

We listened to a lot of books on tape on road trips, and a lot of soundtracks to movies we all liked. The Muppet Movie was the classic - we had to start every road trip with a family sing-along of "Movin' Right Along"! Cricket Magazine (a literary magazine for kids) had a few tapes of short stories and poems that we loved to listen to.

We played all kinds of "travel" games - travel bingo was very popular - you looked for things like telephone poles, gas stations, billboards, hotels, speed limit signs, etc. and marked off the squares as you found things to get a Bingo. I now have a little deck of "52 things to do in the car" cards that I got at Barnes and Nobel. It's fun to draw a card at random and start a game that way.

My parents also did a lot of the driving at night. We'd get into our PJ's and get tucked into the car for bedtime, and then just sleep through the night on our way to wherever we were going. Way back in the day (before the very sensible car seat laws and seat belt laws) they would put the back seat down on the station wagon and lay out our sleeping bags for road trips. We'd climb into our sleeping bags and lay down the whole trip. Not so safe, we realize now, but very comfy for us kids!

When we did travel during the day, we stopped at a lot of historical markers for picnics and exercise. We learned a lot about American history - especially on our trip to WDW!

 

[ZachnElli]

We are about to go on a 20 hour trip ourselves, not to WDW though, we are moving. I don't care what other people think, we rely heavily on the DVD player and handheld video games. My kids can entertain themselves just fine, like they are right now (our tv broke on Friday and they haven't whined once!). I would like to add to take a garbage bag or two with you, you will be surprised with all the junk that adds up. We will take our own cooler too with water and some fruit. I know we'll cave and buy a few candy bars and what not on the way, but I'll be happy knowing that at times all they have is the fruit to snack on. Good luck! I don't how we'll do this with the baby though!

 

[luv2nascar]

window clings are great. Small cookie sheet with magnets. Coloring book the crayola one is great that only colors on the paper with markers. Dvd player, gameboy, & playstation.

Best tips we drive 18 hrs to WDW and leave at night. Next time 6pm. Kids will get sleep and be out by 11pm before they get to restless. By the time they wake up 6-7am we will be 12hrs into the drive. We will stop for breakfast and stretch. Be in Disney by noon. DH & I are the sleep deprived ones but run on adrenalin that first day. We are too excited to be in Disney to be tired.

** Forgot the thing my kids liked best was the dollar store items I got for them. I shopped weeks in advance and wrapped their treasures in wrapping paper. They each got a gift every hr or so in the morning when they were most bored. A movie to watch, color books, books, stickers, etc. They loved unwrapping the treasures.

 

[CathrynRose]

I was hoping to get some good tips for a long car ride, we are driving from southern Michigan to Disney in October. This will be the kids first car trip that we have to travel long distance or, I believe their longest maybe like 2-3 hours and this is a 19 hour drive. We do plan on stopping along the way to stay at a hotel that way we break it up. My kids will 7 and 3.5 at the time of travel. Any tips or fact would be greatly appreciated.

Oh and the longest drive I've ever done was 6 hours so tips for me surviving would also be appreciated lol

TIA,

Charity

I dont know if you'd be able to do this, but whenever we make the trek from Chicago to WDW, we always, always, always leave at night. A few hours before theyre OUT - and silence takes over.

Ive done the games, the DVD's, and everything else - and nothing beats a car ride of sleeping kids...nothing. No matter what you do you get bickering and boredom - and lots of this:

Plus, there's less traffic, too. In my eyes, it's a win-win, anyway you look at it!!!

My advice? Night drives = Happy Drives!

 

[Carrieannew]

Question for you all! I am a single mother of a 7 year old. Possibley 8 year old at the time of a trip. To keep expenses down I am wondering if driving is a better option. I dont mind driving myself. But wondering how possbile this would be by myself and just my daughter. I dont want to make it a 3 day even each way either. How possible is it to get it done in 2 days tops with stopping just one night? Also we are from central connecticut. Any idea how many times I would need to stop to fill up the car? Thanks everyone!

 

[mommaU4]

All I can say is GOOD LUCK!!!

We drove from northern MI to WDW last November right after Thanksgiving.

We left in the evening around 6 p.m. and our first stop was Ft. Wayne IN. It took us about 7 hours just to get out of MI because the snow was horrible! We had to drive about 40 mph the whole way! Ugh .

Then our second night we stopped in Chattanooga TN and finally the third day we arrived. We hit really bad traffic getting into Florida because it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and everyone and their mother was on the way home. It was madness.

We traveled with 4 kids, age 5,5,9, and 11. They were real troopers. It was a hard drive, no doubt about that. But hey, we survived and even had a good time.

All of the ideas here are good so far so there's no point in going over them all again. One thing I did is over the summer I hit some yard sales and got toys and books really cheap! Books for 10 cents and ponies for 25 cents, etc. It was even cheaper than buying stuff at the dollar store and if it should happen to get lost along the way it wasn't that big a deal.

Another crazy tip is my two little ones loves playing with bubble wrap! They sat there and popped those bubbles for a long time. It is addicting. But they knew not to put it in their mouth so if you have one that still does that then be careful.

Just do it and get it over with is the best advice I can give. Good luck.

 

[Bearvet]

I agree with driving at night - less traffic and construction, sleeping kids, no meals, etc. We leave right after dinner, the kids watch a movie, settle in with pillows and blankets and usually sleep til 7AM. As long as you have 2 drivers to switch off, it's not too bad. We drive through NYC and Wash DC in the middle of the night!

We've done this trip for 10 years now, since our youngest DS was 1 and the boys are used to it now. I have them wear comfortable sports shorts and t-shirts under warm-up suits. As the temp increases as we go further south (we go in Feb) they can take off layers as needed.

You've gotten lots of good suggestions here. We can't afford to fly and rent a car for a family of 5, so if we didn't drive, we couldn't go.

 

[FreshTressa]

We drove from seattle, to portland, to salt lake city, to the grand canyon, to las vegas, then to las angeles last month.

We drove the last leg (las angeles to seattle) in one 20 hour stint.

My kids played gameboy DS's and listened to the Johnny Cash CD. They've been into country every since we saw walk the line.

The gameboys were a godsend though.

 

[MamaLema]

Our drive is 24 hours and I know many posters have mentioned this but I cannot stress enough that a portable DVD is great

Like PP said, many dollar store toys wrapped up and given every few hours were a hit too.

For DS1, I brought a sticker book and he loved peeling the stickers and putting them on everywhere except the sticker book. So if you have ever seen a lady in a car with animal stickers all over her face, that was me

 

[CharityLynn]

Alot ofd people suggest driving at night but my husband and I both think that if we do that then we will be soooo tired and won't be able to sleep which is why we decided to go in the morning. I find it strange that so many people travel at night, aren't you tired?

I just find it so strange..lol

 

[CathrynRose]

Alot ofd people suggest driving at night but my husband and I both think that if we do that then we will be soooo tired and won't be able to sleep which is why we decided to go in the morning. I find it strange that so many people travel at night, aren't you tired?

I just find it so strange..lol

I find it more tiring battling bickering siblings, from the front seat!

The last time we did it, my fiance' was off the day we left - so he slept in, and lounged around most of the day, allowing him to "go longer" - hehehe...

Years before that *I* was the sleep-in, nappin' all day - one. I bartended - I was used to staying up all night long!

Whatever works for you - we're night people. Give us a nap during the day and we're good to go!

 

[Karel]

Do what's best for you. I could not drive all night and then be up all the next day too. Not the way I want to spend my vacation. Plus sleeping all night in the car is not restful for anyone. It was different when I was a kid and nobody used seatbelts. We used to spread sleeping bags out on the floor.

Who wants to sleep nine hours sitting up straight with a seatbelt on? Ugh.

 

[GoofieRuthie]

I dont know if you'd be able to do this, but whenever we make the trek from Chicago to WDW, we always, always, always leave at night. A few hours before theyre OUT - and silence takes over.

Ive done the games, the DVD's, and everything else - and nothing beats a car ride of sleeping kids...nothing. No matter what you do you get bickering and boredom - and lots of this:

Plus, there's less traffic, too. In my eyes, it's a win-win, anyway you look at it!!!

My advice? Night drives = Happy Drives!

AMEN Sista!! I personally can't drive at night. I just can't see well enough and I get too sleepy. I'm fine once the sun comes up though. My husband always takes off the day we leave from work so that he can sleep all day and stay up all night. We usually arrive at our destination early and so far have always gotten to check right in. We sleep for awhile. The kids will sometimes go swimming, depending on where we are. Then we get up and go out that night.

 

[clarabelle]

Someone mentioned the dover books. I love dover -they should give me a commission I have posted the link to their site so many times
www.doverpublications.com
Click on Children. If they are interested in anything ,dogs,civil war, Japanese fashions -you name it -they probably have a coloring book or paper dolls for it.

We love books on tape as well. The Harry Potters are excellent and we have also done Chet Geckos, Junie B, Box Car Children -all kinds of stuff. It is entertaining and it makes them smart!

 

[elismom]

oh I remember long car trips We drove every summer from Alberta to Ontario
This was back in the 70's it took almost a week and we camped along the way.
No gameboy no dvd players no music (we had a radio but in most of the praire provinces we would not be able to pick up anything)
3 kids no airconditioning . But I do remember it was a lot of fun
My sister and I made paper dolls from the old Sears catalog.
But I also remember no seat belts we hung out in the back of the station wagon and made faces at the people driving by.

 

[arkansas mom]

Our last road trip was with DS9 and DN13. They have a great time together and DN is by nature very LOUD. I set the rules early. 60 minutes of silence (read, gameboy on mute,...) and then 60 minutes of talking. Worked really well. I fooled them everytime and went waaaaaaaay over on the 60 minutes of silence. After about 80 minutes one would say "hey, it's been longer than 60 minutes hasn't it?". Heehee!

 

[JVL1018]

Alot ofd people suggest driving at night but my husband and I both think that if we do that then we will be soooo tired and won't be able to sleep which is why we decided to go in the morning. I find it strange that so many people travel at night, aren't you tired?

I just find it so strange..lol

Unless I am laying down, I cannot sleep, so there is no way I could drive all night-even if I was in the passenger seat I'd be awake the whole time, we drive during the day and it's been fine.