Kids in carseats on a long drive down

[SorcererGrandma]

How do kids stand to be in those carseats for a 1,000 miles or more? In earlier times we could sleep laying down on the backseat and move around freely when awake. The carseats just seem so limiting. So what do you do to make it more comfortable for your kids? Do you give them something to put their feet on so the circulation in their legs doesn't get cut off? Do you loosen the belts?

 

[Tara]

For kids today, that's all they know, so I don't think it's a big deal. My son is able to prop his feet up thanks to the way the car is set up, but if it weren't that way, I'd probably arrange something lightweight that gave his legs somewhere to rest. (And we don't drive to Disney.) But I'd NEVER loosen the straps.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Drive through the night while the kids are asleep.

 

[tjbaggott]

As a pp mentioned, kids in todays day and age know no different. For our 24 hour drive down, we put my sons carry on suitcase (little one on wheels) on the floor in front of his seat. This allowed him to put is feet up. I also bought him and my bigger kids, the neck rests so they could sleep sitting up without getting that pain in the neck from having their heads on their shoulders while they slept. We had LOTS of activities for them too on the drive. Movies, Paper and pencil crayons, coloring books, activity books, travel bingo, car games (all new stuff so it was all more enticing for them). My kids also took their Nintendo DS's, and we bougth them new games, specifically for the trip. It did work out really well. We stopped for short bits several times to stretch the legs. Drove through the day, over two days on the way down, and drove through a day and a night on the way back (our kdis actually slept better driving during the day on the way down, than they did during the night drive on the way back.

 

[kidd_freeper]

Stretch breaks every 3 hours. The time spent going to the bathroom is usually enough.

 

[SorcererGrandma]

Thanks for all the input. Loosening the straps wasn't something we would do but I wondered if someone was. I guess with kids nowadays not knowing any different, they must be used to carseats. They just look so darned uncomfortable to me and I wondered what everyone's experiences were..

 

[mamamac]

We switch their carseats to a different seat in the car. It gives them a different view. We also try and stop at a fast food area that has a playground. If that is not an option, bring a beach ball to kick around at a rest stop.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Exactly ... wherever you eat ... make sure there is a play area. Comfortable kid seat is important ... but as said before never loosen the belts (you never know when you will need them).

I find they get bored easily ... this is where a few dollar store gifts all wrapped up come in Handy.

I like the foot rest idea!

 

[Mickey527]

the foot rest is the way to go. I have been traveling down to FL with my grandson since he was 1 and he needs to have a place to rest his feet otherwise they seem to cut off circulation at the back of the knees and he has trouble walking for a few minutes. We always use a cooler, it fits nicely behind the front seat and has easy access when we are thirsty.
I also always bring the video player. On our last trip I taped all his favorite shows and he played them over and over.(19 hours of Dora, diego and the Wonder Pets...) We are going this July and I will set up his WII to the player. I don't have a CD player, just the old fashioned VCR but it works...
Also, lots of juice and snacks, he seems to get hungrier when he is in the car than when he is outside playing. Make sure to take rest stops. when my boys were growing up and I took them the rule was bathroom and running when I stop to get gas, which was not very often. My grandson won't wait that long, he has to stop every 2-3 hours.
I am going to look for one of those pilows because since he moved up to a non reclining car seat his head lobs when he falls asleep and I get nervous about his breathing. My son said if he couldnt' breath he would wake up but I am a grandma, we are supposed to worry.

 

[taximomfor4]

definitely agree with pp...we drive 17-18 hrs straight through every time. The kids have britax boosters (marathon??) which have the "wings" on the sides of the head, so if they sleep, their head isn't bobbing around too badly. They also have pillows to put around them, and DEFINITELY put something to prop their legs up. If their legs are at that 90 degree angle the entire time, their legs fall asleep. We never stop as often as we think we will, but then my kids are used to long car drives (4-5 hour car trips regularly for dance competitions). Trading seats is a good idea, but my kids never want to. They have the area around their seats just how they like it.

Anyway, I kind of think that sitting in the carseats is MORE comfortable if you have a decently padded carseat.

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

definitely agree with pp...we drive 17-18 hrs straight through every time. The kids have britax boosters (marathon??) which have the "wings" on the sides of the head, so if they sleep, their head isn't bobbing around too badly.

Boulevard. We have the same seat and it looks so comfy to nap in. I wish I had wings by my head- my neck hurts when I fall asleep with my head against the window. Let alone what could happen to me in an accident like that!

Oh, no. I see you said "boosters" Parkways?

My daughter tends to get cozy by sitting cross legged. It's how I sit, too (unless I'm driving!) Some car-seat techs rig up a foot rest using washline or heavy string threaded though a section of pool noodle. The rest is suspended through the seatbelt path that was used when their seats were rear facing. There are some pictures, here. http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=52384