Travelling with kids question!

[kbheap]

I am not new to Disney but I am new to Camping at Disney or even camping in general. My parents have recently purchased a RV and we are taking for our next Disney trip and staying at the Fort. We have taken smaller weekend trips up until this point. My question is this we have 5 kids we are travelling with. How do you travel on the road with 5 kids? How do you keep them safe in the RV? Ages are from 1-7. We have only travelled up to 2 hours at this point but I am getting concerned making the 10 hour ride with them in the motorhome.

 

[DaveInTN]

Do you know how many seat belted positions there are, in addition to the 2 up front? We travel in a motorhome with 4 kids, and they remain buckled other than quick bathroom breaks when I approve (based upon traffic conditions and my overall comfort with them getting up and moving about). Opinions will vary widely on this topic however, ranging from "keep them buckled whenever the MH is in motion" to "we let them dance on the roof while moving down the interstate". But for me, personally, I like to keep them buckled, and even used a car seat when my youngest was at that age.

 

[kbheap]

My parents are all for letting them just sit with no buckle. I am having a hard time finding what state laws are on this though. I can't imagine any governing body will be ok with just letting kids wander around a motorhome.

 

[KPSmithSr]

I have to go with Dave on this. I would not worry about a state law saying they need to be strapped in or not. Seat belts is the safe thing to do. When I take my grandson out, my daughter’s rules on safety are the law; she is the boss of me. When it comes to teaching him how to burp songs, well I exercise grandpa privilege there, but not on safety things.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Belt 'em.

You may also find kiddie tranquilizers may help both the kids and the parents.

I forgot to put a smilie in so no one would be offended, so just pop this one up after parents for me

 

[kbheap]

Belt 'em.

You may also find kiddie tranquilizers may help both the kids and the parents.

I forgot to put a smilie in so no one would be offended, so just pop this one up after parents for me

Probably need those tranquilizers if anyone has any? We travel with this many kids all of the time but in a motorhome for a week, we are asking for trouble!

 

[Arabella1978]

When we travel in a motorhome my kids are required to stay belted all the time. We have my older two on the couch with the seat belts, on, and our youngest who is 1, sits in his car seat on the rear facing dinette booth. But if you do this you probably are going to need to remove the cushion and have the carseat just sit on the wood bench. With the cushion the seat is not stable and slides around. This seems to work best for us.

As far as laws etc, we always just insist that they are always seated. On the rare occasion I let someone up it's for an emergency bathroom trip when it is impossible to pull over. But for the most part they stay seated the whole time.

 

[DaveInTN]

We did a trip this past May for over 3 weeks in the motorhome with our 4 DD's. It went remarkably well. Lots of movies, video games and iPod's for the kids, and lots of beer and scotch for DW and me. Of course, the beer and scotch only come out after we stop for the night.

 

[kbheap]

But if you do this you probably are going to need to remove the cushion and have the carseat just sit on the wood bench. With the cushion the seat is not stable and slides around. This seems to work best for us.

That makes sense. That was my biggest concern is what to do with the carseat.

 

[DaveInTN]

Depending on the age of the motorhome, it may even have an anchor mounted somewhere, typically on the floor behind the dinette, for the rear LATCH strap on your carseat. Our 2007 Itasca does.

 

[Shasta]

I you are short a seatbelt, a roll of 3M ducktape will suffice. I wouldn't advise it with adults though as adults tend to get more hairy with age. Now where is that winky guy... there he is.

 

[retired and happy]

A couple of MH's ago we had a combination of foster and adopted special needs kids. I added a seatbelt to the sofa and had four in car seats on the sofa and one in the recliner across the aisle. The added seatbelt was connected under two of the anchor points of other belts. The five point carseat restraint system plus the seatbelt and tether seem to keep everything secure. The side wings on the car seats gave additional side support to thos on the sofa.

We're down to three adopted right now, with one on the sofa, one in the recliner, and one in the front passenger seat. Mama picks from the remaining seats, or the dinette or bed. If, as we hope, we wind up with more children in the future, they will get one or more of the remaining sofa seats.

 

[tlh0726]

they remain buckled other than quick bathroom breaks when I approve (based upon traffic conditions and my overall comfort with them getting up and moving about).

This is the same "system" we use for ALL passengers in the motorhome. I or DH (depending on who is driving at the time) is the underpaid waitstaff for drinks/snacks.


OP,
I would be having a little talk with your parents about letting the kids just wander the motorhome while in motion. Search the web and find a picture of a MH after a crash It may make them enforce the rules.

 

[Stinkerbell1973]

When it comes to teaching him how to burp songs, well I exercise grandpa privilege there, but not on safety things.

I would SWEAR that my FIL posted this! Haha!
Straight from a grandparent. I love it!

 

[KPSmithSr]

Stinkerbell1973 said:
I would SWEAR that my FIL posted this! Haha!
Straight from a grandparent. I love it!

Maybe we could start a grandchild belching brigade

 

[auntie]

I am not new to Disney but I am new to Camping at Disney or even camping in general. My parents have recently purchased a RV and we are taking for our next Disney trip and staying at the Fort. We have taken smaller weekend trips up until this point. My question is this we have 5 kids we are travelling with. How do you travel on the road with 5 kids? How do you keep them safe in the RV? Ages are from 1-7. We have only travelled up to 2 hours at this point but I am getting concerned making the 10 hour ride with them in the motorhome.

Benadryl.

 

[Lyndria]

Maybe we could start a grandchild belching brigade

I just wish it was only belching that my Dad is teaching the kids... (is there a farting smiley in here somewhere)?!

 

[ob1quixote]

 

[Lyndria]

Oh my goodness! LOVE IT!

 

[disney4dan]

Belt 'em.

You may also find kiddie tranquilizers may help both the kids and the parents.

I forgot to put a smilie in so no one would be offended, so just pop this one up after parents for me

Years ago when my oldest was only 2, going on 3 years old, I had a chance to travel to the Caribbean for work. We were concerned about him not being able to balance the pressure in his ears and had heard horror stories about the pain kids can go through on the flight. Our experienced family physician smiled and just said to give him some Robitussin about half an hour to an hour before the flight and he would be OK.

That kid slept for 12 hours straight . We had flight attendants complimenting us, nervous travelers who came up to thank us for such a well behaved kid, and we were able to relax the whole way. At first I felt a little guilty thinking it was a bad example; but in reality, he was able to enjoy the flight pain free and relaxed. He really enjoyed the trip and so did we.

But, to get back on topic, I would agree on the seat belts if there are any in the MH. I had never been a stickler for this until I saw a family on the side of the highway with a full sized pickup that had gone through a terrible high speed crash and a family member had been ejected from the vehicle into the bushes nearby.