[JosieWales]

We considered driving to Chicago (about 6 1/2 hrs)over Christmas break, but frankly, I'm chicken. How do you (IF you do!) entertain an active 2-2 1/2 yo and a VERY active baby under 1yo for that long time period? Things I'd thought of:
-frequent stops
-lots of snacks
-DVD player in the backseat?
-music and singing along
-sedatives for kids and the non-driving parent

What do you think? Can it be done? Keep in mind, I'm not fond of driving w/screaming kids.

[Disneycrazed]

Last May we drove about 6 hours with Malea in the car.(Then a few months shy of her second birthday)
We took lots of stops and had the DVD player in the backseat. The DVD player was the best for us!!!!!

We will be doing another one of these drives in June and we plan on also having a goody bag in the front seat and new little toys that will be pulled from it every so often to keep her entertained.
Just little inexpensive things that will be new and different to her.

Also... I've heard many people say that doodle pro's keep their kis entertained. We ahve a big one but plan on getting one of the little travel ones for her.

[DPline]

All of the above!

As much as I said 'I would never . . . ' about the car DVD player pre-kids, I know think they are the greatest invention ever. Not sure that will be much help with the baby though.

For Chicago, depending on what you want to do there, I am a fan of taking the train if that is a possibility for you. It is pretty easy to get around the city on public transporation and cabs, and my kids love the train and being able to get up and move around.

[SKL]

We just did an 8-hour drive followed 3 days later by a 7-hour drive (not counting stops). I have two 2-year-olds. [I don't have experience with long car trips (over 1.5 hours) with an under-1.]

They were fine throughout the trip and I really didn't do anything special. We did stop about once every 2 hours, got out and walked around. Basically potty and food stops. They got their nap in the car. We played music they are fond of (grown-up stuff, not aggravating kiddy stuff) and we adults chatted. They love listening to grown-up chatter. They had their loveys and blankets and enjoyed looking out the windows. I read one or two little books to them but that was basically icing on the cake.

The only thing that didn't go great was letting them eat in the car toward the end of the 8 hours, presumably on the theory that we would save time. They would have done a lot better getting out and stretching their legs and having something to look at for a little while. (As would I!) Other than that exception, I never let my kids eat in the car and I really don't think that letting them snack would have been a positive - but I guess if they were used to it, they might need to do that.

I did sit in the back with them, as there were 3 adults on the trip. I am not sure whether that was a "must" or not. I've taken plenty of shorter trips with them alone in the back seat, and they don't complain, but could we do it all day? I'm not sure.

[dianneemily]

DVD player... let me say it again - DVD player. We have gone on a few long car trips with our girls and the DVD player was our saving grace. Best $200 I have ever spent. I also found it helpful to use in the hotel room - especially when my oldest was younger - she would cry at night and the TV always calmed her down.

I also pack plenty of snacks for the trip - give them out when the wiggles set in. Music CD's help too.
For my kids, frequent stops were not helpful because once they got out of the car, it was hard to get them back in without a crying fit. Of course we had to stop some to eat and change diapers/etc., but I don't stop just to stretch legs because it tended to turn into a battle to get back on the road.
It can be done, we have actually (except 1 trip) had really good success with car trips. I don't particularly like it because I am usually anxious, waiting for a crying fit to start, but we've made it. The one bad trip was relatively short (4hours), but Elsa had just turned 1, was facing backwards so I couldn't see her face, and she cried for 2 hours. It was awful.

Another thought - if you can plan to leave at naptime, they might sleep for an hour or two which is great.

Good luck

[robandjulie]

We lived 6 hours from our nearest family when DD was born and made the drive when she was 6 weeks (that trip was immediately followed by a 9 hour drive each way to visit DH's family), 8 months, a year, 18 mos, 2 years, then drove 15 hours from MO to our new home in NY at 2 years, and have done the 9 hours from NY to my family several times.

We watch almost no TV at home and don't do the DVD player in the car. We have, on desperate occasion once, let her watch a Sesame Street episode on my iPod but that didn't really work out very well.

We're plannign our first 9 hour trip with Jorge for March which means a 3.75 yo and just turned 2 yo. So far our longest trip with both of them is about 45 mins to MILs every weekend. It's so much harder with two b/c they keep each other awake and fight over things and wind each other up.

Things that worked for us:
1. small magnadoodle (has to be new to them, so we hide it about a month before a trip and pull it out that day)
2. new fun snacks like teddy grahams
3. sheets of stickers which got stuck to legs, carseat, etc.
4. toy camera and asking her to take pictures of stuff as we pass it.
5. Kid's music CDs. We love the mothergooserocks stuff (can find on iTunes) and Laurie Berkner. It's not so mind-numbing.
6. if your kids sleep in the car, plan the trip to start about an hour before nap time.

It's amazing how well ours sleep in the car. With DD she'd chatter for 30-40 minutes and by then we'd be going steady on a highway and she'd easily fall asleep and stay that way for 2-3 hours in the car. Once she woke up we'd stop for gas & food and run around for about 45 minutes and then get back in and keep her entertained for a few hours and we'd be there. Or we'd stop again for dinner and gas and such and she'd fall asleep for the last leg.

[JosieWales]

Oh, I like the train idea! My g'ma and uncle live in Chicago so they could come get us at the station. Then we could walk around on the way! Holy cow, Owen's head would explode. He LOVES TRAINS.

We could do DVD player too--any recommendations for brand?

What the heck is a doodle pro?

[JosieWales]

Ian sleeps well in the car, too. Owen does sometimes. So that could help. I also can appreciate the need to not stop so often, since Owen is likely to have a meltdown getting back in, and probably Ian too.

[jules17]

Originally Posted by JosieWales

What the heck is a doodle pro?

a magna doodle

we have taken the boys on many long car trips and flights...we just go for it.

i second all of the suggestions you have gotten, but we love to wear their little tushes out before we leave, if possible. you can count on at least 2 hrs. of zzzzs right there. then a little movie/snack action...and you're almost there!!! (we drove straight back once from chicago when luke was 12 mos and sam was 18 mos - about an hour outside of KC, they were over it...but it was an 8.5 hour drive for us. I blew bubbles with bubble gum for an hour. They loved it, but my jaw hurt like heck!!)

[JosieWales]

Originally Posted by jules17

a magna doodle

What the heck is a magna doodle?

j/k, I looked them up on google.

[JosieWales]

Originally Posted by jules17

i second all of the suggestions you have gotten, but we love to wear their little tushes out before we leave, if possible. you can count on at least 2 hrs. of zzzzs right there. then a little movie/snack action...and you're almost there!!!

What about leaving EARLY in the morning? Anyone done that? Does it work--they sleep more?

[jules17]

Originally Posted by JosieWales

What about leaving EARLY in the morning? Anyone done that? Does it work--they sleep more?

It didn't work for us, but as you know, every child is different. Our kids were bright eyed, yet crabby. Not a good combo.

[asauer]

We've done 3 trips of 3.5 hrs, and two trips of 4.5 hrs. Here's what works for us with two VERY active 23 month olds:
1. Leave after lunch at nap time, so that a good 1.5-2 hrs will be sleeping and not whining.

2. For two weeks before the trip hide some of the really good books and small toys they play with so that you can bring them out in the car and it's like they've never played with it before.

3. For two weeks before the trip- don't give them their favorites at snack time so that when you break out the really yummy snacks (ours LOVE bananas and graham crackers), the car becomes the best place to be.

4. We have a GPS (TomTom). If you don't have one, see if you can borrow one from a friend this is THE single best piece of equipment we've EVER purchased. Say you're three hours into a trip and the whining is reaching a peak, nearing meltdown mode. All you have to do is search for "parks near your current location" or "resteraunts near your current location" and poof, there is ALWAYS a park or McDonald's playland within 1 mile of the 'current location'. Some of the best parks we've been to have been b/c of searching. So, we play for 20-30 min, get back in the car and we're good for another couple of hours. This feature is especially good if you have one that's potty training.

[DeeVee]

You've already received some great suggestions, so I won't duplicate them here.

Making sure they're good and wore out before putting them in the car works for us - can get a couple hours sleep out of them usually. We have also had good luck travelling at night - as long as DH and I are well-rested enough to stay awake. The kiddos sleep, and we avoid traffic. Of course your destination might have to be prepared for a weird arrival time.

[kirbystarcat]

We just drove over 1000 miles each way to Florida and back and in the fall we made an 8 hr trip to the Carolinas.

We left early both times---I pulled the kids out of bed, changed diapers and stuck them in the car. It worked well. They both slept the first several hours.

DD was easily bribed with My Little Ponies. If she was "good" and didn't try to terrorize her brother in the back seat, we would stop every couple hours at a Walmart or the like and let her pick out a new pony. She also likes the sticker books at Cracker Barrell. We of course took toys too, but this whole act of stopping and letting her pick something new out helped.

DS was pretty easy. He sleeps a lot when he is moving so that was good.