Long Car Rides

[younglove316]

At the end of June we are going to be doing approximately 17 hours in the car for my BIL's wedding. So I know I have time but I procrastinate so I thought I'd start brainstorming now. What are some good things to pack with us tokeep the girls entertained? DD1 will be almost 28 months and DD2 will be 7.5 months. We do have a portable DVD player that I'll bring with us.

[ashiscute]

Alcohol?

That's a long, long drive. The closest I've done is 10ish hours when DD was 2.5 and DS was 11 months. DVDs, lots of singing/songs, snacks, board books, maybe color wonder for your older DD, loveys or other comfort objects.

The drive went better than expected for us. We had one long spell of crying where I had to hold DS's hand but it wasn't awful.

[mrsmuq]

That's a long ass drive. Longest we've done, and only with DS1, was 11 hours, and he was 27 months. We have a DVD player in our truck. And lots of snacks. And eye-spy. And eye-spy books, a lap table, crayons and coloring books.

I have no idea what to do for a 7.5mo baby, though.

[Deleted]

Definitely the portable DVD. Id do as much of the driving through your toddlers normal sleeping hours as possible, as long as you guys can get enough rest to safely make that work. I'd try to plan out some stopping points so everyone can get out and stretch their legs. Books, crayons and coloring pads, maybe one of those magnet doodler things. Id probably hit the target dollar bin and make a bag of cheap stuff that you can pull a new thing out of every hour or so.

Good luck!

[younglove316]

Thank you ladies! We aren't looking forward to this drive but if we want to do a family vacation in February we can't afford to fly now and since it's for my BIL's wedding, we have to go.

We are definitely going to stay overnight along the way to break it up as well.

[gwapes]

We went from ca to ia when ds was 16 months old. Ipad with bubble guppies saved my life.

Stop when you can, move them around a bit, find a park, etc.

[mrsmuq]

May 1, 2016 16:32:42 GMT -5 younglove316 said:

Thank you ladies! We aren't looking forward to this drive but if we want to do a family vacation in February we can't afford to fly now and since it's for my BIL's wedding, we have to go.

We are definitely going to stay overnight along the way to break it up as well.

I would maybe research a few hotel options yo stop at depending on when you anticipate stopping, and preferably one that has a pool and includes breakfast. Getting the older one in the pool after spending a lot of time in the car is a good way to burn some energy, and breakfast on premises in the morning will eliminate the need to stop later on.

[younglove316]

May 2, 2016 7:57:00 GMT -5 mrsmuq said:

May 1, 2016 16:32:42 GMT -5 younglove316 said:

Thank you ladies! We aren't looking forward to this drive but if we want to do a family vacation in February we can't afford to fly now and since it's for my BIL's wedding, we have to go.

We are definitely going to stay overnight along the way to break it up as well.

I would maybe research a few hotel options yo stop at depending on when you anticipate stopping, and preferably one that has a pool and includes breakfast. Getting the older one in the pool after spending a lot of time in the car is a good way to burn some energy, and breakfast on premises in the morning will eliminate the need to stop later on.

Oh yes that is definitely in my plan, I think a pool would probably do us all some good haha I was also told about an app where you can put your trip route in and it will tell you fun places along the way to stop.

[namastebiotches]

Our second most recent vacation this past November was a massive roadtrip. When you look it up, says 18 hours but we broke it up & stood a night at the midway point on the way down + another night further along & turned it into an additional sightseeing experience/trip.
On the way back, we did the same at two different spots. That helped tremendously & was fun extending our initial vacation, too.
HOWEVER, DS was 4 at the time so I think that's easier than with a little little one. Food got us by as well as portable DVD player, stickers, paper, his leappad, & lots of toys.
Best of luck!

[mrsmuq]

May 2, 2016 8:56:02 GMT -5 younglove316 said:

May 2, 2016 7:57:00 GMT -5 mrsmuq said:

I would maybe research a few hotel options yo stop at depending on when you anticipate stopping, and preferably one that has a pool and includes breakfast. Getting the older one in the pool after spending a lot of time in the car is a good way to burn some energy, and breakfast on premises in the morning will eliminate the need to stop later on.

Oh yes that is definitely in my plan, I think a pool would probably do us all some good haha I was also told about an app where you can put your trip route in and it will tell you fun places along the way to stop.

Curious. Do you know the name of the app? We'll be doing some sort of long weekend this summer and a week long vacation in the fall, but both will be a drive-able distance, because I'm not too keen on flying with two small people.

[younglove316]

May 2, 2016 16:32:29 GMT -5 mrsmuq said:

May 2, 2016 8:56:02 GMT -5 younglove316 said:

Oh yes that is definitely in my plan, I think a pool would probably do us all some good haha I was also told about an app where you can put your trip route in and it will tell you fun places along the way to stop.

Curious. Do you know the name of the app? We'll be doing some sort of long weekend this summer and a week long vacation in the fall, but both will be a drive-able distance, because I'm not too keen on flying with two small people.

I believe my MIL said its called Road Trippers. I haven't really looked it up yet.

[brachysira]

My kids would probably watch 17 hours of Paw Patrol straight.

We did 7 hours when DS was 9 months and DD was 2.5. I brought all the snacks. Fiber One raisin cookies (nothing chocolate, big mess), juice and milk boxes (pretty messy for DS but he enjoyed), water cups, little crackers in the refillable snack cups that are cut to spill less, fruit like pre-cut grapes and berries, cereal in little boxes.

Yes, color wonder was a big hit at 2.5. We got DS a little noisy toy phone with lots of buttons to push. Both kids enjoyed playing with our actual phones. I would lock it on a Fisher Price app for DS and by then we let DD have freedom to go to her own games (she had had previous experience...). Lots of board books. We got the Melissa and Doug locks puzzle, although it was a bit unwieldy. Stickers, if your older DD can handle them alone. Also had the magna doodle (take out the little stamp magnets so your little one doesn't eat them), and a few new books. For the little one, different teething things and rattles, maybe a cloth busy book, smaller electronic button pushing noisy things if you don't object to them.

Pull out toys and snacks one by one as needed. Started with a bunch of books and didn't pull out the DVD until dark.