Long car trip advice

[snickers4everyone]

I know this has been asked and answered but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to search!
We are going to Patchogue, NY in June for a wedding. That's a 6.5 hour car ride from here, without traffic or stops. I'm already thinking I'll get a portable DVD player, but does anyone have any tips, tricks, or super spectacular toys to recommend? I'm really nervous and worried the kids will be miserable.

[britbratjf]

100% get a DVD player! Do you have one of those doodle boards? I think they make travel sized ones if not. Lots of books for them to look at. Maybe something with magnets? And new coloring books/markers. Lots of snacks.

[jennmm]

Take breaks. Let the little ones get their energy out and stretch their legs. Snack are also a must with mine.

[summergirl1211]

I would also recommend a portable DVD player or mounted ipad and some new shows/movies. Try to travel during sleep times (naps, early in the morning or late at night). Snacks and a lot of stops are good. I saw an etch-a-sketch kind of thing at Target (I think it was a Melissa and Doug item?). That might be good too! GL!

[danielle1220]

Lots of stickers and I second the portable DVD or iPad. It is a lifesaver! And snacks. Andre loves oreos so even though they aren't healthy, but they keep him quiet and happy while traveling for such a long time so I do whatever works.

[xanthepants]

Have you figured out what time of day you prefer to travel? We do mornings, so we get her drowsy and she continues to sleep in the morning. Then we stop for a bigger breakfast,run around between 9-10. Go until noon or 1 lunch run around again. Then hopefully a nap after that until we are almost there. That's been our strategy to Omaha which is about 6,5 for us. Good luck! I try not to ride in the back until I absolute have to because she expects me to entertain her and won't sleep.

[snickers4everyone]

Apr 6, 2015 13:04:15 GMT -5 xanthepants said:

Have you figured out what time of day you prefer to travel? We do mornings, so we get her drowsy and she continues to sleep in the morning. Then we stop for a bigger breakfast,run around between 9-10. Go until noon or 1 lunch run around again. Then hopefully a nap after that until we are almost there. That's been our strategy to Omaha which is about 6,5 for us. Good luck! I try not to ride in the back until I absolute have to because she expects me to entertain her and won't sleep.

MIL suggested leaving a 2AM so the kids would sleep in the car. DH says that's insane. I've been reading that maybe we should take them to a park and let them run like crazy things for an hour or two beforehand, so I'm leaning more towards doing that and then hitting the road around 11AM, which is Nicky's nap time anyway (Em hasn't napped in months).


New question: my iPad cant use Internet unless it's on wifi. So things like the PBS kids app won't work while we're driving. Is there a way to download movies so they can watch them without Internet access? Do movies purchased through iTunes work that way?

[xanthepants]

Yeah we purchase a few movies or episodes thru iTunes and use them just like a video. Cosette was hit or miss for naps for a long long time, but in the car she actually does nap so you never know. We never had any luck driving in the middle of the night at all either.

[snickers4everyone]

Thanks xanthepants! Yeah, I'm pretty hopeful that Em will sleep. My fat thumbs apparently managed to delete that part of my earlier response. She will sometimes fall asleep in the car if it's late afternoon.

This is awesome info you guise, thanks so much!

[summergirl1211]

Apr 6, 2015 13:25:36 GMT -5 xanthepants said:

Yeah we purchase a few movies or episodes thru iTunes and use them just like a video. Cosette was hit or miss for naps for a long long time, but in the car she actually does nap so you never know. We never had any luck driving in the middle of the night at all either.

Yep, I second xanthepants. Just purchase via itunes. You can buy a harness for the car on Amazon too. I think ours was $25-$30, which was much cheaper than a portable DVD player. 

[britbratjf]

Re: iPad yes movies purchased or rented through iTunes/Amazon can be downloaded so you can watch offline. But be warned they take up a ton of storage space. So clear a lot off your iPad. I usually have no problem with 2 movies but have to delete basically everything to get 3 on there. If you rent thiugh you could rent different ones for the trip back.

[trixi282]

For our 20+ hour trek we actually never pulled out the ipad/tablet, but my mom was in the backseat with J the entire time.

We did the first leg overnight, and she did sleep most of the way, and did great when she was awake. For the 2nd leg we left around 8:30/9am and again she did great, better than I expected... and we had just potty trained a few weeks before too.

We did have sticker books, dolls, books, and this leap frog toy that her DC lady bought her for her birthday. It's basic, but she loves it... it can get annoying after awhile though.

I also agree with snacks/food that they like, and stopping to let them run. We didn't stop nearly as much or as long as I was expecting, but when we did stop, I let her run around for awhile instead of just getting back into the car right away.

I was scared, but pleasantly surprised with how well she did!

[bantyrooster]

Movies, sleep, and new cheap toys. I would leave like you are thinking maybe nap and new movie first half. Stop to eat and run then pull out another movie and toys then you are there.

[aimeefarrahfowler]

I know your H said it was crazy, but we've done a 4 1/2 hour drive twice - once we left at bedtime and they slept the whole way up. Second time during the day and T screamed for a solid hour and a half on the drive there. So I know which I'd pick.

[Riverdong11]

Lots of snacks! DS is obsessed with hot wheels so a few new ones kept him occupied for a long time. I also got him a lap desk for the car and he loved having a surface to play on in his carseat.

[roo1582]

We also do lots of snacks. We also have a few educational games on the Ipad that don't require internet access, so she loves to play those. We have a doodle board, books, and a few small toys she can keep in the back of the car with her as well. When we do stop, we always make sure we stop some place where she can run around for a bit and stretch her legs.

[xanthepants]

For 4.99 at target they have these reusable sticker books with different themes. Can take stickers on and off scenes and redo over and over. These are a big hit and they work on the windows of the car too. Also I got some really big beads and a shallow Tupperware and let her string some bead necklaces. Would that be something they might like? We have a tray that you can fasten to the car seat ( I rarely use it but in cases like this, I would). As a surface for her to play on.

[cookiesandwine]

We just did 15 hours over the course of two days so here's my fresh wounds... We left Thursday evening thinking we would get pretty far overnight. Nope. She woke up every 30-45 minutes crying, just disoriented and uncomfortable. Stopped about midnight and drove about 8am-6pm the next day. She did amazing during the day. We have a kindle that I shamelessly loaded up on Amazon prime downloads that she watched pretty much the whole way.

[lainikins]

We have done a few 4 hour trips. We find going at nap time and having snacks works well. We also have a tablet with some Thomas movies and some apps that work without internet on it. We hid all the apps that needed internet so he would not see them and want those. Make sure when you down load the movies you download them to the device and not in the cloud. The cloud will not work without internet. We also waited until last resort to give the tablet so he did not get board if it easily. He is really good in the car entertaining himself or playing eye spy. He did not need the tablet until it got dark out. Good luck.