How to Survive a 7 Hour Car Ride with 2 Little Kids

I would get/borrow as many new toys as you can, as they will be more interested in things they haven't seen before. Toy ideas are: lacing cards, stickers, kaleidoscopes, little cars, crayola color wonder stuff, aquadoodle stuff, books with flaps or sound buttons, find it / i spy books, the little fischer price camera that you can see animals in, the character cameras and cell phones that they sell in the toy section at walgreens, little cars and trains, etc.

A lollipop or tootsie pop as a special treat always works well for us! ;-)

We usually try to leave early in the morning when the kids are still tired. And, we usually try to save a DVD for the last third of the trip when the kids are feeling more antsy.

Good luck!

We've done L.A. to Oregon both ways, day and all night, a 13-16 hour drive. An alternative that worked for us is to leave really early, like 4am, transfer sleeping kids in pjs directly into vehicle and let them sleep the first 4 hours or so, then go out to breakfast around 8 to give everyone a break.

When we made the trip during daylight, it helped to stop ever couple hours for a bathroom break. Sometimes we'd stop at a park and let the kids play for half an hour to an hour, or we'd stop for fast food where there was a play place to let the kids burn off some energy. You can also plan your trip to do something fun midday, a kids museum or other sightseeing spot for a couple hours. It makes the first day feel more like a vacation, and hopefully the activity will wear out the kids so they nap in the car afterwards.

we used to drive from CA to AZ to visit my parents and it was about 7 hours. We would leave at 8pm and do an over night drive. They slept the whole way and my parents would watch the kids for us when we got there so we could catch up on some sleep. That is the only thing that has worked for us

Movies. Movies. Movies.

And do the bulk of the drive when they will be sleeping. Seriously. Figure out how to do it when they are sleeping!

We drive to inlaws every 3 months and its about 5-6 hrs straight if we drive at night. We try to leave when the kids are suppose to go to bed (8 pm), stock up on drinks/ snacks, fill up before we leave and drive straight. We get in at like 1 or 2 and they are up by 6 but it is so worth it. Now when we have to drive during the day we stop every 45 min for a potty break, snack, leg stretch and change of activities (mine are 2 & 3)

We have neighbors who drive all the time. They start driving at bedtime for the children and drive all night while children sleep.

As for us, we will not drive over 2-3 hours MAX anywhere. We fly.Much easier to for us.

Good luck

Keep an ice chest in the trunk of your car.
Stock it with snacks/drinks. And a roll of paper towels.

Make lots of stops.
Hopefully they will nap in the car.

We do a 14 hour (one way) trip 2 x year with ours. Go to the dollar store and buy them a bunch of new trinkets. Wrap them and give them a new one every time they get antsy. The kids leap frog lap tops where also hours of entertainment ($30). Make your daughter an art box and fill it with paper, stickers, pencils, and toddler scissors. Bring books. Portable DVD's are excellent. We have also been known to start our long trips at 4:30 a.m. (keep them in jammies) so they go back to sleep and give us a few hours to get a good start. Then stop for breakfast and wiggles. I also pack lunch in case we can stop at a park or nice rest stop instead of restaurant which is so much better for getting wiggles out. I also give them some extra fun snacks, which keep them busy. I keep a sucker for the end of the trip, when we are all really pulling our hair out, because sugar and kids can really backfire. But boy do they sit still and quiet for suckers! Once we started our road trip before our babies bed time thinking we'd drive till 1:00 and then get a hotel. Total backfire, she stayed up the whole trip but was miserably cranky then further bounced off the walls in our hotel room until 3:00 a.m.

Books, music, stories on tape/CD (if they are geared towards your children's ages--definitely when they get older). Frequent stops are a necessity (every hour to two hours), even if they seem to be traveling well. You'd be surprised how much better they handle a car ride when they have time to burn some energy during the trip. When we take long trips, we break our "no eating in the car" rule, which our kids LOVE. We bring fun snacks that they don't normally get, and we pass them out once an hour or so. You can also fill a backpack for each child with familiar toys they enjoy, books they might want to look at, and maybe even a few new things.

We've done a lot of traveling with our children, including a cross country trip (2000 mile trip; three-four days of driving 9-12 hours a day). We've traveled with newborns all the way up to our current age grouping (3, 5, 7, 10), and the biggest problems we've had are 1. our child who has a bladder the size of dime--can't drink a lot while traveling or needs to use the restroom every ten miles and 2. too much pent up energy when we arrive--usually fixed by taking more frequent stops. Good luck and enjoy the trip!

At 18 months, I always brought a ride on toy for my son...like one of those little plastic wheeled tractors that they sit and use their feet to move. We stopped at a rest stop about every 1.5 hours and he would scoot up and down the sidewalk or we would play chase on the grass. At 4, we would bring a kickball or soccer ball and race around on the grass. Then we would load back in the car with the lure of a treat.

Books on tape (library has board books and other kids books combined with a CD/tape so they can follow along with the pictures). A couple new toys wrapped up, keep hidden until you feel you need them.

And if possible, time as much as you can for the little one's nap time.