Road Trip Tips

- Travel as much at night as possible.
- Instead of taking a gallon of water for bottles, take individual 20oz bottles.
- Keep a tub of wipes and a pack of diapers within reach. (hubby put them in the trunk!)
- If you have a minivan, put the 2y and 4y in the back seat, the 4m in middle, and you/hubby sit next to the 4m. Then the adult can have easy access to the kids while still helping to navigate.
- pack a travel potty

I am heading out on a 8 hr trip today. I have found that in a pinch (sounds wasteful but works) is letting them play with some generic baby wipes. LOL for some odd reason they LOVE it. I will occupy their mind for a little while at least.

We are planning another road trip in 3 weeks. We done many long ones with someone being a baby. We now have a 12 1/2 month old and a 3 1/2 year old. Our trips are about 11 hours total. We usually break up the drive there and back in half. Drive halfway, swim or do something where we stay and then drive the other half.

I went to McDonald's website and did their trip link (bottom right of the page...kind of hard to find at first). Then I wrote down all the McD's that have PlayPlaces at them from Point A to Point B. We will use that for pit stops. I once heard from someone else to let the kids play while Mom and Dad (& Baby) eat and then let the kids eat in the car. Also know where the rest areas are and keep a map or GPS handy for the last minute stops for the bathroom/feedings.

The DVD player helps for the older ones. We also try to allow a seat open next to the baby for Mom or Dad to sit when it starts to get ugly.

Pack plenty of drinks and snacks that can be easily accessed. I also pack a pouch of toys to be doled out when someone gets bored. I've heard some people actually wrap trinkets and toys for the kids to unwrap every so many miles/hours. Not sure I want to do this.

Put pullups on the recently potty trained and take an extra potty seat if you have space to do it.

Best of luck! I'm sure you will get many more great ideas! I will keep an eye out, too. :)

These are my key things I break out when the bordem and tears begin:

1: iPad for games or fave shows
2: little presents from the dollar section I wrap and then bribe my little buggers with.
3: travel aquadoodle. I always have water bottles in the car to re-fill the pens.
4: snacks
5: In my car we will switch carseats at each rest stop so the view is different (not the baby in the infant carrier, only the seats that the kids can share, I'm no ripping out car seats to buckle back in.)
6: I will get in the back with my kids. it seems to make them all happy.

have fun on your roady!

First of all, ask anyone and everyone you know to pray for you! hahaha
I hate the "road trip" and 6-7 hours is my max.
Two words: DVD player.

And once I went to the dollar store and bough a bag full of new "toys" and whipped O. out every hour or so. That helped. And snacks. And vodka helps. :-)

My husband and I just took our 14 month old son on a roadtrip to the beach and spent alot of time driving.

I would suggest getting each of the kids a new toy that they havent seen before so they can play with it while you drive. It will keep them busy for awhile because its something new and interesting.

Crayons, and color books. Or those no mess color boards you can get.
Talking books
A portable DVD player with kids shows like Sesame Street.
Plenty of snacks, and drinks

Have fun!

We took a road trip with our 5 kids from Dallas to New York last summer. It was a lot of fun! the kids were 10,8,6,4 &5 months! I planned our route before hand and made reservations at hotels online before hand(we ended up canceling some of them). I would just suggest to be flexible. Have a day or two leeway to get where you are going and when you are coming back. We stopped at parks along the way and let the kids get out to play while I fed the baby. I had reserved two rooms that connected, but they didn't always have the door between the rooms to connect them- it was actually cheaper and roomier to rent 1 suite instead(figured that one out halfway through the trip!)
Bubbles and a ball to play with at the park are great. Putting snacks in baggies also helped a lot rather than having to try and get the lid off of everything while driving. DVD player and a DS were great! We also had some cd's the kids liked(and we could stomach) and played I spy. We left the first day at 1am and did most of the driving then while the kids slept and we arrived at our first spot early enough to do more than just sleep.
Have fun! It will be an adventure!
~C.

On our last road trip, we did something that was mentioned below. We stopped at McDonald's and Chik-Fil-A's that had playgrounds. Then we sat and ate while the kids played. Then the kids ate in the car. This worked out well for us. We don't allow milk in the car anymore...too stinky if it spills. Maybe get some window clings that the kids can stick on the car windows. And we play word games (words that start with "t" or words that rhyme with "cat"). Bring your patience!! And I'm sure we'd love to hear what tricks you have up your sleeve!!

Plan many stops, have tons of non sticky or greasy snacks, bring new toys to have in the car and last by not least make it exciting.

Oh and portable TV/DVD player will be a winner.

Be sure to plot out your route and go online to find out kid-friendly stopping places. Some highway rest stops even have playgrounds now -- you should be able to find that out online.You already know your 2- and 4-year olds will need to get out and walk around pretty frequently so expect that 12 hours to include stops -- if it doesn't already, expect it to take a good bit longer that 12 hours! Were you planning on driving 12 hours straight through to somewhere? I would stop overnight with kids this age.

I am not a fan of using in-car TV screens to sedate kids. We listen to books on CD. You can get a lot of kids' books with CDs so they can look at the book while the CD plays. You don't have to buy them; the library has them too. Another great thing (if you can keep the pieces out of the younger kids' mouths) is felt boards and/or magnetic play boards, with pieces the kids use to make up stories and pictures on a background board they hold on their laps. You can even make the felt ones yourself, covering a largeish piece of cardboard with felt and cutting anything you like out of felt for the kids to place on it -- fairy tale figures, geometric figures, numbers, letters, etc. Doesn't stick perfectly but it holds well enough for them to create scenes.

If you are AAA members, get them to do a "Triptik" that plots the best route for you. I believe AAA now can do this online for members. It is well worth the cost to be a member, since it also gives you roadside assistance (towing, help changing tires, etc.) and discounts on hotels and more.