Traveling with 22 Month Old Son

Please remember if you do take a teen girl along as a sitter, that she is not yet an adult and you are responsible for her safety. You will need to lay down some ground rules before you go, maybe speak with her parents as well. I wouldn't want my 17 yr. old daughter running around by herself in Florida. To many things can happen to her. Although she may not be "sitting" 24/7, she will still be there and she will need something to do and she will need to be safe doing it.

I did this once and she agreed that we didn't have to pay her any extra, only cover all her expenses including food and hotel stay. She was getting a free vacation out of it, so that was enough payment. You could also offer to pay her extra spending money for the hours she is alone with your child.

Hi S.,
I know how you feel leaving your precious cargo with a stranger. About paying your take-along babysitter... I don't know how old your babysitter is, but I would think if you're providing her with (esentially) a free vacation in Florida, that would be payment enough. If you are paying for the gas down there and back, meals, room, etc., seems to me that you've compensated her plenty. Even if she's paying for her own room and food, but has lots of free time at the beach, or wherever, it's still a good deal. The only other thing (assuming she's old enough) that I could think of is her own rental car once you got there so she could go places. Or if she's young enough and you have the room, allowing her to bring a friend with her. (Just brainstorming here).

In regards to entertaining your son, I don't know how you feel about TV viewing, but my daughter who is also 22 mo., watches a little TV during the week. The longest trip we've taken so far has only been 5.5-6 hours, but she LOVES the portable DVD player and a Disney-type movie, but of course, she IS a captive audience. We put it in when we leave, and make pit stops to change her diaper and the movie. She'll usually go to sleep during one of them, but it keeps her from sleeping the whole trip (and being wide-eyed and wired upon arriving at our destination).

I don't know if your son is interested in markers, pens, and crayons, but another option might be a tray on the car seat (or back of the seat in front of him) and those wonderful Crayola Color Wonders markers that only mark on the special paper.

I don't know if boys bore more easily than girls, but that's what we do with our daughter.

G.

We took a vacation to alabama when our kids were 3 and 3 months. We left at 5pm. They did fine because we ate supper around 6:30. I sat in the back with them and entertained them. They fell asleep around 8 or 9 and slept All night. It was such an easy trip. If you travel during the day, I suggest stopping every 3 or 4 hours to let your son run and play for a little bit. Take a tray for his lap and take playdough, little cars, and his favorite toys. Be prepared to sit with him and help his long car ride. Good luck and have fun.

My first thought is for you to leave in the evening. you can stop and eat supper for a chance to stretch out. Chances are he will sleep pretty good during his normal bedtime hours. Take along a portable DVD player that mounts to the seat in front of him and bring some of his favorite shows/movies for him to watch during the drive. As for the sitter, do you have any family high school age that would like to go? My nieces have gone on a few vacations to help with kids. They usually found a friend that could go along (or a sister or cousin), then they could go have fun together when they weren't watching the kids. When they are teenagers, water parks, aquariums, the beach - pretty much anything in Florida - is fun for them and the kids. That would make it easy to keep everyone entertained. Some adults don't enjoy those things, and if your sitter is one of them you may end up feeling obligated to try to keep her entertained somehow (and maybe not even do everything you planned). If your sitter enjoys these things, then go ahead an take her. It will be a nice vacation for anyone you decide to take along. Be sure to take tons of sunscreen (that Florida sun can give you sneak-attack sunburns - you don't know you are burned until it's too late) and take pictures, pictures, pictures! Your first family vacation will be great to remember every time you look at the pictures. Good luck and have fun!

For us, driving through the night has always been easiest. We have been doing this since our 11 year old was about 1 year old. We have three kids now, and they do great. We leave after work, stop for a late dinner, get on their pj's and then DRIVE. I nap, my hubby drives and then vice versa. The kids sleep. We also allow movies etc. while they are trying to go to sleep.

As for the sitter, I know friends who have taken sitters on vacation. The pay is not determined by how many hours they will actually be "babysitting" but by the amount of time they are on the vacation with you. You wouldn't pay them $8.00/hr for only 2 hours a day. You would come up with a set amount prior to leaving - $300 for the week or whatever, and then if you "use" more babysitting time than that, you would add it on, (but you wouldn't take away from the amount if you use them "less" than the $300). Don't forget, if she is sitting with the little guy in the car and entertaining him during the long drive, she is "working. You would also be responsible for her meals and lodging. What/how you pay her could vary some if while she is with you, she has transportation, if needed, during her free time (paid for or provided by you) to go do what she wants during her "time off".

Good luck and have fun!

i think thats a lot to under take but i think it would be best if you did take your own sitter to ride with him they could play watch moives how old is ur sitter if dhe is some what young am sure she will be happy to go to fl a change she might not have gotten otherwise and just pay her by the hour that you do it at home and maybe ask her if she wated to do anthing nice in the area so every one can feel like they enjoyed it and how long well u been in fl and you might want to think bout traving while your lil one is sleeping the most hrs any him being that young you know he wast to be into every thing be every were he anit going like being seat the whole time lol i hope he will be thogh good luck

I think taking your regular sitter is a great idea. When I was in high school I babysat for a few families that did the very same thing. They would pay the expenses of the trip for which ever sitter they took. The kids loved it because the parents were bringing "thier friend" along.
As far as travel, we have made several, several long trips with our son and this always works for us. We try to leave about 1-1.5 hrs before his normal wake up time. Even if he wakes he is agreeable. When he does wake up we stop for gas, bathroom and have a breakfast we packed. It usually takes no longer than a normal gas stop. Then we get back on the road. We take along our DVD player which he can hold and in a usual 10-12 hr trip he'll maybe watch 2 movies. We also take his favorite kids CDs. Our son loves Veggies Tales and they have a few CDs that aren't all kids songs (Veggies Sing the 70s) so it is bearable. We also play a game where we point out all the trucks and cars and animals we see along the way. This usually works when he is tired of all the others stuff. And we only stop every 4 hrs unless there is an ememrgency and all of our stops are gas, bathroom and a snack. Hope this helps and have a good trip.

We just went to Florida in April with our 5 year old and then 22 month old. We took a large basket of toys and put it in between their 2 seats (coloring books, crayons, little people, my little pony, babies, etc) and we also invested in a DVD for the vehicle. I don't know how you feel about your almost 2 year old watching movies but I tell you it was a life saver for all of us! It not only made time pass for the kids, but for us as well since we could listen to their movies. Just a word of advice, I would plan to stop every 3 hours or so, even if it's only a 5-10 min. stop to let you son run around. It will do him good to get out of his carseat for a little while. Good luck.

S., I have a four year old and a 2 1/2 year old. When we travel we take portable dvd's, coloring books, and doodle boards. I suggest whenever you stop get your son out and let him stretch as well. We have not traveled quite as far as you are going, but these are suggestions of what we do.

Then for the other half of your question, when I, myself was young I traveled to Florida with an Aunt and Uncle and their kids. She needed me to babysit while she was at a convention for her job. She asked me to go to watch the kids but was not paying me, due to she was paying for everything for me while we were there. We also went to Disney which she also paid for that. So to me at the time, age 13 thought that was terrific. I had a free vacation, but yet was still "working" as a babysitter as well. You could suggest that to your sitter. The thought of a stranger would scare me. Good Luck!

Hi S.!
We took our little girl on a 12 hour trip when she was about 15 months old and she did great. Some things that helped were: taking her naptime/bedtime CD to listen to in the car, taking different toys that we borrowed from Grandma, and stopping at places like Chick-fil-A that have good play areas or rest areas where she can run for a few minutes. I also was fortunate enough to find a book sale at our local library about a week before we left, and so i went in and got a pile of board books for 50 cents each and cleaned them up for her to look at in the car. They were great! It's amazing how something new keeps their attention so much longer. Good luck!

Am I the only one who totally disagrees with taking a non-family member on a family vacation? Why do you feel the need to have a sitter? Can't you take some down time during naps? Can't you just skip the romantic dinner until you get home? I can see the advantage of having someone else in the car, but honestly, there are two of you; you can handle it. He gets fussy, you pull over and hop in the back seat to entertain him.

As far as travelling goes, you've gotten lots of good advice. I'm a bit of a snob about the DVD player, although I realize I'm a loner on this one. We never used one. Granted, it wasn't an option when our kids were really small, but it always seemed like cheating to me. We wanted our kids to remember crossing the Mississippi, seeing a buffalo, how long it took to get into the Rockies after you can see them in the distance.... not a SpongeBob video. One of my fondest memories is of our oldest son reading a Redwall book to the youngest on a trip north. He was using all sorts of different little voices, all with different accents--it was wonderful.
Plus, you'd be amazed at the brilliant ideas your kids have when they are bored.

Okay, I know your boy is small yet for most of that, I might use the DVD some if I were in your shoes; just please don't make the trip one long video session. Even a guy as little as yours can appreciate some of the joys of a long car drive. We played a lot of peek-a-boo, I Spy, try to make the trucks honk, and lots of other made-up games. Guess what color car we pass next, tell a story about the people in the other cars.... This is a chance for a great adventure with your family. Enjoy each other!

Idea: In the first place, take your regular sitter and tell her that you will pay her expenses during the trip instead of paying her directly for sitting. I'm talking about: her trip there, her hotel, her food. She is to pay for any souveniers and for anything else unless you decide to pay once in awhile for doing something. As far as your 22 month old. The sitter could be a good idea for him since he knows her. She could talk to him, play a little with him, help him by reading to him on the trip, maybe draw pictures with him or color with him on the trip. My niece was here from upper Michigan and she knew the trip back would be a bear. I gave the kids a reading book each and a coloring book and small box of crayons each. She wrote me and thanked me so much because the kids were really good going back and they kept busy. Hers are only a couple years older than yours, so the babysitter wasn't necessary, but the books helped a lot. Just an idea for you.

I would pay her the regular fee that you give her per week. Pay for her room and eats. Since you are driving read nursery stories and sing simple songs. Also a great time to play games with numbers or letters. He's not too young to do this we do all this with our grandson who turned 2 in Feb.
Have fun.

I think you should take her and agree upon a set amount per day, say $20 or something like that(plus all traveling expenses, admission fees, food, etc) and she can sit for you an hour here, a 1/2 hour there, etc. Don't not pay her, that would not be fair.