Is a DVD player in the car a must for you?

[mom4him]

As a norm the longest time we are in the car is 45-50 min. That is 2-3 times a month. My kids take books, Nintendo, etc and do fine. If we were to do another long trip(I pray that never happens:tongue_smilie:) I would consider getting a portable that could be plugged in to the car.

[DarlaS]

Our car has one, but it was not a consideration when purchasing. I didn't even realize it at first.

 

We've used it rarely. I could take it or leave it.

[catz]

We have never had a vehicle with DVD build in. But we do have one that has 2 screens that go on the back of the front seats (they connect to the head rests). We only use it on trips where we'll be driving at least maybe 5-6 hours (we have done 2-3 week x-c driving trips where it's invaluable). Doing it this way is SO much cheaper. It's kind of like this

 

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-PD9012-37-9-Inch-Portable/dp/B003ES54BU/ref=sr_1_13?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322365580&sr=1-13

 

It was thousands more on the price of a new vehicle to have the model with the build in DVD player and we only spent a couple hundred on this thing we only use a couple times a year anyway. We bought kid friendly ear buds that limit the volume they can get.

 

So no, not necessary to put the extra money in. My kids do not watch a lot of TV at home at all. We don't have cable, we watch occasional movies at home. But when you're spending 12 hours in a car a day, it's good for the sanity (we use audio books, activities, many of the videos we pack are educational, etc too). If we didn't do these super long trips, we wouldn't have one at all and never invested until our youngest was about 5. My kids spent 3 hours in the car yesterday and it was all books and music.

[gardenmom5]

years ago we bought a small tv/vcr we could use in the car on long car trips and it was very handy for bored children. (though they did get bored with it.)

 

now, I'd just use a laptop for dudeling. we have some car chargers for them.

[J'etudie]

.

[GingerPoppy]

Don't have one. Won't have one.

 

I want the interaction in the car. We talk a lot and sing an awful lot. The car is mainly where my dd has learned to sing rounds and harmony. Also, the conversations can get kind of deep and interesting in a car. I just wouldn't give it up.

 

Between audio books, singing, and little games we play, even longer trips pass fairly quickly.

 

I also want my dd to be "bored" sometimes and not feel she needs a distraction just because she has to ride in a car.

[LBS]

I like to share and talk and observe up and down the road. The interstate to my parents', boring and monotonous, over a dozen times a year, made me wish they could watch something funny, or educational on a DVD. One kid having a little DVD player became major cool. Books with book-lights were probably the happiest thing. Finally got a car with a RES, and nobody uses it, even on long trips. Man.

 

Probably the best fun, for all of us, was listening to books on CD, even if we'd all read Harry Potter we enjoyed hearing it.

 

I'd never get a DVD in the car now, unless it came on it.

 

I never am able to figure what will be most useful. I thought the little table thingie between the front seats was really wonderful, and it is not. I thought the GPS built in was overkill, but found I really like it.

[ThelmaLou]

We have a portable 2-screen dvd player that plugs into the cigarette lighter. I wouldn't be without it on long road trips (4 hours or more), but we never have it around town. We either talk, listen to the radio/ipods, or do audiobooks. I can't envision every paying extra for a built-in dvd player.

[Murphy101]

:tongue_smilie:PQR, my hair is about to light on fire, but I"m going to type this anyway.....:eek:

 

I AGREE COMPLETELY WITH EVERY WORD YOU WROTE!!! :tongue_smilie: And in fact, I probably am more vehemently against DVD players in cars than you are!

 

astrid :leaving:

 

Me too. I don't allow electronics at all unless the drive is over 2 hours one way.

[hsmom2011]

No only is it not a must, but my children see enough TV at home. I want them to learn to entertain themselves with games, etc... when on the road. We listen to cds, but the DVD player is an absolute no no here.

[Myeightkiddies]

None of our vehicles have one. We don't own any portable ones either. When the children and I move to Ohio (two day trip or one very long one) I may let them fiddle with some electronics - Kindle, iPad, laptop, etc.

 

When we took a couple of them up there in October, they were too excited to mess with any electronics. They simply wanted to look out the window and take pictures of everything. They had never been up north or seen hills such as those in Tennessee and Kentucky. Also, the trees were changing color, and all we have here are evergreens.

[Amber in SJ]

When my big people (now 17 & 14) were little I was vehemently against a DVD player in the car. I read aloud in the car for hours. I read "The Long Winter" out loud on one of our 8+ hour trips to Grandma's. I said we'd never have a DVD player in the car.

 

Several years later MIL, against my express wishes and with a big 'ole smirk, presented Dh & kids with a portable set that has the player unit and two screens that strap to the headrests. By then I had two kids that were carsick within 30 of leaving the driveway. To my surprise the DVD player distracted them enough that they did not throw-up.

 

When a massive traffic accident caused our usual 9 hour drive home from Disney land to be 16 hours, I was thankful for the DVD player.

 

When we were driving home from the snowy mountains through the black ice and witnessing several accidents, I white-knuckled the passenger side dashboard the whole way home but the kids sang along with Mary Poppins and the Von Trapp children and were not scared at all. I was thankful again for the DVD player.

 

We only set up the player for long car trips and they don't watch them for the entire time. There is no way for the driver to see the screen. We rarely do brand-new movies, and dh & I have laughed our way through old movies that we have seen countless times, trying to remember dialogue without the visual cues. It gets pretty funny.

 

Amber in SJ

[Truscifi]

No. I wouldn't want one.

[TammyinTN]

Yes...while here in Europe we purchased both cars with full entertainment packages in the back. We travelled a lot. I expect to do the same this summer. It just makes the getting there quicker. :auto:

[Wabi Sabi]

Don't have one. Won't have one.

 

I want the interaction in the car. We talk a lot and sing an awful lot. The car is mainly where my dd has learned to sing rounds and harmony. Also, the conversations can get kind of deep and interesting in a car. I just wouldn't give it up.

 

Between audio books, singing, and little games we play, even longer trips pass fairly quickly.

 

I also want my dd to be "bored" sometimes and not feel she needs a distraction just because she has to ride in a car.

 

I'm not picking on you, this is all in good humor, but that just made me giggle. At some point in a 2000+ mile trip you're done with conversation, you've talked about all you care to talk about with your spawn at the moment, you're going to scream if you have to sing or hear "Do a deer, a female deer..." one more time, and you're all about to have meltdowns, even the adults. At that time a movie is a welcome diversion.

 

I'm not talking about piddly little 4-5 hour trips. I'm talking multiple 12-18 hour days in a row on the road. I get the feeling that MY idea of a long drive is different from other people's ideas of what constitutes a long drive with young children. As I stated in a previous post, we've done such trips without any electronic entertainment. It's not an absolute must. But we've also taken trips with a DVD player a couple of times as well and yep, sure was nice to have once you reach your breaking point!

 

Somehow it's possible to do all of those warm, fuzzy, nice family things together in the vehicle despite a viewing of "Finding Nemo."

[delaney]

This is a good question. The new model Honda Odyssey only allows Navi and DVD in the most expensive model now:glare:. I LOVE my navigation and have to have it. We have the DVD now and only use it 1-2 times per year when we drive 9 hours to the beach. The problem is that the youngest person usually has say as to what gets watched to keep the peace. I think for what they charge to put one in aftermarket ($1K) I would rather have individual devices that everyone could look at on their own. No 12 year old wants to watch what a 3 year old wants to watch-kwim? For me I will spend the money on something like 2 Ipads or a few Nook tablets:)

[Laura Corin]

It's not for us. We enjoy listening to stories on long trips.

 

Laura

[2squared]

We have a DVD player in our van. We cannot use earbuds or whatever to listen to it. Everyone has to listen to the DVD when it plays. We love it.

 

I use it to keep the littles awake when they are near nap time and we are returning home.

 

I use it to entertain the dc while I am in stores and they are waiting in the van.

 

I use it to keep my littles from screaming at the end of long trips when they are overtired and their butts are sore from car seats.

 

I use it for my purposes, not for entertaining the crew.

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm not picking on you, this is all in good humor, but that just made me giggle. At some point in a 2000+ mile trip you're done with conversation, you've talked about all you care to talk about with your spawn at the moment, you're going to scream if you have to sing or hear "Do a deer, a female deer..." one more time, and you're all about to have meltdowns, even the adults. At that time a movie is a welcome diversion.

 

I'm not talking about piddly little 4-5 hour trips. I'm talking multiple 12-18 hour days in a row on the road. I get the feeling that MY idea of a long drive is different from other people's ideas of what constitutes a long drive with young children.

 

Obviously, everyone has a different comfort level with this kind of thing. However, I'll share that my daughter was in school 1600 miles away from home for four years beginning when she was 12 and my son was nine. I made the round-trip drive about 10 times each year, most often with my son in the car and always with my daughter for one leg of the trip. Occasionally, we'd plan a fun or educational side trip or camp for a night or two, but the most frequent approach was to drive Florida to Virginia one day, stay overnight, then turn around and drive home the next day.

 

So, I think I get it. Really.

 

As I said before, my son and I enjoy audiobooks. And he would bring along a stack of books and blankets to make a nest in the backseat. So, when we took a break from listening to the audiobook, he'd read for a while. He also sometimes brought along small craft projects. We also enjoy listening to Broadway soundtracks and singing along (badly, in my case). And I've found that long car rides often turn out to be great times to really talk about important stuff.

 

My daughter isn't into audiobooks. Nor is my husband. So, when they are along for the ride, it's more music and fewer books.

 

It works for us.

[Amy in NH]

No. I specifically want a car without one.

 

This could have been a poll.

[sparrow]

We have a portable DVD player, hung between the seats, that is a MUST for us. My daughter would be puking all over the back seat on long trips if we didn't have it. It keeps her eyes centered in the middle of the car and a blanket hung on the window keeps periphery scenery from bothering her. Everything else we tried was a bust, including handheld devices. The trick was keeping her eyes *centered*.

[HSinNH]

Nope. My girls and I just drove 14 hours to see family. We borrowed a portable DVD player and they only watched one or two movies. They were more interested in the "grab-bags" that I made. They got one each hour with little dollar-store-type games, a marked deck of cards for magic tricks, printable worksheets and games from www.momsminivan.com , cool new writing tools, etc. The trinkets kept them busy for an hour until it was time for the next bag. DD8 is still doing magic tricks for everyone!

[Wabi Sabi]

Obviously, everyone has a different comfort level with this kind of thing. However, I'll share that my daughter was in school 1600 miles away from home for four years beginning when she was 12 and my son was nine. I made the round-trip drive about 10 times each year, most often with my son in the car and always with my daughter for one leg of the trip. Occasionally, we'd plan a fun or educational side trip or camp for a night or two, but the most frequent approach was to drive Florida to Virginia one day, stay overnight, then turn around and drive home the next day.

 

So, I think I get it. Really.

 

As I said before, my son and I enjoy audiobooks. And he would bring along a stack of books and blankets to make a nest in the backseat. So, when we took a break from listening to the audiobook, he'd read for a while. He also sometimes brought along small craft projects. We also enjoy listening to Broadway soundtracks and singing along (badly, in my case). And I've found that long car rides often turn out to be great times to really talk about important stuff.

 

My daughter isn't into audiobooks. Nor is my husband. So, when they are along for the ride, it's more music and fewer books.

 

It works for us.

 

I should mention that my children are much younger than yours! There's a limited amount of time that a toddler can stand in the vehicle without going crazy, LOL. Up until now my kids have both been too little to do much on their own in the car considering their age and that they're buckled into carseats that prevent them from even picking up a dropped toy.

 

My youngest is now almost 4 y/o and I'm looking forward to our 2,500 mile road trip next month. Both of my kids are just now getting old enough to make such trips a bit more enjoyable with less crying (although really, they are excellent at tolerating long road trips, nevertheless after many hours they still reach their breaking point.) Still, considering that it'll be just me and the two kids (no other adults to help retrieve dropped toys and such as we drive) I'm quite thankful that along with our books, music, small toys, colored pencils, and such that we'll also have a couple of movies pre-loaded onto the iPods this time! Absolutely necessary? No, we've survived without it on other trips, but it does make an awfully welcome distraction at a certain point!

[Vida Winter]

Well it's nice for little kids on long trips, but certainly not necessary. Audiobooks are more popular in my car.

[Lizzie in Ma]

My car is so old it has a nonworking cassette player. :D

Not a priority and I can't imagine using it often.

But my kids are older and we don't drive a lot either.

[lailasmum]

Not a must at all. Quite useful in some situations. We borrowed one a few times for long journeys before my son was born and that was quite handy, but it was such an annoying machine it stopped me buying one at that time. It was one of the first sort that came out and very clunky thing that was not at all easy to use and slid down the head rests. I am looking at getting some sort of DVD player for the car again but not totally sure if its worth it from the point of view we don't do that many long journeys.

Edited November 27, 2011 by lailasmum

[Dustybug]

I will not allow DVDs to be played while I drive.

 

1. I do not think that earphones are good for children, they tend to turn the volume up too high.

2. If earphones are not used I find the audio portion distracting (in a way that an audio book or the radio is not)

3. Long drives are wonderful opportunities to discuss things with the children. I relish these opportunities and would never allow a DVD to intrude. For extremely long drives the CD and audiobook is a wonderful chance to listen (with the kids) to that classic that you have never found the time to read.

 

 

:iagree::iagree:

[gingersmom]

It was a must NOT have in the car for us when my kids were younger.

 

If we were going on a long trip then we brought along a portable DVD player.

 

I can't stand the thought of kids driving around town while watching television.

[LibraryLover]

Color me confused. What on earth is the difference between a portable DVD player and one mounted in the car?

[sparrow]

Color me confused. What on earth is the difference between a portable DVD player and one mounted in the car?

 

 

This:

 

 

 

vs. something like this:

 

 

[LibraryLover]

So it's superior to have the potential projectile rather than the securely mounted one? LL, communicating from her iPhone ( in the car returning home from a Thanksgiving week away) because she can't take another round of Mad Libs. I'm all adjective-d out.

Edited November 27, 2011 by LibraryLover

[ScoutTN]

No.

We use it only on long trips and could easily borrow small DVD players if needed. We usually only take one or two trips long enough to warrant a movie a year.

Edited November 27, 2011 by ScoutTN

[Wheres Toto]

So it's superior to have the potential projectile rather than the securely mounted one? LL, communicating from her iPhone because she can't take another round of Mad Libs. I'm all adjective-d out.

 

Ours is secured to the center console between the front seats with elastic straps.

 

I really envy all of you with children who can read, color, play hand-held games or even look around while in the car. I envy all of you adults who can do any of the above. I would LOVE to be able to read in the car. I look over to change the radio station too many times and I feel sick. Poor ds inherited my lousy stomach for cars. :tongue_smilie:

[LibraryLover]

[quote=LibraryLover oops double wrong quotes

[LibraryLover]

I'm chuckling about the No! No mounted DVD players for us! Then go on to list how they do have portable players, DSLs etc etc. I can't see the point. During some of our super -long car rides, I often like to torture the children by singing the entire score of Oklahoma! My dh's specialty is Luck Be a Lady Tonight from Guys and Dolls. When the sun sets, Lord of the Rings on the laptop is their sweet reward.

 

.

Ours is secured to the center console between the front seats with elastic straps.

 

I really envy all of you with children who can read, color, play hand-held games or even look around while in the car. I envy all of you adults who can do any of the above. I would LOVE to be able to read in the car. I look over to change the radio station too many times and I feel sick. Poor ds inherited my lousy stomach for cars. :tongue_smilie:

Edited November 27, 2011 by LibraryLover

[sparrow]

So it's superior to have the potential projectile rather than the securely mounted one? LL, communicating from her iPhone ( in the car returning home from a Thanksgiving week away) because she can't take another round of Mad Libs. I'm all adjective-d out.

 

Ours looks nothing like that, hence why I said "something like this". It's secure between the seats with straps and much lower than the picture I posted. It was just the only picture I could find :tongue_smilie:. I've heard the mounted ones can be difficult and expensive to fix.

 

Ours is secured to the center console between the front seats with elastic straps.

 

I really envy all of you with children who can read, color, play hand-held games or even look around while in the car. I envy all of you adults who can do any of the above. I would LOVE to be able to read in the car. I look over to change the radio station too many times and I feel sick. Poor ds inherited my lousy stomach for cars. :tongue_smilie:

 

I so totally agree. My daughter can't look *anywhere* but to the center and none of us can read in the car.

[Lily_Grace]

A dvd player in the car is a no-no for us. We travel a LOT and still won't consider trading the view outside for something we can watch in a hotel room later. We'll listen to audio books, play bingo, DS reads (bless him, I can't stomach it), sing..anything except attach to a screen.

[DarlaS]

I will not allow DVDs to be played while I drive.

 

1. I do not think that earphones are good for children, they tend to turn the volume up too high.

2. If earphones are not used I find the audio portion distracting (in a way that an audio book or the radio is not)

3. Long drives are wonderful opportunities to discuss things with the children. I relish these opportunities and would never allow a DVD to intrude. For extremely long drives the CD and audiobook is a wonderful chance to listen (with the kids) to that classic that you have never found the time to read.

 

Reason #1 why ours is used so rarely. When I drive, I don't like it. When dh drives, he doesn't care. I have made them wait until we were not in any kind of situation where focused attention on the part of the driver was a must--even when dh was driving.

 

I still would not go out of my way to avoid buying a car that has one. It's not a television. You actually need to remember bring a movie with you and have time to watch it. No way would it be getting flipped on every time you're in the car. I find it sort of self-limiting in that respect. We use ours so rarely, we still have to figure out how it works each time. (It's not that self-explanatory.)

 

It's not a big deal to me. We have one in our house and at home it is MUCH easier to find other things to do.

 

ETA: The last time we used ours was in August when we needed to drive 8 hrs in one day. It's hardly indispensable, but it is nice.

Edited November 27, 2011 by darlasowders

[PinkInTheBlue]

We enjoy ours that came with the van. We use it on and off. It's never a distraction for me and we have fun with what's on.

 

Sorry so many are so annoyed by even the thought of one. We enjoy it. My 15 and 13 year olds know a lot about how to drive. Most things we watch in the car encourage talking and/or playing together. The DVD player isn't evil. I guess the animosity comes from fears of abusing it. We have better control than that, I guess.

 

Sometimes we play it almost daily then we'll go several weeks or months without turning it on.

[sparrow]

We enjoy ours that came with the van. We use it on and off. It's never a distraction for me and we have fun with what's on.

 

Sorry so many are so annoyed by even the thought of one. We enjoy it. My 15 and 13 year olds know a lot about how to drive. Most things we watch in the car encourage talking and/or playing together. The DVD player isn't evil. I guess the animosity comes from fears of abusing it. We have better control than that, I guess.

 

Sometimes we play it almost daily then we'll go several weeks or months without turning it on.

 

I get the same feeling. I have absolutely no guilt over using a DVD player for car trips. We own a family business and homeschool. I can say, without a doubt, our "family time" is not lacking ;).

[cathmom]

For me it's not fear of electronics or lack of family time or whatever. It's just that you miss so much when you're not paying attention to the surroundings. It's kind of the same with books or GameBoys or whatever. I cannot read in the car (it gives me a headache) - I actually can't do much of anything where I have to look inside the car while it's moving. I have done many, many, long drives both as a child and a parent without those things. We talk, we laugh, we joke, we listen to CDs, which is a novelty because our vehicles don't have CD players, we look at the changing landscape, we enjoy the experience and the drive.

[jasar31629]

We got a portable one for car trips over 5hrs. There's only so much Ohio freeway I can take with the ABC game and Guess-A-State on a 2 day trip from MN to DC.

 

I feel no guilt or shame. Our family time has not suffered. Our trips are memorable and filled with license plate games, books on tape, chatting, reading and yes!-gasp!-a favorite movie or two. :)

[BarbecueMom]

For me it's not fear of electronics or lack of family time or whatever. It's just that you miss so much when you're not paying attention to the surroundings. It's kind of the same with books or GameBoys or whatever. I cannot read in the car (it gives me a headache) - I actually can't do much of anything where I have to look inside the car while it's moving. I have done many, many, long drives both as a child and a parent without those things. We talk, we laugh, we joke, we listen to CDs, which is a novelty because our vehicles don't have CD players, we look at the changing landscape, we enjoy the experience and the drive.

 

My kids can't see the changing landscape from their car seats, though. Between the height of the window and the sides of the Britax, they can only see about 1/3 of what an adult can out the windows, and nothing through the front or back. When they are bigger, they'll stop looking at me like I have three heads when I tell them to look out the window. It'll help when they get right and left down too. :001_smile:

[Mommy22alyns]

We enjoy ours that came with the van. We use it on and off. It's never a distraction for me and we have fun with what's on.

 

Sorry so many are so annoyed by even the thought of one. We enjoy it. My 15 and 13 year olds know a lot about how to drive. Most things we watch in the car encourage talking and/or playing together. The DVD player isn't evil. I guess the animosity comes from fears of abusing it. We have better control than that, I guess.

 

Sometimes we play it almost daily then we'll go several weeks or months without turning it on.

 

 

:iagree: We don't "drive around town" with the DVD player on. :confused: They don't watch DVDs on the way to co-op, which is a 40 minute trip. We strictly use it for long trips.

[LibraryLover]

:DI'm laughing because what the heck do you look at outside when it gets dark at 4:30pm and your parents are *again*taking you to visit relatives 1500 miles away. It's also really difficult to play the license plate game in February or March at night, and really, after you talk about how needy cousin Sue is, will never change, and how you simply need to be very polite (and bite your tongue, although the rule is not to the point of bleeeding), you just want to make some time & get to that first Waffle House over into S Carolina. Once I get some coffee into me at 5:30 am, I truly might be punchy enough to sing "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No". (See previous post on Oklahoma!)

 

Maybe. Or maybe my dh is sick of driving and it's my turn. In that case, I might start singing Barbra Streisand songs. My children will be 'happy' to tell you that I also know the entire score of Funny Girl. So, in 24 hours, we have plenty of time, and can certainly groan about mom & dad singing Abba or Bread, put in the Rent or Phantom CD, play some Mad Libs, discuss the state of modern day Mesopotamia, listen to an audio book, veg into our own Pandora/iPod oasis, share the whole big bag of Twizzlers, *and* watch LOTR or HP on the Laptop. We can also argue about the traffic. That's fun. Because it really is our fault that it took 6 hours to drive from MD to NYC last week. And that DC traffic, that LA traffic? A heap of fun and not at all stressful; for the License Plate Game, you can collect about 4 whole differrent states in about an hour. :D

Edited November 27, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Parker Martin]

There's one built into our vehicle. We are not averse to using it on long trips. We go so long without using it that I forget it is there. The boys don't ask us to turn it on on regular car rides because they know we won't do it.

[sewingmama]

As I said before, my son and I enjoy audiobooks. And he would bring along a stack of books and blankets to make a nest in the backseat. So, when we took a break from listening to the audiobook, he'd read for a while.

 

Yes I've noticed those who are so against DVD players have stacks of other options.

 

My three kids are all buckled into huge carseats -they can't move to reach anything or pick up dropped items and there is no way I'm reaching back to pick up their dropped again coloured pencil for the millionth time.

 

We can't do audiobooks - we don't have a CD player in the car only a tape deck and I have never come across an audiobook on cassette for years now. We can't make our own -we don't have any stereo system or simliar recording device in our home.

 

I can't read in the car - it makes me sick. None of my kids can read so looking at picture books only lasts a few minutes (and they destroy the books by dropping them on the floor).

 

We don't own MP3 players or Ipods or iphones or ipads or any hand held game -they are too expensive in Aus and they are not things I would give to my young children -plus we are trying to avoid them in general.

 

We live in a country area -there is no radio signal.

 

My kids don't respond to singing in the car unless it's a kids song cassette all of which we have listened to a million times before because we can't find anymore cassette tapes to update.

 

At one stage in our life we literally didn't even have scenery to look at. We lived in the centre of Australia and often made the 23 hour trip to the nearest major city. Until you got within an hour of the city limit there was nothing but red dirt. Not a single tree, not a single hill, not a blade of grass, not even a bird. Even my DH and I detested those trips - they were the most boring on earth. There wasn't even any place to stop off and recharge - just a tiny single gas station about every 5-6 hours. Even the road didn't change - it was basically a straight line for 23 hours from A-B.

 

I challenge anyone to drive that trip and not head straight into the nearest Target when they got to the city and buy a portable :lol:

 

So yes we have a DVD player (one screen tied to each headrest).

 

And I love it and the kids love it and it has saved my sanity a million, billion times.

 

TV is always a hot topic - for some reason people like to look down on others who let their kids watch it as "not being good parents".

 

Whatever :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Really - how many of your kids would be happy to look at this for 23 hours straight - and yes we still have the same car only now there are 3 carseats crammed in the back

 

 

Edited November 27, 2011 by sewingmama

[TravelingChris]

We used to have a portable dvd player. The girls used it a few times. Then it broke. Older one now has her own car so she is driving. Younger one will soon be driving, in less than a month, so I see no reason to have one. I don't know if such an option was available for the kind of car I bought- Subaru Outback station wagon- but my version didn't have one.

[Parrothead]

We are fairly ambivalent about it. We had one when dd was little. It broke when she was about 5, maybe 6.

 

She did not a new one so we did have not had one.

[JeneralMom]

We do not have one. I did a 23 hr trip with a friend, my daughter (23mos at the time) her son (2.5yo at the time) and her daughter (5 at the time). My friend kept the DVD on the whole time on loop so it played the same movie over and over and over. The kids were little zombies by hr 4. I am not against the DVD player, per se, but the same movie over and over drove me insane. We might get one when we get a new car, but in our car, I am not sure where I would put a portable one where all the kids could see it.

 

I do have to admit that it makes me crazy when I am driving at night and all these cars have bright DVD screens on. I find it very distracting - same reason I was never allowed to turn the "reading" light on when I was younger (my dad said it was dangerous for the other drivers because it drew your eye to the light, and not the road.)