How to entertain very active 8 month old on road trip?

[lovinglife]

I could use some help! My Dh and I are relocating cross country in a few weeks. We feel well prepared to keep our 5 older children entertained on the road but I am concerned about my 8 month old. He is very, very active. At 7 months old now he is already cruising and all over the place. He does not love his car seat. Any suggestions on how to make the trip a better experience for him (and all of us!)?

[PrairieSong]

I don't have any magic answers...bring plenty of books, toys, music, whatever he really likes, but the thing that worked for me was having the older kids entertain the baby by reading, singing, playing peekaboo, stuff like that. Older siblings are the BEST.

[MommaOfalotta]

Im still trying to figure out how to keep my very active 8 month old entertained while we do school! It feels like constant chaos :)

 

But I agree with PP.. Older siblings are wonnnderful.

[Stellalarella]

I took a six week, seven THOUSAND mile van trip with my kids, then aged 2.5 and 6 months. By the time we finished, they loved their car seats. Because our surroundings were changing every day, the car seat became home. :)

 

God bless you.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

A portable dvd player is one of the best investments we ever made.

[Um_2_4]

Can you drive sometimes late or wake up early? Try to drive as much as you can during nap times.

Do you have something like a tablet or leappad (or anything "new" with bells and whistles) you could download apps on or the like?

Also do as others suggested and assign an older to sit next to him on a rotation schedule and read or play puppets.

Get those stubby crayons and let him scribble on some paper on a clipboard. (while older one supervises to make sure nothing is eaten LOL)

A busy book (just google or look on pinterest) is good for keeping them happy.

Also do like I do for long trips on airplanes, get small things to be played with in his seat (pop beads, wooden abacus (small size one), those squishy cars, really look at what entertains him now, maybe really small plastic containers to open/close) and wrap each one as a surprise, every few hours let him open one.

 

Oh, make a couple of these to bring out in desperation: https://www.google.com/search?q=i+spy+bottles&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=TvJ1Ud65NuOCiwKIrYGwCA&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=775

 

just be sure to hot glue the lid shut, they are really easy to make. Fill one with rice and XXXX and one with water and things that sink/float.

[LaCEmom]

We've moved cross country twice with infants, and I'll be honest it wasn't fun. We used a couple of those activity arch/bar things and rotated them out when we stopped, and we also had a couple of new small toys. A sticker on the fingers can be distracting for a bit, if someone can watch to make sure he doesn't eat it.

 

Is he self feeding yet? If so, those pocket bibs are gold for road trips. Fill it up with Cheerios, soft fruits or whatever he likes and let him feed himself out of it while you drive. It's entertaining for him and saves you time.

[LaCEmom]

I'm also not above positioning a mirror to where they can see a travel DVD player :)

[Seasider]

Drive at night when all would normally be asleep. Also cuts down on pitstops (except for when the grown ups need a caffeine fix!).

 

Many times we at least started out at 3am after transferring sleeping children to the car. We got a lot of straight driving done before dawn.

[PeterPan]

Ipod/ipad/phone in airplane mode. Oh, that and lots of Burl Ives music. (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was HUGE with our ds at that age, lol. Has lots of high notes and jingling.)

[Lisa in SC]

I know they're not PC, but if you can get your hands on an old fashioned baby walker, bring it along. Every time you stop, let him have a little time cruising around the sidewalk or picnic area and stretching his legs. We always did this during long car rides. Also, if he hasn't learned to use a straw, but seems interested, get one of those plastic cups with the straws attached that are made for toddlers. Fill with plain water, hold it for him, and let him try and try. Ours loved this "game." A non-breakable mirror is fun, so are soft books, board books, books that have buttons to push and make noise. Repetitive singing of his favorite songs with hand motions. Take advantage of nap times. Ours were all awesome travelers, so these are the best suggestions I have. I hope it goes well for y'all!

[Stellalarella]

We live far away from family, so when we take a trip, it is very often a 12+ hour haul. We have six kids. After numerous trips and experimentation over the past 14 years here is what I have learned:

 

Warning: UNPOPULAR advice follows.

 

1) Leave in the early AM before sunrise. Do not feed the children breakfast or give drinks until past daybreak.

 

2) While DVD's would seem to be entertaining, we have found the "noise" to actually induce stress on the drivers as the hours go by and when the movies finish the children are not in a good mood. Perhaps a slow moving science documentary or "Kipper the Dog" can be soothing, but generally speaking, the crash bang of kids' cartoons and action movies will cause grumpiness. A really fabulous alternative is BOOKS ON CD. We have come to highly value books on CD because the whole family can participate and listening to one person narrate a book is easier on the ears than "The Incredibles!" I honestly cannot see how an 8 month old listening to an action flick for 90 minutes would calm the child. If you think about it, the music and sound in a movie is meant to drive the emotions of the viewers/hearers. One way to check to see if movies are good for your kids is to watch how they act when the movie ends. Are they mean and grumpy when it ends? Do they scream at you to put in the next one and you can't do it fast enough? Is the driver white knuckling it down the road?

 

3) Most of my kids were good travelers--except that one child who would cry incessantly for the first 50 minutes of any, any trip we took. All I can say is that she grew out of it by the time she was 3, but we just had to keep driving and say, "This too shall pass." Really, there was NOTHING, NOTHING that could be done for her. It's just part of being a family.

[lovinglife]

Thanks for all of the advice. I don't think we will be driving late or early because on top of the drive I need to put in a few hours of work each day (I'm online adjunct faculty with a university and we are moving in the middle of the semester). Otherwise it would be a worthwhile idea. Books on cd is a great idea- that reminded me we bought the Magic Treehouse before our last move and it WAS a lifesaver. Thanks! It is a 36+ hour trip but we plan on taking about 6 days to drive it.