Road Trip and Small Kids

[Soror]

We've done that long with kids age 3, 6, 9, and 11, it was not ideal but Google underestimated the length of the trip and we had already reserved a hotel. Ideally  we like to do no more than 8-10 hrs unless you are during part of it while they sleep.

Edited June 8, 2017 by soror

[marbel]

It's 14 hours, right?

 

I am awake 14 hours at a time.  I am actually awake 16-18 hours at a time, normally.

 

Sitting in a car, either as a passenger or driver for 14, 16, 18 hours is vastly different from most people's typical day with varied activities. Well, unless the person is a long-distance driver or otherwise spends many hours at a time just sitting. And having to be alert for all those hours... I find a few hours of driving much more exhausting than a typical 18 hour day.  Being a passenger for many hours makes me tired too, but in a different way.

 

ETA: in my experience and observation, obviously.

Edited June 8, 2017 by marbel

[eternalsummer]

I agree that a 14 hour drive is exhausting.

[matrips]

I'd plan to stay over a night, and see something interesting at that stop; any national parks or museums? Or even just a fun playground.

We've done 12 hours, but usually do 6-9, and make the trip enjoyable along the way. 12 is rough for me even just to sit in that seat all that time!

My kids are allowed as many DVD movies as they want during car trips. It's the only time they watch stuff and it works out great. Quiet trips! And happy kids!

We pack a lunch and snacks and pass stuff out in the car. We stop for bathroom/gas but not to eat. We like to keep moving before we lose stamina and goodwill. :)

[zoobie]

Bathroom breaks and everything add a TON of time to a trip. So google maps may tell you that you can drive there in 12 hours, but each child adds at least 10% to the total IME. :) 

 

I would look into where you could break the drive around the 8 hour mark. If there are a ton of hotels with a ton of availability, I'd risk waiting to grab a room until you see if you need it. If you need to, stop. If not, keep going. Pack a grab bag with one night's essentials for everyone just in case. You don't want to have to unload the whole car if you do need to stop. 

[domestic_engineer]

I've done 10 hours with a 3, 1.5 and 6 month old. It was easy. We only got out once. We left at 8 am, arrived at 7 pm. Another two hours would be trying, but so is staying in a hotel.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

WOW!  You've got my attention!  How'd you do that?  Only getting out *once* in a 11 hr span?!?  Please share some tips!!!

[Pam in CT]

It's unpleasant.  

 

If one of the drivers is willing/able to do long stints long into the night or very early in the morning, when the kids will reliably asleep, it's possible.  Doing 12 hours driving time when kids that young are *awake* will extend out to 15+ hours elapsed time counting all the stops.  Neither my husband nor I have much endurance driving late into the night so for that distance we'd plan to stop.

[HTRMom]

WOW! You've got my attention! How'd you do that? Only getting out *once* in a 11 hr span?!? Please share some tips!!!

The infant got out when we stopped for gas and I fed him.

 

I brought one activity per hour and one snack per hour. They were happy with that for the morning. They napped in the afternoon. After the nap we got out for a meal and a little walk around the block. Brought out a couple more activities. In the evening we watched a movie, I sat in the back with them. They're in diapers, so no bathroom breaks necessary. We make short road trips frequently so they're used to being in the car. They whined at different points and cried a little the last hour, but I know them and getting out frequently makes them more unhappy, not less.

[La Condessa]

We make the 18 hour trip to my folks' every year.  It's tough, but manageable.  My husband can fall asleep any time, anywhere, so we pack the car and then he goes to bed super early the night before.  Then around 3 a.m., we carry the sleepy kids out to the car and get started, and they drop back off to sleep.  After a while I will fall back asleep while dh drives.  When the kids and I wake up around normal time, I pass back yogurts and bagels to all the kids for breakfast.  When we make our first stop for the bathroom and gas and to switch drivers, we have about five hours behind us and the kids are still fresh.  I have a box of travel toys, games, finger puppets, etc. that I only bring out for these trips, and I always have a ton of snacks--including some junky things I never normally buy, so the kids are super excited about them.  Those things keep them happy for a couple of hours, and then we do more interactive things.  We play the alphabet game or 20 questions or 'what if?', listen to audiobooks, sing disney and  broadway songs together.  When I'm driving, dh might tell them one of his musical stories with his tin whistle.  Around the time they are getting crabby despite those things, we stop for lunch, stretch our legs, hop around, etc.  They each get a special treat or drink to have in the car when we get going again, and another dose of Dramamine.  After a while, they generally all nap for a couple of hours (even though they never nap at home).  When they wake up, another round of snacks and stories/music will keep them happy for a while longer.  Around 4 to 4:30 things start to get hairy, especially with the middle two.  We do our best to distract them, and may or may not succeed in keeping everyone calm until we can stop for a longer dinner break.  By six we are ready to get going again, and everyone is very tired, but we talk up all the fun things we will be doing and how excited their cousins will be to see them, and how big do you think cousins' puppy is now?, and wow, look how far we've come on the map, and how small the rest of the way looks compared to how far we have traveled today!, and hey, do you recognize that building, I remember seeing that one last year.  If we're lucky, the littler ones will drop back off to sleep for the last hour or two before we get in around 9.

[2squared]

My preference is to start driving around 6:00 or 7:00. Eat breakfast in the vehicle. One morning stop, lunch, afternoon stop, and done driving around 5:00. Dinner and swimming at a hotel. Enough time for me to recover from the drive and the kids to get tired from swimming. Normal bedtimes and finish the drive in the morning. Smooth and fun for us.

 

Stops where you actually do something or see something make the trip fun. My kids still talk about a cave tour we took in one of our stops years ago.

[2_girls_mommy]

DH and I are planning a trip for next year to visit family. The kids will be 7, 5 and 3 next fall. Online driving directions has the trip estimatef to be 12 hours and 25 minutes. Dh thinks we can get there in 1 day, I think he is nuts. What do you think?

 

I've done it. We did over 12 hours in one day last year, youngest was barely two. I've done it before when the olders were younger. But we usually plan to break up at least one way of the trip there over two days. So if we break up the trip on the way there, we might drive it home straight through. On the way home we usually just need/want to get home quickly. On the way there we want to enjoy and be a bit more leisurely and unstressed when we arrive. 

 

But we have always taken road trips with the kids, from the time they were infants. Yes, it is work. No nobody sleeps as well away from home as they do at home, but in all, I am so glad we didn't limit our trips just because we had kids. I know so many families that think they can't do anything because they have to stick to perfect routines with little kids. I like routines at home, but love trips. My kids adjust just fine for the most part. 

[kroe1]

Sorry, I did not read the other posts. We took a gazillion car trips over the years.

 

1. This is awesome and should be a must for each child. It fits on the back of a car seat and the side folds down to make a little desk.

 

https://www.amazon.com/ALEX-Toys-Artist-Studio-Valet/dp/B000GEDUMA

 

2. Movies, movies, movies. DVD players in your car or portable are worth their weight in gold.

 

3. Hand held gaming systems. If you do not have Gameboys or Nintendo 3Ds, now might be the time to invest in a Nintendo Switch.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[Zinnia]

Dh and I were discussing this some more this week.

 

I think, for us, the push to "get it done" in regards to road trips is that our kids are terrible with transitions.  It is somewhat better at 10,8, 6, and 4, but not great.  And those toddler/preschool years?  Yikes!  Transitions were always so, so hard.  

So for us, we learned to do family things in a way that minimized transitions.  That meant that we often traveled with the least amount of stops possible, and the idea of going into a motel for the night, then having to pack back up and do it again the next day put a little fear in our hearts.  :)  

[heartlikealion]

Nevermind lol I see that they stopped for gas and the infant got out more than once. Makes more sense now. I would have figured they would still want or need a diaper change more than during the one stop, though (if I understood that correctly).

Edited June 10, 2017 by heartlikealion

[eternalsummer]

Mine definitely do better in the last 4-5 hours of a 12/14 hour drive than they do if we stop and put them back in the car the next day.  Something about getting in a car again after a full day in the car just sucks for them.

[momacacia]

No biggie. We regularly do 9-10 hours 2x a year and often 12 hours. Lots of DVDs, audio stories, little games and activities and driving during naps or bedtimes.

[Guest]

For travel in the car with young ones I suggest an "emergency bucket".

 

Take a 5 qt ice cream pail with lid. Line the bucket with 2-3 plastic shopping bags and then out several layers of paper towels or napkins in the bottom. Pack a small bag with some TP, extra plastic bags, napkins, etc.

 

This emergency bucket is great as an emergency potty of you get stuck in traffic or on a stretch of road with no facilities. It also works as a puke pail, etc.

 

If it is needed, you just put on the lid and then at the next stop tie up the bags and toss in the next trashcan.

You are a genius. I'm so using this idea on our move to Ohio.

[mommyoffive]

I hate driving long trips so we have limited ours to 4ish hours a day. I think the longest has been about 5 hours a day.

 

 Seeing some of the tricks the trade I am starting to worry less about going on a 14 hour plane ride.

 

Maybe one day I will do a longer trip, but if I had the time I would much rather do the 4 hours or less and just enjoy the trip to by stopping places. 

[busymama7]

My parents live 10 (driving) hours away and we have 9 kids. We've done it all in one day before but it is hard and not our preference.

 

Luckily, my MIL lives close to half way and so now we usually stop for one night on each end (sometimes more)

 

This is my biggest tip for breaking up the trip: pack an overnight bag. pjs and one change of clothes for every person plus toiletries. That bag and electronics and sometimes pillows is ALL that gets unpacked from the car on our overnight. The reason we tried a few times to do it all in one day was because it was so much work to unload and reload the car. This has made it much easier.