Tips for Long Car Trips
Traveling with children can be difficult. Here are some tips to make it easier.
1) Have your children go to the bathroom before getting in the car. If they say they don’t have to go, have them try anyway. It’s surprising how many go when they get to the bathroom. Do not encourage your children to drink two glasses of any liquid before getting into the car. Unless you don’t mind stopping often for them to go to the bathroom.
2) Okay, don’t boo me, but this really helps for long car wrinkles. Especially if you normally limit TV time with your kids. If you have a van with a built-in DVD player, get some movies to watch. Pick the ones your kids are most excited about so they’ll be more inclined to watch them. If you get a movie that a kid has seen twenty times before, he might get bored and start picking on his brother.
3) Shop or go to the library and get some books on tape to fill in time. If your kids like to sing, get some sing-along tapes. Some children like funny sing-along tapes, others prefer folk songs. Maybe get a variety. Also, if your kids can read in the car without getting sick (I know of few kids who can for long periods of time), then buy or check out some new books. If a child wants to try reading in the car but tends to get sick, keep a sick bag nearby. If you checked out items from the library, be sure to store them in a safe place so they don’t get lost. That is, your own bag or every day make sure you know where they are.
4) Put the items that your kids will be busy with in a backpack. Each child must have their own backpack. Ask them what they would like to put on it. If you like to draw, put paper, coloring books, and crayons in your bag. No pens or pencils. While driving, if you stop quickly, they could poke themselves in the eye with the pen or pencil. Also do not pack scissors or other sharp objects. Items you may want to pack: Mad Libs, dot books, mini-games, handheld electronic games, small toys, and small stuffed animals. Toys should not have sharp points. One other thing I want to point out for safety reasons: there is always the possibility that with whatever object your child is holding, if he stops quickly, the object could hit his throat. Now maybe a soft stuffed animal wouldn’t do any harm, but a sharp corner of a hardcover book would. So you can pack paperbacks and other soft items if you’re worried.
5) Have a schedule. Suppose you drive to San Francisco and it will take you four hours to get there. You have the choice of A) Driving later at night when your kids could sleep through the car ride or B) Driving while your kids are awake, which means you need to plan activities.
Plan A) Night trip. Make sure your kids have gone to the bathroom and are in their pajamas before you put them in the car. That way, you won’t have to wake them up to pee and you won’t have to deal with changing into their pajamas when you arrive at your destination. Make sure your kids are fed, have their snuggle toy with them, and anything else they might need. Have some toys on hand in case he wakes up. And a small blanket to cover them if the interior of the car gets cold.
Plan B) Day trips. Try to avoid going out when you could get stuck in heavy traffic. Map a route where there are rest areas, or at least a park or gas station to stop at. If you let your kids eat sweets, you can hand out a small flavored jelly bean every hour. If sweets aren’t allowed, choose a small healthy snack that they like. Your kids will have something to look forward to during the long car ride. You can make the trip seem to go faster by dividing the time into chunks of hours. This is for school-age children. (You can try small, round chocolates you buy in a snack bag. But they tend to melt and leave your child’s hand sticky.) For safety reasons I must point out that you must stop the car at at least one gas station to give the sweets to your children. If you get them while you’re driving on the freeway, what if one of them chokes? You don’t want to get into an accident trying to maneuver your car off the road so you can perform CPR on your child. That being said, I know someone who gives jelly beans every half hour to their school-age kids while their car is in motion. She says her kids do better eating a jelly bean every half hour and she doesn’t like making extra stops. If you do this, and I’m not saying you should! You should have two adults in the car so one can watch while your kids eat. You must also know CPR. For safety reasons, children should not eat in the car while it is in motion. Think about this. You are in the front seat and they are in the back. You can’t see them unless you turn around to look. If not, they could be suffocating and you wouldn’t know it. A sudden jerk from the car could have caused food to get stuck in his throat. Beware. Also, don’t let your children suck on hard candy (jawbreakers, etc.) or lollipops in the car. Again, if you stop quickly, the hard candy can get stuck in your throat. As for the lollipop, it could hit the back of your throat and do some real damage. That is why children should never run around with lollipops in their mouths.
Time to head out for the car ride: Everyone has gone to the bathroom and has their own bag of toys and books to reach. Buckle up and let’s go.
First half of the trip:
11-11:30 am = Play a book on tape. (This is good for you so you can focus on where you’re going and what route you’re taking.)
11:30-12:00 = The whole family plays the Twenty Questions word game. And/or I see I see. If you have extra time, look for license plates from another state or a certain type of car or yellow cars.
At noon, I take a break to go to the bathroom and stretch at the gas station. Pass out small flavored jelly beans. (The boy gets what he gets, without arguing.)
12:15-12:45 = The child takes care of what he has in his bag/backpack.
12:45-1:15 = A few rounds of Mad Libs, the whole family comes together.
At 1:15 = Jelly bean and lunch in the rest area. Let your children run and get energy. Chase them to get them going. Play Freeze Tag or You’re It.
Second half of the trip:
2-2:30 = Second half of book on tape. This will calm them down.
2:30-3 = The boy deals with what is in his bag/backpack.
3 pm, Jelly beans break at the gas station.
3:10-3:40 = Each family member tells the others about their favorite trip. If there is extra time, choose something else to talk about. What do you plan to do on vacation, etc.
3:40-4:10 = sing-along tapes. Or if your child is too old, let him play music that he likes. Everyone can sing. But not.
It’s 4:10, you should be at your destination. Last gummy.
You don’t have to be rigid with the schedule. See how things are going and make changes accordingly. If your trip is five and a half or six hours, and you have a van with a DVD player, play a movie during the extra time.