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Disclaimer: This post is not about me. I wish I could take credit for the feats described therein. But the truth is, it is my sister who is the hero. Every year, at least 2-4 times a year, my sister and brother-in-law travel with their four kids to his family’s home, eleven hours away. These are not independent teenagers we are talking about. Their kids are six and under. These are nursing babies, potty-training kiddos, temper-throwing toddlers.
While some moms (yours truly included) might be tempted to pop in a DVD or throw back an iPad to silence the madness, Jenny and John don’t do that – ever.
When I asked her why, this is what she said. It’s really important to John that we do it like this. When he was growing up, they had a blast in the car. The car rides, he said, were as much fun as the vacation.
I am intrigued by this concept, and I thought some of you might be as well. I have always wondered what in the world they do for eleven hours in the car with little ones (and how they survive!) Here are Jenny’s thoughts – someone random in order.
- Since we don’t have DVDs, here are the things our kids do instead:
- Car Trip Binder – Jenny actually made my kids one of these gems, and they loved it! It was a binder she made with print-outs from online. It included: coloring pages of seasonal things (beach, Christmas, etc.) or their favorite things (personalized to each kid – favorite show, animals, trucks, etc.). Also connect-the-dots, word searches (again, seasonal or their favorite topics), graph paper shape designs (they love coloring in patterns on these. She even laminated some pages to use again – like a map to color in the states you cover, or the license plates you see.
There are some car scavenger hunts and all sorts of kids travel games she found (on sites such as this one.) - Books on tape – My kids have loved Adventures in Odyssey Audio
and The Boxcar Children. Jenny says they love Fantastic Mr. Fox
and The Chronicles of Narnia
.
- She said she’ll often read aloud chapter books to them. I imagine in eleven hours they can get through a few books!
- She said she puts Jack, their oldest (6) in charge of the CDs using their Kids Portable CD
player. I think this is an awesome idea, because I often feel like I’m changing CDs constantly for the kids.
- Other things they play with are etchasketches, water markers and Water Snake Wigglies
(which is a great idea!)
- Sometimes we put post-its on the dash for every hour we have gone, or rip them off after we have gone an hour. This helps them understand how long we have been traveling.
- Sometimes we have a “word of the day.” Every time they hear me or their dad say the word, they get a sticker or piece of candy.
- Each child has things within reach in their own backpack, including a few snacks they can have whenever they want . But once they eat all the snacks in their bag they are done for the trip. (All the snacks are things they don’t normally have – pretzel rods, fruit, trail mix, fruit leather, fruit snacks and pop tarts.)
- I also make a homemade “lunchable” (also not something they have) using our plastic travel lunchboxes
.
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We try to keep the inside of the car clean and organized the whole trip. The less stuff the easier it is to keep organized .
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Since it’s such a long trip we have to be strategic about the time of day. We usually leave in the afternoon. We drive halfway. Stop. John gases up and I take all the kids in to use the bathroom and change into PJs. I make sure everyone tries to poop!!! Usually this is our only stop. There have been times with a newly potty trained child we have had to make another stop.
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We don’t spend any money or time stopping for food . We bring everything we eat .
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Also, nurse the baby while we drive WITHOUT taking them out of their car seat. (side note from Jessica – wow. Haven’t tried this. Anyone?!??! 🙂 )
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We have one child who gets motion sickness very easily! We bring motion sickness wrist brackets, trash bags , a small fan and ginger mints for him all within his reach . We also have saltines and Gatorade for him.
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Oh, and lots of patience .
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Our kids always wake up with one hour to go crying!
Anyone else have a no DVD-policy in the car? How do you do it? What other non-media toys would you recommend?
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These are some great suggestions! I will definitely be saving some of these for the future. However, nursing while driving, even if the baby is still fully strapped in the car seat, has been proven to be very unsafe. In the event of a crash or even slamming on the breaks, the car seat is not designed to take the mothers weight on it. Mama can also suffocate baby. Don’t want to be super negative, but want all mamas and babies to stay safe!
Ha, Liz! Yes, definitely we want all the babies to be safe! Thanks for commenting 🙂
I agree that this is not safe at all for mama or baby, i dont mean to sound harsh but i have a 12 month old and i couldnt imagine getting in a accident and my babies death being the result of me suffocating him, there is is someone else who said sometimes its all you can do to breastfeed while driving, no i think if you have to pump, even if you dont believe in pumping, thats all you can do because this is about your babies health not the mothers convienence, its not the babies fault you are on a 12 hour long trip you need to take full responsibility to take care of that baby, even if it has never been a problem and you have never had an accident how horrible would you feel if that one trip something did happen, again im not trying to attack anyone and i wouldnt say anything so passionately if i didnt know how it felt, we take a 12 hour long trip every year with our baby and we have to work on his schedule not the other way around, i want all families to be safe 🙂 please be responsible.
Great article thank you!
We have 3 kids and we take long road trips and never use dvds or tablets either. My kids are alittle older, 8, 6, 4 but we too have been road tripping with them since infancy. We made the same kinds of binders, listen to audio books, play games and we have road trip dollars that the kids earn for certian things. The can also be lost for some thing, like asking how much further witin 10 minutes from the last time it w as asked. We only spend road trip dollars in gas stations and souvenir shops. The kids also have special road trip pillows and trays that go on Their laps for writing or food. Its important for us so we can build these memories, they actually see the country as we drive, and its wondefful bonding time. And, also, vacations are time for all of us to unplug and focus on each other.
i too have nursed the baby in a car seat. Sometimes it’s all you can do.
Any specific ideas for an almost two year old as far as things to do go. She loses interest in things fast, and I don’t want to bring a ton of things either. I really like the binder idea but I think she’s a few months away from something like that.
Hi Melissa. I was just reading some ideas for that age in a book I’m about to review on the blog! They said –
1- in and out game – bring an empty yogurt canister and one full of little toys. Move toys from one to the other.
2- dry erase board
3 board books
4 – i spy
5 – do as I’m doing game (they mimic you)
6 – draw shapes on post-its, put them on a tray in front of child call out shapes and they pick the right one
7 – “i spy” with a magazine
8 – aliminum foil to play with
9 – small baking sheet and magnets.
Hope that helps!
We have 6 kiddos and have always travelled this way with them. One thing that worked well for our young, young children was a small babydoll. I’d bring along a little bottle, a little bowl, a little spoon and they’d have fun taking care of the baby for awhile. After this got boring, I’d pass back a wet wipe or two – all the better if the baby’s clothes can come off and they can “wash” the baby. Sometimes the wet wipe got shredded up but it seemed well worth it for a bit of quiet. I usually tried to keep a baby in my closet to make this more new and special. Also, I figured out after awhile, if I could somehow “leash” their favorite blanket to their car seat, it was immensely helpful. Nothing like a fussy baby/toddler who needs a nap and keeps throwing their “lovey” down where it can’t be reached. My kids have baby afghans with small holes… I was able to use those baby links to “chain” it to a strap on the carseat, then we could fish it up by pulling on the chain.
a couple things that have helped with my 20 month old are a container of floss, post it notes he can pull apart, and putting pipe cleaners into an empty water bottle!
Thanks for the quick response, I’ll be giving some of these a trying in a couple of weeks.
We aren’t a DVD-free family, but we do see it as a last resort. So… those last 20 mins of the trip when the one year-old is crying and the 3 year-old is whining and the 5 year-old is asking “Are we there yet” every 15 seconds…. yep, that’s DVD time. But we’re pretty good up until that point. Our 3 year-old actually just likes to look out the windows and talk about what he sees, which is super easy. However, in our family, I’m the one who gets motion sickness, so turning around to hand them things or talk to them happens only when necessary. Those wristbands are awesome, though! Our yearly trip to the beach was a nightmare before I discovered them.
My mom used to give each of us a roll of nickels and every time we asked “how much longer?” We had to pay them a nickel :).
Jenni, that’s too cute about the roll of nickels 😉
And these are some great ideas – we do let our kids use media during long trips – we’ll be on the road for 21 days this month, but even they don’t want to be watching movies/playing on apps the whole time.
Just searching the web for some new ideas, Thank You for the post!!!
Any ideas for 1 year olds (15 mths) who love to move and climb? I’m afraid we are in big trouble for a very long car trip!
If its not too late…we used to use a lot of toys that lit up, made music, attached to the seat that they can grab, rotate sitting in the back (not often), and just carefully timed when we would be traveling….NAP & NIGHT TIME!! AND made daddy do that shift of the driving cuz USUALLY that was MY sleep time as well…lol!
I have a very wiggly 14 month old who doesn’t like riding in the car. Any ideas for a 12 hour drive to the beach?
I am laughing right now because I have many of the same sheets in my van for our road trips that you have in the photo ! My kids are a little older though. They are 14, 10, 8, and 5. One of our favorite games is Farkle and I used a separated tray Tupperware container to take it on the road. We used the larger section for the rolling area and the smaller area for the dice we planned on keeping. It worked out quite well. I also made 15, 30, 45, and 1 hour blocks to give to the kids as the time goes by. They like turning in their two 15 minute blocks for 30 minute blocks. Road trip bingo with pictures is always fun. It’s nice to know that other parents out there enjoy traveling without many electronics.
Our kids are 6, 4, and 1.5. We have a dvd player in the van, but they don’t even know it is there! I always imagined we would use it as a last resort, but then I realized that if they learn it is there and it is a “last resort”, in a sense I will be rewarding their bad behavior with a movie. So… we do a lot of what you said! We pack snacks and a “car bag” with toys that are good for the car (not too many pieces) -lots of books, Magnadoodles, etch-a-sketch, a doll, and some electronic toys (leap frog) that are usually banned in the house. The older 2 pick and pack their own bags and know that what they pack is what they have! I love the idea of the travel activity books though! Thanks for sharing!
Oh and a tip for breastfeeding moms! – Years ago I bought a car charger for my breast pump. On long car rides, I use a nursing cover to pump right before feeding times and then sit next to the baby and give her a bottle on the road. This way at stops I can actually use the bathroom and let the little one stretch out instead of stopping to nurse 🙂
Some good tips there. About to go on a trip with my three kids aged 15,10 & 22 months. We will definitely be having dvds & iPads though coz we will be driving for four days!
We have never had a dvd player in our car…my kids are older now but we still listen to music, radio theatre, clean comedians or convention recordings…we loved Your Story Hour and Jonathan Park when the kids were younger…
My sister & I used to make each other activity books (mazes, word searches), and we were sure to bring plenty of books and drawing materials. For a big treat, we spent some time on the Game Boy (original). I will never have a DVD player in the car. I highly recommend audio books!
I have a 12 month old son and found this article great but i could not fathom how it is possible to breastfeed baby while still in the carseat and it was common sense to me that it did not sound safe, believe me i understand trying to make the most out of a long trip we drive to utah every year and it is 12 hours long but i could not imagine anyone having breasts large enough to not have to be completely leaned over the baby, im sorry but is it worth your childs life wouldnt you rather pull over for a mere fifteen minutes or pump before you leave. It just seems strange that anyone would think that sounds safe at all for you or your baby. Im not trying to attack or judge anyone , but please put your childs safety first.
Sorry didnt mean to comment twice haha, i didnt see it go through the first time
Honestly, if you are going to do a drive that long, I would aim for an overnight drive so they will sleep better…and you should look into getting one of my Head Snugglers. It holds their head in a neutral position when they are sleeping, thus they are breathing better, they are more comfortable and they sleep longer. http://www.melrosekids.com. It’s made our family travels much more enjoyable and tolerable!!
Wow! I am so glad to have found this site! I often get ridiculed by family AND strange looks by others when we tell them that we use technology as LEAST as possible with our kids. It’s funny, because it seems like I could have written this check-list 🙂 LOVE IT! I have nursed while the babies were secured in their car seat and I want to share with @jackie ^ that it can be very safe if done correctly. I am not a big person at all (in fact I lost ALL of my beautiful nursing-sized assets when they were all done…so sad!) Anywho, I want to assure you this can be done safely. I was strapped in my seat-belt, leaned over and plugged them in! Your body position is no different then when you fall asleep and are leaned over on a road trip. Your baby is not being blanketed or smothered by you, think of the “football hold” when nursing…same concept, just a little more uncomfortable by you because of seat-belts.
Anywho, I hope that gives you a better picture of nursing on the go!
These are awsome!!!! Me and my family will definitely try this. Thanks for the ideas.
I am saved from our future drive. Thanks. These ideas are easy to do. YESSSSS!
You should definitely take the baby out of his/her seat every 2h. It is highly recommended. No heroism in leaving the baby in the seat for so many hours
My sister in law just spent 16 hours driving to visit us with a nursing baby. She did the nurse while driving…she just leaned over the baby and nursed. We laughed because she thought she was mooning all the other cars, lol!