Surviving Car Travel with Young Children

So you’re making a road trip with the family? Are you a little worried about driving for days with small children strapped in back? What’s the worst that can happen? They could scream, fight, get carsick…and that’s just a couple hours down the road! OK, I’m not here to increase your stress. I actually want to help you by giving you some ideas that will make your trip go more smoothly. These ideas come from my recent experience of driving cross-country for two days in a very crowded Chevy Impala with my two daughters, ages 3 and 6. This trip was fairly pleasant and my rambunctious kids handled it very well. I like to think it was, in part, due to my planning ahead.

Step One: Be Prepared

That’s the ol’ Scout motto for a reason. You can handle just about anything, if you are prepared in advance. My husband says I’m a pessimist and a worry-wart, but I figure if I think about and prepare for anything that could go wrong, then I’ll be ready if it does. It doesn’t hurt to overpack a little, if it makes you feel more relaxed about your trip.

Here are some common occurrences that are very easy to prepare for in advance:

Cuts, Scrapes, etc.–Keep a first aid kit accessible in the trunk (don’t bury it under luggage). Also be sure to have fingernail clippers handy. Kids who are bored may begin to pick or bite their nails, often resulting in hangnails. These cause major trauma in our family, so fingernail clippers are a must.

Carsickness–Pack a damp washcloth into a gallon-sized ziplock bag. (I usually make up 2 or 3 of these at once.) Keep these bags where you can grab them quickly. Though it may look disgusting, the bag provides a place for your child to vomit that can be sealed to prevent mess and a cloth to wipe their face afterwards. (You may want to keep them in a Wal-mart sack so you don’t have to look at the used bags.) These quick response bags will give you enough time to find a place that you can stop the car for a few minutes and let the sick child walk around and get some fresh air. You definitely don’t want to have to smell vomit for the rest of your trip because you weren’t prepared–been there, done that! If you have a child that often gets carsick, you may want to keep some chewable Dramamine on hand to help keep their stomach settled. It has an added bonus of making them sleepy. Not a bad thing when stuck in a car for hours!

Emergency Bathroom Stops–Sometimes the kids just “gotta go! There may not be a restroom in sight, but they’re body can’t wait. For those in potty training, be sure to bring their potty seat along and just set it on the ground. Bring more Wal-mart sacks to handle any solid waste. You may want to keep some bottled water just for washing hands and rinsing the seat when finished. For older kids, you may have to make due with the side of the road. Bringing along toilet paper and a beach towel to shield them from view will help make it a more comfortable situation for all.

Spills/Messes–You’re bound to have a mess to clean up at some point. A sippy cup that decided to leak, a burger wrapper with ketchup on it for fries that falls off a lap (I know, what was I thinking giving them ketchup in the car!). Be sure to have some paper towels. Also bring either baby wipes, or some wet rags, in a ziplock bag. I personally don’t care for the sticky residue that baby wipes seem to leave and they irritate my daughter’s face, but if they work for you, then they are certainly very convenient.

Step 2: Plan Ahead

When planning travel times, think about your child’s typical daily schedule. We do our best to drive during the times they would normally sleep. For us, this includes driving at night, on occasion. However, we discovered that the flash of headlights from oncoming cars often disturbed their sleep enough that it wasn’t worth it. One thing that helped was to put up our “movie theater” that blocked out most of the light. (See discussion of videos below.) Be sure to add plenty of time in your itinerary to get out and let your kids burn off some energy now and then. We usually had about a half-hour break in the morning and afternoon. This is in addition to meal stops and bathroom breaks. We usually planned for a bathroom break every 2-3 hours. It may seem like you would never make any progress this way, but it sure cut down on the whiny restlessness from the backseat.

Meals were often a time to get out and stretch our legs. We either ate at a fast food place that had an activity area or used food that we had packed ahead of time and ate in a park or other large green space. Packing food saved a lot of money and allowed us to have some control over what the kids ate. Rather than packing them full of greasy fast food, they were fed fruit, yogurt, carrot sticks, etc. The behavior in our children is affected if they start eating too many unhealthy foods, so we tried to watch what they were fed. That being said, I also packed a lot of little snacks and treats for while we were driving. Crackers with cheese or peanut butter were a big hit (though they were a little crumbly). Animal crackers and pretzels also were enjoyed. I did bring a little bit of sweets just to give as a treat if they were good for a period of time. These included a handful of M&Ms; or a package of Sweeties. Nothing too messy and not enough to get them hyped up on sugar.

Our children typically go to bed around 8pm. I have found that stopping for the night at least an hour before we want them to sleep works the best. This gives them time to stretch out, run around a bit and relax before they have to be still and go to sleep. They have even less room to move than adults when strapped in carseats all day so they need the chance to move around. Occasionally, we’ve driven until midnight or so, thinking we’ll just carry them in asleep. This usually backfires for us if we’re staying in a hotel. The lights and noises of the hotel often wake them up just enough to look around. They get curious about where they are and get themselves totally awake by the time you reach the room. Then you spend the next half hour trying to get them to go back to sleep after their really long evening nap! We’d rather lose a little travel time and have everyone get a good night’s sleep.

Step 3: Entertainment

We all dread hearing “Are we there yet?”. Keeping the children busy can be the biggest challenge. I brought two backpacks just filled with different activities to keep them happy. However, the kids didn’t know what was in these backpacks. These were the secret stash. They were each allowed to pack a small bag of things that they thought would entertain them, but I didn’t count on that lasting more than a couple of hours. I planned to have a new activity to bring out every hour or two.

Here are some ideas of things to bring:

Books on tape–I had an old Walkman so these worked great for us. You can find many choices at the Public Library. Often they have books with the tapes. These work well for younger kids who enjoy looking at the pictures as the story is read. However, older children may try to read along and get carsick.

Children’s Music on Tape or CD–A loud, rousing chorus of “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” makes a trip fun for all (if Mom and Dad can stand a little noisiness for a while). The kiddos really like it when their parents join in!

Travel Board Games–There are many travel versions of popular games available. We brought Sorry and Checkers for my oldest daughter. This works better when there is room for you to sit in the back seat with them or you have older children. For our youngest daughter, we brought Crocodile Dentist and some I Spy books.

Dollar Store trinkets–I found lots of activities at the Dollar Stores. The biggest hit were background cards that had several repositionable stickers to decorate them. I’ve since seen these in other stores. Many have tons of stickers that come inside–be prepared for some to get lost! I have seen similar toys which use magnets. My girls also enjoyed these. I also found some gel-type cling-on shapes that are meant for windows or refrigerators. My kids had great fun making pictures on the window and I was pleased that they came right off when they were done playing.

Aluminum Foil–A roll of foil can provide a lot of entertainment. They can wrap a toy and pretend to be giving a present. They can fold and twist the foil into all kinds of shapes. My girls made jewelry and crowns. We also made little people out of the foil. This may be a bit hard for the younger children, but they will enjoy playing with the shapes if you help make them.

Videos–The biggest lifesaver is a portable DVD player. While at home, we really limit the amount of TV our children watch. But long car trips are an exception. I always rent several DVDs that are new to them so the movies will hold their attention. During daylight hours, my children often would get carsick while watching the movies. Our solution–their own private movie theater! We hung beach towels from both of their side windows and then ran one across the backs of the front seats. This made the back seat a dark “theater” to watch from with no peripheral views of trees rushing by to make them sick. The girls thought it was really cozy and fun. It also let us adults feel like we had a little space and time away from entertaining the kids.

Internet Ideas–If you use a search engine to look for travel games, you’ll find a ton of ideas. There are coloring worksheets, maps for them to keep track of where you’re going, travel bingo cards, etc. You’ll also find lots of ideas for verbal games–“I’m going to the store and am buying Apples” (an “A” word, the next person says “Apples” and adds a “B” word and so on), license plate games, counting different colors or types of cars, etc. These can keep you busy for quite a while, but it usually requires adult participation, as well.

Other ideas–Sewing cards, Crayons and coloring books, people playsets, and tactile objects.

Final Words

The most important tip is to just be realistic. These are kids who are usually constantly on the go and you’re strapping them into a cramped seat for hours at a time. They’re bound to get grumpy. Try to be patient. If things aren’t going well, perhaps make an unexpected stop just to get out and run around. Even just changing positions can sometimes help. We moved our children’s carseats together and apart so that they could play easily at times, but at others would have some space when they weren’t getting along. If you’re like me and usually do lots of sleeping or daydreaming on car trips, then it will behoove you to realize that this trip will be different. There will be constant cries from the backseat needing something. But they will occasionally sleep–that’s your chance to relax! A road trip with small children may not be stress-free, but it can be enjoyable and made into a fun family memory that your kids will someday cherish.

Good Luck!