We're going on a road trip

DH and i are taking DS on a road trip. The trip would normally take us 9 hours before kids so we expect that it would maybe take 12 hours with ds. Ds will pretty much be 1 when we go (he will turn 1 while we are away). Any tips on how to make this trip as stress free as possible?

We are tossing up whether to leave at ds usual bed time so that hopefully he sleeps most of the way but then we will be travelling in dusk and running the risk of meeting some kangaroo's. Also if he doesn't sleep then we will have a disaster on our hands. Other option is leaving really early in the morning and driving through the day taking plenty of rest stops to let him stretch his legs. I was thinking about getting some cheap toys over the next few weeks and bring them out as we travel to hopefully keep him occupied. Other than that i cant really think what else to do. Any tips, also feel free to tell us we are crazy, im starting to think we are!

for safety sake id leave after an early brekky and consider doing the 12 hours in two days!!
have you got a portable DVD player for those times when he'll get restless?

We did think of a dvd player but ds isn't really interested in tv. He will only really watch it for a few minutes before he gets bored. Its still a few weeks away though so he might be a bit more interested then.

We did a big car trip (approx 9hours) from Ballarat to Adelaide when DD was 9mths old in the hot Summer weather (lucky we bought a brand-new car just before the trip with air-con) ... We did a few stops to change her nappy & feed & yeh, stretch the legs & get her some fresh air too ... We left just after breakfast & to our surprise she slept about 70% of the entire trip & we arrived when still daylight :D

Smiles4u that sleep would be lovely!! We are travelling from Adelaide to Wagga Wagga so prob about the same distance. Will be in December so will be getting warm also. I say 12 hours to be generous, i hope it doesn't take that long!

Yeh, we did it in mid Jan and i had my birthday when there ;)

... DD honestly didn't need much entertainment as she had been doing 2.5hrs drives one way to DP's folks since she was 5weeks old. So, maybe she was use to it (??) ... But still we made sure she had some of her fav toys :D

Our car windows are not tinted so we were mindful of any sun on her (so made sure she had window shade covers) ... it wouldn't hurt to pop some sunscreen on too if you felt the need (i use the handy roll-on Hamilton brand from Priceline for Toddlers) :think:

I even packed in a small cooler bag for her with a little water to drink, a face cloth in a plastic lock-bag (so nice to cool her down with if needed to when out of the car & can wet with the water) & jars of baby food, like the fruit puree ones (not the tin ones as may rust in the cooler bag with any water in there).

We were there for 5nights ... and our motel air-conditioner wasn't working properly so at nights when hot we would go for a drive even at midnight & she would be sound asleep but at least she was cool & DP & i enjoyed going for nice balmy night drives (can be very romantic ... hint, hint ;))

We did Melb to Adelaide when DD was around 3.5 months. She slept most of the way and it wasn't until we hit the Adelaide hills that she got unsettled. One the way back she was feril most of the time - we ended up stopping over night in Horsham. I'd recommend splitting the trip into two days if you afford to.

I second the DVD player. Also CDs with nursery rhymes etc to distract. A variety of toys to play with in the car. And don't forget snacks!

DD is now nearly 3 and we still struggle to travel more than 3-4 hrs before she is feril. Recently did 1.5 to Sorrento and she lasted maybe an hour before she started with "Are we there yet? MUM are we there yet? Why not? Mum!!!! Are we THERE yet?" which lasted the remainder of the trip :doh:

When we do really long trips, we leave by 5am so DD is still a wee sleepy and just go straight from bed to car for her.

HTH

MG

i'd do the early start over the night. we have done a million long haul trips (cars, flights, trains) etc and i am convinced the day travel is the best.

get a rough idea beforehand of towns that you might like to stop for a break (roughly every 2 hours if not less) and take it nice and easy. we have found that no matter what age DD has been, she does sleep alot in the car (:dance:). toys have been an OK thing, but she did get easily bored. the best boredom buster we found was finger foods. so those little packets of sultanas (but not too many as they tend to cause a poo-plosion ALA the nappy ad where the chick is in the car with her baby), orange pieces, banana, and also a big hit were the mini rice cake packets from the health food aisle (i think they are called rice wheels). between that, sleep and a run in the local park/servo station you should be fine!

you'll have a blast! we did an 8 day road trip around tasmania earlier in the year and it was by far the BEST holiday ever!

We recently went from Adelaide to Shepparton (about 8 hours driving time) and I think we did it in about 11 hours total.

On the way there we left at 4pm (DS bedtime is 6pm) so we travelled through the night and he slept pretty much the whole way, we stopped for bedtime bottle about 6pm. He woke up and was over it about 30 mins from our destination and I just popped a bottle in his gob in the car seat. It was a pretty good trip for him, but VERY hard on us - trying to stay awake etc

On the way home we left at 3am after his middle of the night bottle, this worked better, he slept for the first 4 hours, and we stopped for 3 bottles/nappy changes after that. Either DH or I sat in the back with him while he was awake and entertained him - it worked a treat. When we stopped for bottles we made sure he had time to play, stretch out on a blanket etc and get out of the car seat. I know your DS will be older, but definately make sure he has time to stretch and get out of the car when you stop. Our stops were usually about 30 mins but it enabled our DS to cope with being stuck in the carseat in between!! He slept more than usual, I think the car motion just lulled him to sleep. The trip was heaps easier than I expected. I also had a thin wrap over the car seat to keep the sun off him (our car seat is rear facing)

HTH
Naomi

We recently drove Caboolture - Tamworth, and then Tamworth - Muswellbrook. In total took about 11-12 hours.

We left at 3am. Jazz fel asleep one she got in the car, and slept until breakfast, when we stopped at 7am. So we got a good bit of driving in. From then on it was stopping every two hours as she just wouldn't last any longer. And she's a really good traveller.

We got in to Tamworth at about 1-2pm I think. Stayed at a motel the night. We could have kept driving the 2ish hours to Muswellbrook but she just wouldn't have lasted any longer at all. As it was i was singing the last hour to ward off a meltdown!

Our drive back was similar, though she managed a little better. We drove back along the coast and stayed at Ballina, and then in the morning drove the 3ish hours home.

My advice: food, books, toys, books, music, books. Books you can read to her from the front seat. I spent a fair bit of time in the last hours reading to her from the front seat LOL! And if in doubt: stop for a rest. Nothing worse than finding yourself driving desperately looking out for the blue REST STOP signs with a wingey wringley cranky toddler in the back. Better to stop if you think they're going to get whingey. Learnt that the HARD WAY :doh:

Thanks for the advice and tips everyone, keep them coming!

Feeling more reassured but must admit i am a bit scared about the trip, firstly for the long car trip and also because ds doesn't sleep very well outside of his own cot. Had a horrendous night in a hotel once and since then we haven't taken him anywhere overnight. We really need to do the trip in 1 day due to time constraints and also finances but will stop if it gets too hard. It isn't really a holiday, we are going for a graduation ceremony so dont want to spend too much as we are planning a family holiday in January.

I've been doing what was an 8 hour trip at least a few times a year since before the kids.
With kids its usually around 10 hours, but has been 12! Not easy with 3 on your own.

Best investment yet was the protable DVD player. Wiggles & Hi 5 are great for them at that age. Well thats all DS watches. Go early morning. Even 4am. He'll likely sleep a bit more than usual being in the car, but maybe not. I can't travel at night at all coz DS can't see, so just gets bored, & scared & cries non stop.

Toys that make noise are good. Lollipops...sticky, but quiet! crayons & paper. He should be able to have a go at them by then.

Make sure you have a spare change of clothes, plastic bag & maybe even spare car seat cover on hand...car sickness is not pretty without them! (Been there a few times, usually unprepared since my kids can be pretty random with it. Fine for 6 trips, then... Always ready now!) Even just a sheet or something over the seat. Easier to pull that off than try to clean out the seat on the side of the road.