About to embark on a long car ride 'holiday' with a 24 and 4 month old - give me hope

[Frangipani]

Hi,

So next Monday morning DH and I are jumping in the car with our 2 year old and 4 month old for a what use to be an 8 hour car ride- so I'm guessing we will probably be adding an extra 3 hours minimum on that - to stay with family for a week, then doing the same journey home.

Our original plan was to stay overnight somewhere halfway - to break it up a bit, and after lots of joking that we may have to take a trailer with all the stuff we need - this has become a realilty (well we've decided to give our family member one of our old lounges so its not actually really because we have too much stuff ). So now because we are taking the trailer - instead of trying to fit everything in the back of our station wagon like a crazy jig saw puzzle, we will put some of it in the trailer and because of all this we have decided it would be better to drive straight through to our destination...no sleep over.

So let the fun begin hey .

We have not really decided on a definite time to leave as yet, but I'm thinking we might leave early morning. Lately both our boys seem to wake around 2 and 3am - so thinking this could be a possible departure time - plus DH usually gets up for work about then anyway - so he is use to it. But just wondering how the boys will go in the car. The most DS1 has ever slept in the car is an hour, but that was only a 2 hour car trip - but once he'd woken after that first hour he was grumpy as anything. And this was about 1 month before DS2 arrived...so now we have 2 to consider.

If things went to plan...I'm hoping both boys would go back to sleep - then we can drive for about 2-3hours then stop for bf/food/bathroom/play etc then go again. But when do things ever go to plan

For the car ride we do have a DVD player and have all DS1's favourite movies. I also will take plenty of snacks (including some naughty ones like chocolates and chips - as I'm sure they'll come in handy when there is not much option to stop), drinks and books to read (to DS1). But what else should I take?

Is there any advise or stories to confirm it can be done (and remain a happy holiday). Or if need be tell your horror story, so at least I can prepare myself too

Thanks in advance and wish me luck

[alioops]

We drove 5 days to Adelaide, we did a maximum of 750km in 1 day. My kids have never had a problem sleeping in the car but it went fine. DD3 was 6 months and DD's 1 and 2 were amused with DVD's and little presents. Do stop and check the nappies every 2 hours but a 5 minute run around should be enough for DS1 if he knows he will get to do it again.

[jaspen]

Bec - it can be very child dependant but your plans sound fine - we do 13 + hour road trips (that is 1200km+) relatively regularly without a DVD player and don't have too much trouble. We find leaving early the key, if they stay awake on departure they get a drink/food and then they tend to go back to sleep for a fair bit until we stop for breakfast around 7am we then tend to get 2 to 3 hours out of them before they need to stop again with food, sleep and toys - I love to be about 1/2 way there before they are really ready to get going for the day. We never stop if one is sleeping if we can at all help it (toilet training can throw a spanner in that). We try and make sure toilets feeds and petrol are tied in together as this minimises our stops (DH hates stopping). We like the early departures because we always find the post lunchtime bit the hardest and grumpiest. I take a bag of toys (we don't have a DVD) and I pull out one at a time for each child and they play and then swap. I usually have a few new toys in the bag so that that holds the enthusiasm longer and plenty of snacks on hand (not necessarily 100% healthy depending on likes) but things that take a while to eat. Good luck with the trip and hope the week with family is enjoyable