Top Tips for Car Travel with Teenyboppers

by: Magdalena Ball

When my youngest son was only 2 months we took a 12 hour trip in the car for a family millennium celebration. Since my eldest son was right in the middle of toilet training himself, and the baby was breastfeeding on a 2 hourly schedule, the trip was a little challenging. However we did learn a lot along the way, and we all had a lot of fun together. What I didn't do first was to read from other experienced parents on how to deal with a long car trip with young children. I wish I had. Since then I've researched the subject, surveyed the experienced parents I know, and tested most of the following methods. Following is a list of the eight most useful tips to make travelling with preschoolers, toddlers and babies a little smoother.

1. Take tapes or CDs. Both music and stories are very useful; for entertaining, getting the kids to drop off, and just keeping things calm (it is definitely true that music soothes the savage uh, child). You don't have to invest lots of money. If you aren't going away for more than a month, your local library will probably be able to provide you with a nice range of stories and songs. Our favourites include music CDs like It's a Wiggly Wiggly World, Monica's Tea Party, and Sesame Street, and lots of stories like The Wind and The Willows (read by the incredible Kenneth Williams, it even entertains the adults), How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Other Stories, and Thomas the Tank Engine. One thing to bear in mind, kids love repetition, but grownups don't. After a few hours of electronic Humpty Dumpty, you might be tempted to throw the CDs out the window. Try and pre-train your kids to like some adult music too. That way you can at least you can throw in a few bars of Kate Bush, or Robbie Robertson to keep your sanity.

2. Pack food and snacks. Young children can't wait until you find an appropriate famly restaurant or gas station. A good stash of healthy snacks is invaluable, not only for keeping the kids calm and full, but for saving money, and ensuring you don't end up buying unhealthy junk food for want of anything else. Juice poppers, mini sandwiches, cut up fruit, lots of bananas, apples and oranges, cereals, rice cakes, dried fruit, cut up celery and carrot sticks, and plain crackers are all good choices for the road. Plenty of drink/water is also a must.

3. Try driving at night. We did this on our big trip, and although my husband was pretty tired on arrival, the kids slept most of the way, and it was relatively painless. There was also very little traffic despite its being a school holiday, and we covered a lot of ground. Make sure you stop every 2 hours for a break, and just run around, stretch your legs, and breath some fresh air, so you don't get too groggy.

4. If you drive during the day, it is important to stop frequently. Stop at any obvious playgrounds (it helps to have a champion slide spotter along with you), parks, places of interest, bathrooms, rest areas, picnic spots, etc. Bring a frisbee or ball to throw, and make sure the kids get plenty of exercise. It helps if you give the kids the responsibility for spotting places to break - this gives them something to look forward to and helps ward off conflict. A good rule is a 15 minute break every two hours, although if you have potty issues and are breastfeeding, your children may need more stops. .

5. Bring a first aid kit! Tweezers, bandages, coloured plasters, needle and thread, a pack of matches, toilet paper (plus potty - even if your child is trained - it can really come in handy), lots of plastic bags (especially if you have a child in nappies, but even if you don't), wet wipes, insect repellent, children's pain killer, anti sting cream, etc.

6. Bring a goody bag full of games, books, stickers, crayons, colouring books, paper, maps, disposable camera for older children, toys, stuffed animals, finger puppets, plastic animals, etc. You can wrap the gifts and give them out selectively for key milestones on the way to help pass the time. You can also play lots of games while travelling, including spot the letters, car colours, car types, guess the number of dead animals (maybe a little macabre for normal families), spot the billboards, I spy, etc.

7. Involve your children in the planning process. Show them where you are going on the map, key points on the way they can look for, photos of where you are going, and allow them to choose some specific destinations. You can take pretend trips before you go to help them get used to the idea of sitting in the car for long periods (with practice games sessions, spotting pretend things out of the window, eating car snacks, etc), of eating in restaurants and sleeping in hotels. This builds up the excitement at the whole process and really extends their enjoyment plus helps them learn to use their imagination, an important skill for long car rides! A hand made map of where you are going designed especially for your child's age level will help them follow your progress. Make sure you pack one for each child, as sharing is rare under normal circumstances, and car travel will diminish the odds of this happening to 0.

8. Don't forget to laugh. This is the most important part of any trip. Don't forget your sense of humour. You can't travel with children without it. Bear in mind your children's attention span, and make sure that there are lots of short, varied activities for them along the way, with lots of flexibility in case you come across something interesting. Relax, let go, slow down, and enjoy the holiday. The time passes all too quickly and before you know it you'll be back into the normal routine. The time with your children will seem precious in hindsight, even if it felt like a hard slog at the time, so you may as well take the opportunity to talk, sing, learn, and have fun together.
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About the author: Magdalena Ball is content manager for The Compulsive Reader at http://www.compulsivereader.com, Preschool Entertainment at http://www.preschoolentertainment.com, and is the author of The Literary Lunch: Recipes for a Hungry Mind, and The Art of Assessment: How to Review Anything. Her fiction, poetry, reviews, interviews, and essays have appeared in hundreds of on-line and print publications.