We are taking a 10 hour drive this Friday and will be doing it all in one day. LO is fairly good in the car but that usually means 4-6/7 hour drives. This will be the longest. She will watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but I obviously don't want to have that playing for 10 hours. What else can I do to entertain her? Also, the dog house will be in the backseat too so I can't sit back there with her.
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@LindsayInNY: Lots of snacks.. if movies entertain her i'd say go for it. What about melissa and doug reusable stickers? or magnets on a cookie sheet? I'd have a few books on hand too to pass back when she gets bored of whatever she's doing.
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@Banana330: She's actually into stickers lately and I had the reusable ones on her Christmas list so I'm hesitant to buy them ahead of time. Didn't think of magnets... I'd have to get large enough ones so they're not a choking hazard though? And resign myself to the car being a mess after... We have 2 sets of Mickey episodes downloaded to the iPad that play back to back which helps since it's like a movie time-wise.
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I got big wooden magnets for my 20 month old from melissa and doug...
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Melissa and Doug have Water Wow books and my LO loves them. And they're no mess. I would highly suggest those for the car.
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@LindsayInNY: yup. Let the mess go. As long as it's not sticky dirty mess. But paper and scraps and toys whatever.
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@LindsayInNY: If you're not sitting back there, I wouldn't let her eat...at least I would be too worried about choking and not being fast enough.
Can you put the doghouse in the front seat? Feel free to tell my to mind my own business, I totally get it...
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@sashaskog: We have a couple but she tends to toss the "marker." I don't think she really gets it yet? I'll bring it along anyways though!
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My kids go nuts over those Ferber yogurt melts. Very low choking hazard in the car.
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@looch: The only thing she typically is given is a squeeze pouch or cheerios/puffs. I don't like goldfish or crackers for that reason. I assume the others are safe?
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@LindsayInNY: cheerios don't melt, so even though people say they're choking proof because of the hole in the middle, they're not...I know this from experience when my son stuffed a bunch in his mouth.
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What about a magna doodle? The pen is attached so no throwing. DS got one for his 2nd birthday and it was an immediate hit.
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It's always been best for us to leave EARLY (like 4am) so they go back to sleep in the car. The first time we did this, we got about four hours in before she woke back up for the day.
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We did a similarly long drive with a 15 month old in one day. Yes to TV, dollar store hourly treats, and stopping every 3 hours. Could also start the trip in the middle of the night....
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What ever works snacks mickey mouse in house for 10 hrs
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We've driven 12-hour trips with my almost 2 yr old at least 8 times in the past year... yay for long-distance family events!
Here are my tips:
Know when the sun will be in their face and have a shade solution ready
Buy lots of dollar store 'toys' (colander, cleaning brushes, stickers, sunglasses) to parcel out
Preload some new apps (Fisher-Price's puppy ones bought us an extra hour at the end of one drive)
Pack a couple favorite books
Lots of snacks (the little Bel Vita bites are big hits for us)
Little flashlight that you're confident they can't get to the batteries
Have several straw/sippy cups prepped in a cooler at your feet.
Action figures with movable arms/legs
Plastic dinosaurs or animals
Paper towel rolls (you can sword fight from the front and it doesn't matter if they hit the window)
Have an electronic toy reserved for long trips (this is ours: https://www.amazon.com/VTech-Baby-Twinkle-Learn-Tambourine/dp/B005KSM14K)
Have a little hand mirror so you can check if they're out when they get quietIf you won't have room to get back there, I'd recommend one of those stupid claw toys to help you reach things they throw.
With all of these, we've been able to make our 12 hour trip with only two meal stops the last few times.
Good luck!
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Good ideas! I just wanted to say that FWIW I don't like the reusable stickers for my 18mo. The reusable ones are plastic and she put one in her mouth once and it stuck to her throat in a scary way. A paper sticker would have been safer. Anyway, a fine toy, but maybe not for unsupervised in the car?
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We did a 12-hour drive at that age. We:
Started at 3 am so that he slept the first 3ish hours.
Wrapped a whole bunch of dollar store toys and shoved one at him every time he started to get antsy. (They were special because they were wrapped).
Planned multiple stops for running around (it was a summer trip, so we would just find a local park, but maybe McDonald's play places or similar?)
Played cds he liked
Used tv when needed (though total round trip was less than 1.5 hours, and there were an additional 6ish hours of driving during the trip).
We used snacks--I had a mirror and was confident in his eating at that time to offer small crackers. That's obviously an individual choice. And we also would sit next to him for portions of the ride, which I see won't work for you.
All-in-all, it wasn't too bad. I was pleasantly surprised. -
Leave super early so they sleep! If possible, when you stop for food, get out and let her run around, be lax on the screen time for sure. And all the snacks!
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@codeitall: @Jess1483: Awesome ideas, thank you!!
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I haven't read the other responses, but we've taken a bunch of road trips (13+ hours). We did one at 15 months, one at 17 months, and one at 29 months, and will again in 2 months.
Buy new toys (like even little cheap toys-anything that's new to them). They may be a little young, but even those "surprise" packages that have 1 little toy in it.
Stickers! But only if you're ok finding them anywhere/everywhere.
Have favorite shows/movies saved.
Plan on having "run around" spots that you can get out and burn off energy if needed (like a fast food play area if it's cold outside or a park if it's nice out)
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