Car Travel With 2 Year old

[HeartRN]

Hey, everybody...I've been really busy so I haven't been here too much, but I will catch up soon! I am planning to go cross-country (VA to CA) with my two year old...ALONE. Any tips? I have been parousing many great websites, and I have lots of ideas...the main thing I can see is that this (obviously) needs to be well planned, and we need to make sure there's plenty of time for frequent stops. Any favorite toys or accessories you recommend? We are also looking at DVD players for the car, plus a little table to put across the car seat/side pocket for drinks, etc so I don't wreck trying to retrieve the sippy cup! :!

As bad as it sounds - a DVD player is a MUST. I've driven w/the boys from Cleveland to Chicago by myself (6 hours) and would not have made it w/o the player. For our move from Cleveland to Kansas City my good friend took vacation time and drove with me b/c dh was taking boards. If you have ANYONE who might be up for a road trip -- it makes a HUGE difference.

Good luck!

[Cumberland]

I am interested in getting the DVD player too. Anyone have any affordable suggestions on one?

no clue re the dvd player, but its an excellent idea if your tot will actually watch it.

We got enough snacks to feed a boyscout troop and put them in a container on the passenger seat, with juice boxes and all the sippy cups filled with water in a small softside cooler(free from a Braves game LOL).

I took the zippered bag that a twin blanket came in and filled it with McDonalds' type toys, tiny books, etc and put that on the passenger seat.
Then I put a collection of cds in one of those organizers that are supposed to go behind the front seats. I added mints, pacifiers, the cell phone, kleenex, travel wipe container and other stuff to it and hung it on the front of the passenger seat within easy reach for me while driving.

Every 10 minutes I would throw back a new toy or a snack. The floor of the car was covered by the next rest stop, but it was worth it.

We drove from VA to WI with two overnight stops. When you take a potty break, get out and play a game of chase. That really wore the boys out and helped me stay alert.

[mommax3]

I don't have any brand name recommendations, but we have had TWO off-brand models that have worked fine for us for two years (and about 6 TX/IN trips and several TX/KS trips as well). One thing to think about.....will you be able to operate the player AND place it somewhere that your little ones can see it while you are driving? Our older boys can operate their player by themselves, but we use the console between the front seats as the staging area for our youngest's dvd player, and if there is only one driver, changing discs can be tricky if you aren't really familiar with the player before you start out.

Some other fun (cheap!) playthings for the car are pipe cleaners and lots of board books.....go to once upon a child and stock up on little toys/books. Books on tape/cd are nice, too, as well as kids' cds. Also, always have a spare sippy cup (or 4) filled with water or ice water up in front with you so you can hand one back without groping around on the floor of the back seat while you are driving..... I have kept a small cooler in the passenger front seat when I travel for that reason.

Good luck! During residency, when DH was on an away rotation for two months, I took my (then) 4 year old and 1 year old sons and travelled from San Antonio to Manhattan, KS and then to Indiana, and then home to San Antonio, stopping off in Clarksville TN to see a friend who had recently moved there. We were gone a total of three weeks, and some of my driving was through unfamiliar territory, but it was a GREAT trip. (This was before personal DVD players, btw, and the VCR for the car, which we eventually got, was still in our future as well.) The first couple of days on the road were challenging, but after that, we found a rhythm, and got through it together. It was an empowering trip for me, too, for some reason.

Keep us posted.

Sally

[Meenah]

BENADRYL
Luanne

Did I really say that?

I don't have any tips. I just wanted to say good luck!

Yikes, traveling across the country in a car does not sound like something my 2 year old would tolerate well at all. There are some trips to Grandma's house that we barely pull through on, and that's only two hours away!

[Sheherezade]

If she's a good sleeper and turns in early (like 7 pm) regularly, you could try to crank out some hours between her bedtime and yours each day. We've done many long road trips, but the ones I've done alone with the kids were tedious. You've had lots of good suggestions, though. Magnadoodles and music are great distractions as well. Especially if you sing along. Do you have a good CD collection?

The video system never worked for our kids. They refused to watch anything. Painful!!!!!!! We have only been successful using it at "bedtime" in the car, after they are in PJs and under a big blanket in the back seat.

[Flynn]

This depends on how rough your child is with books but here is a great product:

http://www.storyreader.com/cgi-bin/showHome.cgi