Tips needed for traveling with Infant & Toddler?

Question

My husband and I are planning on taking our 2 year old (28 months) and our 10 month old on a 1500 mile trip...driving. Any tips on how to keep them happy and comfortable for this 24 hour drive (we are not driving straight through, this is just how long it takes to get there).

(My 10 month old daughter is 22 lbs so she is forward facing in her car seat now..so that helps.)

Answer 1

I would recommend keeping your 10 month old rear facing until she is a year old. It's not as fun for her, but it is much, much safer.

As for keeping them occupied...lots of new snacks, fun kids music, a portbale DVD player (if you allow them to watch), a few rolls of scotch tape (my son LOVES to pull and pull and pull and stick it everywhere!), stickers to stick on each other and paper, several new toys to pull out every few hours, finger puppets, magna doodle, frequent stops to break up the trip and get everyone moving.

When drove from the North Carolina coast to San Diego last summer with our 2 and 1/2 year old and found it very helpful to stop every 2 - 2 and 1/2 hours. I had a ball, bubbles, chalk, and other outdoor fun stuff to do at our stops. It made the trip longer, but being able to get out of the car for half and hour and run around did us ALL good! When we travel, there are very few rules in the car...I let the kids eat whatever, whenever. And if they don't nap, oh well, they'll sleep at night.

Enjoy your trip!

Answer 2

children's music! i highly suggest tom chapin...he has some great stuff out there and when i was little i caould listen to him for hours.  the ten month old will probably sleep a lot but definitely bring most of her toys to keep her occupied.  definitely get one of those portable small toilets for children (if your two year old is potty trained) and have tons of diapers handy! also a lot of wipes and napkins since there's bound to me some spills.  the two year old might be hard to quiet down but try to keep her occupied by bringing many of her toys and stuffed animals.  also load the back seat with pillows and blankets.  stop at places where you can eat outdoors so the kids can get some fresh air and move around a bit.

hope i helped,

frenchgoober

Answer 3

it would help if you have portable tvs to put on headrests, also have plenty of snacks and be sure you take a couple of breaks every now and then cause the will get fussy. be sure you have their favorite toy or blanket also

Answer 4

Even though your daughter is 22lbs, she must still be rearfacing in a convertible seat.  It is against the law and extremely unsafe for her to be forward facing.  The old rule was 1 year AND 20lbs, now it 2 years AND 30lbs or as long as possible.

The recommendation from safety experts and the American Academy of Pediatrics is to rearface (RF) to the limits of the seat which is 30-35lbs on all convertible car seats sold in the US. My daughter rode RF until she was 3 ½ and would love it if she still could, but she reached the weight limit on her Britax Marathons and had to be turned FF.

I have included several links with great pictures and videos of what happens to children’s necks when they are FF in a crash.

Most people are concerned about their child's legs being scrunched or broken in a crash. There is absolutely no evidence that shows a child's legs are in danger and I would much rather deal with a broken leg, than a broken neck.

Highly recommended convertible carseats are the Britax Decathalon, Boulevard and Marathon; Sunshine Kids Radian; Evenflo Triumph ADVANCE; Cosco Scenera and Safety First Uptown.  Stay away from the Alpha Omega 3-in-1 seats only harness to 40lbs and most 40lb weight limit seats are outgrown before a child is mature enough for a booster seat.  They also have very low top harness slots, so are outgrown by height at around 2 or 3 years old.  The Graco Comfortsport also has very low top slots.

As for long car rides.  Pack lots of soft toys and lots of stops.  They will probably sleep a lot of the way.