Family Travel Boards

lauras · 04-09-2009, 11:16 PM

We took a long car trip when my son was 9 months old and he was starting to enjoy solid food. We would tie a somewhat stale bagel to a string and then tie it to his car seat. He spent many happy hours gumming it. Not sure what a pediatrician would say, but it sure kept him busy! We also sang to him, which was often rather irritating to the parent not singing, but our son really loved it. Anyone have any clever ideas on amusing babies in the car? We often timed our travels so our kids would sleep driving late in the night.

CarolWeaver · 04-16-2009, 10:52 AM

We can't do the "drive through the night" thing because both my husband and I get way too tired! The last time we took a long road trip with our then 6-month-old daughter, I brought our portable DVD player and let her watch cartoon movies. That seemed to work for a little while. She's 10 months now and we have some hefty drives coming up...I hope some more people respond to this thread with ideas!!

flora · 05-15-2009, 02:25 PM

I used to sing until I lost my voice when we traveled with our first baby. I also swore I would never be one of those mothers who rode in the backseat with the baby to keep it happy but I did. We used those plastic rings that you can put together in a chain to hold rattles and toys onto the car seat so she wouldn't lose her toys all the time. But it was really only relaxing when she slept!

pinella · 05-16-2009, 01:04 AM

Our son always fell asleep in the car the minute he got in the first few months. But once he was starting to learn to crawl he just wanted to be out of his carseat and moving around. We had to stop often and get out so he could play. I took a quilt with me so we could stop at rest stops and he could wiggle around and stretch a bit on the lawn. It wasn't easy on some of those long haul trips to Grandmas.

120dayslater · 05-20-2009, 02:44 AM

One of my readers had a good idea, which is the same idea as my Toddler Travel Backpack. Take a a good assortment of toys (three to four) and only put them out one at a time. Switch them out when the baby gets bored of them. I think a great key to keeping kids entertained is to keep it fresh on that long road trip or plane ride.

For our kids, we always hid the other other toys out of site weeks before the trip even started. So when they saw the toy, it was like a brand new thing... or a reunion with an old friend.