Carseat Contentment
Posted on July 20th, 2009 – 8:26 AMBy Kay Krhin
Once again I am going to turn to Cribsheeters for some advice.
We have two road trips coming up this summer. One to Illinois (about 5.5 hours) and another “up North” (about 3.5 hours).
I realize that is NOTHING compared to May’s annual 48 hour round trip trans-Atlantic flights but those several hours through Wisconsin on I-94 have me wringing my hands. Construction slow downs, weekend traffic, and managing our way through the monsterous mecca known as the Tomah Kwik Trip.
It used to be fairly easy when they were babies - they’d sleep.
Now with a 3.5 year old Ben’s first potty-trained road trip and an alert and active 1.5 year old Vivian - what to do to keep them occupied?
We don’t want to invest in the dual screen DVD player just yet and they are too young for Mad Libs and Car Bingo.
And what about “emergencies?” I’m already imagining hearing a frantic “I gotta go potty!” as we’re stopped in gridlock traffic with no exit in sight.
Should we put Ben in a “pull-up” just in case? Have an empty Big Gulp container at the ready?
Advice from old pros out there? What do you do to keep your little ones busy and somewhat content in the back seat?
16 Responses to "Carseat Contentment"
Well, after yet another disasterous attempt at public potty after the playdate, we invested in the portable car setup. They make a Potette that a friend reccomends, but we just have a smaller potty from Target in the trunk. Add in some cheap diapers to soak things up, disinfecting wipes and plastic bags (like we get for the dog) and so far it has worked.
We got M a magnetic doodler for car trips that has worked well, and I’m a fan of the “new toy” that is wrapped up. We used books, and other small items like mini bilibos and blocks. Our trip was on a train for 8 hours when M was Vivian’s age, so we also had crayons and a small bound sketch book. Maybe the Color Wonder stuff would be better for a car?
We also debated before taking our toilet-tyro on a 9+ hour drive to Missouri. We finally ended up going carseat-commando, so to speak — no pull-ups, no porta-potty, etc. We didn’t want to give her the “out” of pull-ups (which never really worked as more than a fancy diaper for her anyway). Plus, we figured it would keep us as parents more vigilant about making regular stops. I suppose it depends on where Ben is at with knowing when he’s got that “got to go feeling” and letting you know. We did get a bit nervous when our daughter let us know she needed to go in the middle of Nowhere, MO — we didn’t hit an exit with services for about 10 minutes (the longest of our parenting lives) — but we talked her through it and we made it there. If you have time before your roadtrip to have a couple of “dry-runs” (so to speak) around the Cities to get him used to potentially not having immediate access, that might help.
As far as on-the-road activities, I found on my last roadtrip that a quick and cheap stockup at the dollar store is a wise investment. You can pick up a good variety of toys for very little expense. I would bring them out when the girls (22 mos and 3y/o) would start getting fidgety and they worked like a charm.
Good luck!
We go on a few 6 hour car rides a year to visit family. I too was so nervous before our first trip after toilet training,but it went very well. We made sure to stop every 1 to 1.5 hours, even if our daughter claimed that she didn’t have to go to the bathroom. It worked far better than I ever expected possible.
As far as keeping the kiddos occupied, I have to admit I’m a huge proponent of the portable dvd system. We don’t watch much tv at home, but I’m fine with a movie marathon in the car. It makes the whole drive so much more quiet, peaceful…. downright enjoyable!
We just took our 21 month old on 2 long car trips, separated by only 3 days at home. We brought the portable dvd player and kept it going for her. Since you have 2 kids, maybe there are some movies both like? I also packed all of her favorite books and she “read” them during off movie times. We brought her little toys that don’t take up much room. We also stop about every 2 hours or so, even if it’s for 10 minutes. She gets out and runs around and it seems to help. Mine doesn’t really sleep much in the car so we really depended on the movies. Good luck
We are road trip junkies! We love going to Iowa, the cabin (WI) and Chi-Town. Here is what we did…
We got some small toys, books and snacks that they kids didn’t know about before hand. Whenever I would here the whining or nagging in the backseat, I would take one out. It would allow them to play with something new and give some piece and quiet.
For your older one I would invest in a travel tray. Many of the good ones come with marker/crayon holders and even clips to hold paper down. This has saved us MANY times with our daughter.
For the potty training…get a potty chair and throw it in the back. That way you can stop when they have to go, and not wait for a gas station or rest stop. Especially going up north, since there will be spots where there are no places to stop. This worked really well for us.
Growing up, our family went on many roadtrips. My mom would keep a large coffee can with a tight lid for bathroom emergencies. It was rarely used, but cheap, effective, and discreet.
We just did a 4.5 hour drive with a 2.5 year old. We discovered the best thing for him was an old map and a pencil. He spent hours using it like a restaurant order pad. “Do you want cheese tacos?” “Sure.” “OK. Good.” When that got old, he drew on it, or opened it up to see what was inside.
We also broke up the trip into 2.5 hour max chunks. He liked getting out of the car and doing something — a museum, lunch, whatever — and didn’t complain nearly as much as I would have imagined about getting back in.
Good luck.
When I was a kid my mom invested in nearly the entire line of the ‘Wee Sing’ tapes. I would warble along to those for four hours. I particularly liked the ‘Wee Sing Silly Songs’.
We have a few trips under our belts and are heading out on another soon. I know you want to avoid the DVD thing, but I must say that it was an awesome investment for us. They don’t watch it the *whole* time… just a movie here or there. It’s also great because it’s portable. You can bring them into the cabin/hotel, etc., and set it up so the kids can watch their favorite movie before bed (or whatever your usual routine is). We also make sure they have plenty of time to talk, play games, sleep in the car as well.
Regarding the bathroom - we’ve always made a point to stop often with kids - to nurse, go to the bathroom, run around - my husband and I have had to shift our thinking that you hurry up on the road to get there… instead, we take our time on the road and try to enjoy it as part of the vacation as much as the destination.
Good luck - I hope you have a great time! 
We just got back from a 32 hour round way road trip and had a blast!!
My advice– just let Ben pee on the side of the road. It’s so easy and it makes so much sense, especially for a boy. We had a few honks with our son, who is 2 1/2 years old, on the side of the highway “watering” the flowers.
But, of course, I also posted on a recent post that our son runs around naked, so I guess it just depends on what you are comfortable with.
As for entertainment, we brought a lot of books and dubbed our trip “The tour of playgrounds” since we stopped for 15 minutes at around 2-3 playgrounds a day. We made a picnic lunch and asked at a gas station where the local park was and got all of the wiggles out. We also got matchbox cars at garage sales before we left and gave out a new car each day or maybe 2 a day or so (depending on meltdown).
Good luck!
We take short road trips quite a bit to visit family (2-6 hours). We have a dual screen DVD player that works well for the 3 and 5 year old and each have their own Leapster portable handheld game system with a variety of games. For the baby (15 months) I just bring a backpack filled with toys and books and it keeps him pretty entertained. He also naps during most of our trips for at least an hour or so. Food is also a good distraction so I pack plenty of snacks and each kid has their own water bottle. Have fun!
We’re making a road trip with our 9 wk old - 10 hours to Indiana. Aside from frequent stops to feed, hold and soothe, anything we should be expecting/anticipating/planning for?
We just took an eight hour trips with our kids, and my husband had a brilliant tool he added to our tool kit. He bought cheap toy cars just before we left and stowed them in the glove compartment. We pulled them out at about hour five, when they (and we) were starting to go mad. The cars were fresh and new toys at that point, and they kept the kids occupied until they fell asleep.
Ah yes, the long road trip…a source of joy and pain I’m glad I checked the blog tonight because we are actually going on a 4 hour trip tomorrow and I hadn’t even thought about entertainment for the 3.5 year old…time to get creative!
We are also big fans of the wrapped small toys… and we make sure to let kiddo know about it ahead of time instead of pulling it out when he gets whiny so that he doesn’t associate whining in the car with getting a new toy. Also little baggies of snacks that he enjoys. For a long trip I would pack a few small things and keep them in the glove box (our son loves little matchbox cars, the $1 aisle at target often has little things that will occupy a kiddo for some time!) and maybe offer one as a reward for after you make it to the next scheduled rest stop. The wrapping paper just adds that much more mystique to the whole thing and he LOVES trying to guess what it is and then carefully unwrap it. It’s half the fun!
I tend to buy a new cheap coloring book of one of his favorite characters and provide some crayons which will occupy him for awhile. Travel trays are great if you have a little artist! I also burn mix cds of his favorite songs to play in the car (some kids’ songs…some songs that won’t make me want to pull my hair out at the end of the trip!!!)
I am a big proponent of the scheduled rest stops for the newly potty trained. Make sure to watch how much you let them drink in the car to prevent accidents! Also a great opportunity to get the wiggles out. We are still doing pull-ups at night so the only time I have just popped on the pull-ups is if we will be traveling late at night.
I like Amelia’s clever setup with the potty chair and cheap diapers to soak up the mess…but I also look back with some fond memories to peeing on the side of the road as a kid on long trips. My grandmother would just open the passenger door and the back passenger door to create a little private stall and we would let loose! Sometimes when you gotta go, you gotta go!!!
Best of luck on your trip…I have to get packing!
Thanks everyone for the great advice - I hit the dollar bin at Target yesterday and got a lot of surprises to stow in the glovebox.
Plus a mini magnadoodle and some pads and colored pencils - I think we’ll be good to go!
All great ideas! We also checked out some books on tape from the local library for our 3 year old. That seemed to entertain him well on our last trip. Plus…it was free!
