6hr car journey alone with 1yo and 4yo: help!!!

Mojisola

LondonDiva wrote: »

Can you drive through the night? If you get them exhausted in the day, good meal, bath and pjs nd then bed. Get the car loaded and then put them in and drive while they're sleeping?

I would only do this if you can get someone else to exhaust them during the day while you sleep. An overtired driver is as dangerous as a drunk driver.

jackomdj

We bought a DVD player for our 11 hour trip through France this year & our LO's loved it. The one we bought (from Argos I think) you can play the same DVD or different ones which is important when the LO's are looking for different types of entertainment.

Our 4 year old has a leapster which she loves. They both have a travel size magnidoodle & I always put in a few favorite books. The youngest will happy spend a few hours cuddling her babies.

Good luck wiht your trip.
Nicky

bestpud

I have a car dvd player and I would not be without it!

I bought it when dd2 was about 10 months old and we had the three children cramped in the back of the car for a long journey - it was bliss for a change - no bickering, moaning, or anything!

Now I just use it for journeys of over 2 hours or so and it is still a God send.

We have used it on an aeroplane and eurostar too.

I did a few 3 hours journeys on my own with dd(7) over the summer holidays and it meant she was happy and I could concentrate on driving.

One point though:

Do your children actually enjoy watching dvds/TV? Some don't, especially at one year old, and I guess it will be no good if they aren't interested in it... My dd loves her films!

jellyhead

ailuro2 wrote: »

haha, medised ain't what it used to be!!:p

I don't know what's like now, but there was a big fuss about medicines around the time my boy turned 2, and some of them changed after that so as not to over-drug the under 2's. I remember being glad I had a bottle of medised already :rotfl: It was fab at clearing up messy noses, so the child could sleep, and yes there was a sedative effect, so we only used it near bedtime.

jellyhead

My kids wouldn't have watched dvds when they were under 2, but I know some who would.

I had a horrible 12 hour journey once (stuck in floods on the motorway, it was supposed to be a 3 hour journey) and after that I agreed to let MIL buy us a dvd player for the car, to take on our next holiday.

It might be useful when you arrive, depending on where you're going, but the little ones might be soothed by a bit of peppa pig if the surroundings aren't ideal, such an someone's ill etc.

Do you have to drive? I've been by train twice this year and I love it, I didn't ever want to travel by car again. The children can fidget, walk around, go to the loo, climb onto your lap for a story etc.

blackcoffee

with a 1yr old i would do it through the night, a dvd player is fab for a 4 yr old. can you maybe drive for a 1/ 1 1/2hours, stop and do lastfeed, then drive for remaining 4 ?

mummy_Jay

I do 3 hr drives about 2 or 3 times a year on my own with my DS.

I found the having one of the pull down drawing desks (they are only about a fiver from wilkinsons) in the car so he can scribble and look at books helps. I also found putting together a little bag normally with a sticker book, a couple of toys and a snack in, will keep him entertained for a bit.
Now he's 5 he's discovered my portable cd player and like to have one of the audio books, that have a book to look at with him. I also make sure we stop about every hour to hour and a half, depending on how entertained they he is.

dondo

We have 2 kids- 11months and nearly 3 and have an in car dvd and it is great- wouldn't be without it- we don't have it on for the whole journey but as part of the ways we keep them entertained- I bought a CD from poundland and it has loads of kids songs on it which is great too

Also what works for us is breaking the journey at a soft play area so energy can be burnt off (for the 2 yr old mainly) and bit of lunch so they will have a snooze on the post lunch part of journey

onlyroz

DVD players in the car are worth every penny.

sooz

without doubt get a dvd player. I don't like them watching a lot of tv, but sometimes it's more important that they are quiet & not distracting you

Make sure you teach the elder one how to change discs, & choose nice long ones, as you don't want to have to keep stopping to change them. We put both in headphones, but when the little one was 1 he found them too tricky, & was happy just to watch the pictures.