advice for travelling with 6 kids and hubbie!

SmellyOldSock

Morning all

Has anyone got any ideas/tips for travelling with 6 children? ages are 15,13,10 yrs (not too worried about them) 5,3yrs and 18 months? we're travelling about 380 miles on Saturday.

also cheap ways to feed them all, don't want to pay motorway services prices!

Any advice would be great!

best wishe
Charlotte

LandyAndy

Take two cars. Place hubbie and kids in one, follow in other at discrete distance. Relax.

calleyw

LandyAndy wrote: »

Take two cars. Place hubbie and kids in one, follow in other at discrete distance. Relax.

:rotfl:

My advice was don't do it.

Make sure you have plenty of chilled water and maybe take squash to make up. When me husband travel we take a flask of hot water and flask of cold. So you can drinks as you go.

Same with sandwiches make as you go rather than before it means they are not soggy and horrible.


This website has supermarkets etc 5 min away from each junction on the motor way.

http://www.5minutesaway.co.uk So you might be able to find a supermarket to get a hot meal from or buy fresh supplies.


All the best.

Yours


Calley

purpleivy

Take stuff that doesn't need as much chilling. Cheese is better than meats, unless you are going to make stuff up from a can of say corned beef.

sethsgran

I would freeze drinks, drink a little first as it will expand, this way they have a constantly cold drink. When ours were young I often took french sticks cheese pate etc in a cool box. They seemed to enjoy more a chunk of crusty bread cut as needed and with their favourite topping. For mine I also took grapes as they are so refreshing. Take a mixture of things to do eg fuzziefelt stickers for little ones. Recently we did a 9hr flight with 2yr grandson and he loved his etchasketch, not the real one just a cheapie from discount shop.

Pink.

Hi SmellyOldSock,

These earlier threads may give you some ideas for food:

Food while travelling? - Please help

Travelling - food to keep me going?

Any ideas for picnic food??

For ideas on keeping little ones occupied these threads from the families board may help:

Travelling long haul with near 1 year old!!

Long journey with kids in car help...

Pink

Miss_Cinnabon

travelling that far is a nightmare when kids are in the car, but can be done if they behave themselves:D

have they got any games they can take with them ie nintendo, gameboy etc that should get the elder ones sorted, colouring books for the little ones, car activities ie i-spy, count number of cars they can see/colours etc

take plenty snacks etc and plan where you can go for lunch/tea etc we always stop off at a lovely roadside cafe, not a motorway cafe though, dont have many of them up here:D

have plenty of rest stops to stretch your legs, we have found this to be a great way to stop the kids getting bored, journey will take a wee bit longer but overall result means everyone is happy

or take sandwiches for lunch

susie

pigpen

sedatives for the children, vodka for the passenger and ear plugs for the driver.. gameboys were a must..

Actually in truth the only thing we EVER need to take are tonnes of baby wipes, several buckets.. at least 3 lots of clothes EACH (you can never predict which way a small child will vomit) 2 kitchen rolls, 1000 carrier bags (or 2 binbags) and several bottles of water.. if you part freeze some of them they stay cold as they defrost while they swig the unfrozen ones! That is just for a trip into town!

no books.. puzzle or reading

JailhouseBabe

This reminds me of my childhood - we only ever managed 2 family holidays (by ferry to Ireland to visit relatives). On both occasions we had to hire a minibus with a bench running down each side. 6 kids and mum in the back, the baby was in a pram in the middle.

My tip: bring plenty of carrier bags for the kids to throw up in! Oh, and make sure they don't have ventilation holes in the bottom.:p

sooz

We regularly take ours (only 2 of them so far, both under 6) a similar distance to visit relatives.

We've found the best thing to do with them is to drive at night. We feed them, bath them & put them into jammies, & then get into the car at bedtime. After the first 150 miles they normally fall asleep :rolleyes: .

Then last year we relented & bought a dvd player, & they rot their brains watching cartoons til they fall asleep. Generally they are too full & tired to want much to eat or drink, & the plus side is the roads are much quieter.

However, the driver does need to get to bed early the night before, & needs a constant supply of chocolate, coke & red bull.

SmellyOldSock

Many thanks for all your replys. Loving the idea of 2 cars!:T don't think hubbie will go for it though!

Have got lots of snacks etc prepared and bottled water, they all travel well but you never know. Am looking at leaving early Saturday morning about 5ish, we can't get into the caravan till 4pm, but can use the site.

best wishes
Charlotte