Family Trip - 11 hour trip with my 15-month-old in mini van, Nashville, TN to Mustang, OK

My kids are all grown now but we moved from West Palm Beach, FL to Oklahoma City when they were very little...over 2500 miles and two and a half days. We also took two vehicles; I drove my car with the kids (and the cat!) and he drove his truck pulling the U-haul. It was a LONG trip! Two of my kids were still in diapers then, and the oldest was 6, it was a crazy ride. I packed LOTS of crayons, coloring books, cheerios, juice boxes, kid music to play, all of which lasted about five hours! We drove over 12 hours the first two days and then made it here in three hours the third day. 11 hours isn't bad! That's only a day. Just bring lots of snacks, juice and some toys he can play with in the car. Oh...and welcome to Oklahoma!
S.

Hi J.

First of all welcome to Oklahoma! I have a few friends that live in Mustang, its nice.

Anyway I do have a few tricks for road trips. If your son like movies at all, get a DVD player if you don't have one yet. I don't have one, but when my son was younger we would borrow one that straps to the back of a front seat. My son also got a lot of gas from not being able to stretch out so keep gas drops on hand and stop as often as you can so he can move and stretch. Stoping often also keeps him from sleeping the entire car ride, if he gets to much sleep in the car he will not be tired for bed when you are. Of course favorite snacks, drinks, toys, even music help too. The one thing that always seem to help in the end, and I do mean end. I got one of those thick car wash sponges and put under my son, on the seat of the car seat (that is a hard place to sit for a long time). It saved on a sore bottom, diaper rash, and crankieness.

Well good luck, have a safe trip and like I said welcome to Oklahoma.

T.

Hi,

We moved here to Oklahoma City about 3 years ago from nashville, so welcome! I have 3 kids and I've had to travel with them different times. Here is my advice. Before DVD players were affordable whenever we went on a long trip we packed a ton of new or used toys for the car. The trick is wrapping them and giving him something new and different to open every time he gets bored or fussy. now, if you don't mind him watching TV, then baby Einstien in the car will make a huge difference.

What's moving you to OK? Let me know how the trip goes!

H. Littleton

Welcome to the state! We briefly live in Houston and the best thing for my kids was a portable DVD player. You can even use them to play baby's favorite music. Also take books, snacks, drinks, and favorite toys in the car. Be prepared to stop more often than you would without your son in the car. Have lots of patience. Good luck!

If you have one of those portable dvd players or can get one (we got one for about $150) use that. We drove from Oklahoma City to Chicago last year for Thanksgiving with our 3 yr old. The trip was great because he watched his movies or slept the whole time.

Hi J.,
I live in Mustang Oklahoma. I am a Mommy to 5 wonderful but exhausting children ranging in age from 18 down to 3 1/2. We have done quite a bit of travelling and the only advice I can give is to try to keep them on their normal schedule. Feed them at the same time, play with them in the car, and have quiet time when you would normally do nap time. Also I would plan on lot's of stops. Let him get out and run around. We alway's packed a lunch/snack/dinner and stopped at a rest stop and ate so we could all stretch our legs especially the little ones. Also you can keep in the car some of his ball's and a couple of other things like bubbles that you can blow when stopped. If he is into coloring at all you can take along the Crayola Color Wonder Markers and paper and let him doodle. The travel magna doodle and books are also good car trip items. We got some of the small interactive books.

I hope some of my suggestions work. When you get set up here in Mustang let me know and I will try to help you get to know some other Moms and could even show you the community center and parks in our area. Good Luck travelling.

W.