Ideas for Long Car Ride

Try a dvd player,sitting in the back with him or practice letting him cry it out before your big trip. Go on some trips around town before hand and let him know screaming etc., is not tolerable. Be firm.

Whenever my toddler wanted to distract my driving either by whining, screaming, etc., I was firm and let her know we don't act like that in the car. She is now 6 and sometimes I have to scream BE QUIET I have concentrate. I'm mean, loud and firm but I have to be, I can't get in a accident.

Do you have a comfortable carseat? Is it forward facing? If not you could try that.

Try music and toys like the other mom's listed or window clings like you use to decorate your house windows like Santa's, trees, pumpkins you know the holiday clings they work great in car windows too.

We have a portable DVD player for our kids and we play educational movies. They love it and keeps them quiet.

Good luck with your drive!!

I have done this very drive many times with infants, toddlers, preschoolers...now even with all three.

Definitely plan on sitting back with him a fair amount of time. It's tiring and boring for you, but works. I sing, make silly faces, play lots of finger/tickle games. Try checking out Gymboree's "Baby Play" from the library or buying it. It has lots of good ideas.

I get concerned about night driving too, so we leave really early, like 4 or 5 am. We're awake but baby usually sleeps for awhile. If you can't do this, plan around nap time. There's not a lot of good stops between here and Des Moines so sleeping on the front end is really helpful.

Have the car gassed up and pretty much packed the night before. Have snacks for all of you ready to go. Our rule is we try to never stop unless the baby is crying, so no stops for breakfast just because we want it. Also, we consider stopping the kids' chance to run around, so we don't just go into a restaurant and sit down. That probably sounds obvious but it took us awhile to figure out.

DVD players are awesome and well worth it, but a 1 yr old isn't going to watch for hours. Still it will buy you a 1/2 hour now and then and that is beautiful.

Okay, now my suggested stops with kids:
I'm assuming you are going 35 S to Des Moines, then 80 W to Omaha. Cabela's, near Owatanna, is great for little ones to walk around, but it's not too far into the trip, so we usually don't stop there. Sometimes on the way back it makes a nice final stop, though.

Once you make it to Des Moines, there is a welcome center on the west side, right by where you get on 80W. It's marked as a welcome center and Living History Farm. A great stop since it has a Machine Shed restaurant, very family friendly, and the kiddo can run around in the welcome center to work off some energy. It takes us about 4 hrs exactly to get to this spot from Mpls.

Stuart, IA is about 20 mi or so past the welcome center. It has a Burger King and McDonalds both with indoor playareas, plus an outdoor playground.

At that point, you are less than 1.5 hrs from Omaha, so we rarely stop after that.

Also, the Omaha zoo is AWESOME, in case you hadn't planned on stopping there.

Feel free to send me a pm if you want more ideas. Oh, and if you are going via Sioux City instead of Des Moines, I know a mall with an indoor playspace. I could find the name if you want it.

Is your child still in an infant seat? OR is Rear facing or forward facing? It may be the way you have sitting now. If he's 20 pounds AND over 12 months you can change him to be rear facing in a upright car seat.

A few things we bring when we are driving
Music (lots of variety, happys songs, clapping, actions)
toys (musical or that light up, trains, airplanes)
snacks (goldfish, gerber snacks (puffs, cookies), fruit
Lovey (blanket, pacifier, fave stuffed animal, etc.)

thankfully our son has always been a good rider. We have been on many long distance trips and while its difficult you can also be pleasantly surprised.

Hi D.. I have read that you need to have a new activity every 15 minutes for a small child! That would mean a lot of activities. (Try the 15 hour flight from LA to Melbourne, Australia!) We do a four hour trip every six weeks or so and I have found that if I sit in the back seat with our daughter, things are easier. When she was small I made sure that part of the trip was her nap time, so that gave us at least ONE free hour. I used to read, play with hand puppets, sing, make faces, point out every cow, horse and house ..... ! It is always a long, long trip. Good advice to break the journey at least once. Now that our daughter is three, it is easier. She can draw and colour and listen to CDs. She still talks constantly and now she points out every horse, cow and house (!), but at least it is more relaxed. Good Luck.

I have to drive 5 hrs to go back home with my twins(22 months). I would try and stop half way into the trip and let them run around and eat. My girls love Veggie Tales, I get tired of it before they do. So,if you have kids cds or tapes bring them, toys and lots of snacks and take breaks if you can, sometimes we need it as much as the kids do.
Good luck!!!