Road Trip with a 9-Month-old and 3-1/2 Year Old

My advice is kind of opposite of the other poster, but if at all possible (and I know it may not be) -start in the evening or late afternoon. Whenever we can, we do this and it gives only a few hours before your children sack out for the night. Often being in the car makes them sleep better and fall asleep earlier. I like to take the bulk of trips while they're naturally asleep. Any awake time -try to fill with favorite books and new ones and some new, inexpensive travel toys -and yes, dole them out one at a time. The little travel Magna Doodles, Play Doh and books with flaps and levers to push and pull have been successful for us. If you have a vehicle with DVD -use that or consider buying a portable and popping in a Disney or Pixar film!

Start EARLY in the morning! As early as you can stand it- 6am. We had to drive to Louisiana and the 10 hour trip took 12 with a toddler and 6 week old. They both did great until the last hour.
Also hand out toys one at a time. Don't give another one until the baby is sick of the one he has.

Hi, I just came back from a 12 hour trip from Atlanta to western MD. Going there we decided to drive all night, which was fine for the kids as they slept all night but we were exhausted for two days. Not to mention they were wide awake when we got there. SO going back we left when we felt like it. I have a portable dvd player and 30 or so dvds for them to watch. They (a almost 3 yr old and my 1 yr old) were just fine. My one year old only fussed when we got about 20 minutes from our home here in Atl. I thought they would sleep too much and not sleep that night but that wasn't the case. My 3 yr old was awake the last 6-7 hours and my 1 yr old awake the last 4. For motion sickness we use bonine for children(or kids dramamine)plus Sea Bands for my oldest and only give her a 1/4 of a tablet for her age and weight(my sister is a pharmacist) and for short trips around Atl. I just use the Sea Bands(accupressure) that I bought from Wal-mart. I used them myself for morning sickness when I was pregnant so I know they help. Since they are drug free they would be alright for your youngest. I think they will do better than you think. Mine always surprise me when I think its going to be rough. Hope this helps, good luck!

We have tried leaving late afternoon early evening before and my husband and I are exhausted and end up sleeping the whole next day. We have found that early morning is the best for us. We leave at 4 am. My husband takes the first shift and I sleep while our 3 year old sleeps. When he wakes up we have breakfast and then we all get back in the car. At this point my husband is tired so he gets in the back with our son and they watch movies. I usually either two new movies one for the way there and one for the way home. If I don't buy something then I pull something from our collection and hide it for about a month and then it is new again. I made a trip bag that has little toys in that he doesn't get to play with unless we go on a long trip. We do coloring books, books, and cars. I also ask him to pick one favorite toy before we leave and he plays with that in the car as well. When he starts to get bored we start with snacks. The 9 hour drive that we do every couple of months has turned into a 12 hour drive however, we usually get there and everyone is relativly happy!

Hope this helps

B.