Long road trip with kids?

[takeonyou]

We are driving from NJ to Disney next month. We are leaving Friday night and should be there early Sunday morning with how our caravan wants to break up the drive.

Any ideas for a 4 year old and 6.5 year old in the car that long? I have the dvd players, a bag of surprises, soft trays that strap onto their car seats so they can color, snack, play, etc. Any other ideas?

[Deleted]

They might be old enough for car bingo (you can find printables online) and audio books. Get some new CDs from the library.

Benedryl.

[6fsn]

Sounds like you have things covered.

I just bought some benadryl and was reading the label. I had to laugh that is specifically says not to use it to put your kid to sleep.

[takeonyou]

My pedi recommended it, lol! She said "in her parental opinion" a small dose of Benadryl is safer than overtired, cranky kids stressing out the driver on a long road trip. I have to agree.

[fortmyersbride]

If you're honestly going to try Benadryl, make sure you try a dose before the drive. Some kids will have a paradoxical hyperactive response, and them you'll have a hyperactive kid (or two) strapped in a car for a looong time.

[Deleted]

DS is much younger than your kids, but he did GREAT on his 10-hr trip from VA to upstate NY last weekend. I made sure we didn't stop when he napped (he wakes up if the car stops), this took some doing as DH likes to guzzle coffee on road trips & stops for bathroom breaks frequently. I had to be very explicit with DH "we will NOT be stopping until DS wakes up, do you need to stop now?" A bit crazy I know, but it helped a LOT. We made good time while DS napped.

I also put all his toys in a bag and rotated through them as he got bored. This worked much better than I expected.

[takeonyou]

Oh no, my kids are like me. A half of a children's dose knocks me out for 8 hours, lol. Both have used Benadryl for allergies before, a quarter of the dose is all they need.

But my dh has that reaction to cough syrup and Benadryl. I can't imagine a kid having that. It must be awful!

[jena]

We did Texas to Disneyworld this summer with 2yo and 5yo and 17yo.

My biggest tip is to not use the DVD players all the time. We started out every day with nothing and passed out toys when it seemed needed. DVDs came out after lunch when they were starting to get restless and helped them sleep.

It went surprisingly well for us and there were a lot fewer emergency potty stops and a lot less whining than I feared. Toys that caused them to argue quickly went into the trunk of the van - funny how seeing your toys go over the 3rd row makes you more willing to share.

Don't forget blankets, car pillows and something to cuddle - a must to encourage napping!!

Oh, I also recommend having a teenager next to the cooler to dole out snacks and drinks. It was nice to have someone else to do that.

Take a stockpile of grocery bags for trash, dirty shoes, laundry, whatever. I like to fold them like this: www.origami-resource-center.com/grocery-bag-folding.html . That way they don't all try to attack you or jump out of whatever you've stuffed them in.

Take something suitable for puking in. A nice big gulp type cup or a butter tub. Day 2 was rough and it was just me with the stomach bug, not the kids.

Oh, and not road trip related, but go buy some souveniers for the kids at the local Disney store. The stuff at the park is not that different, it just costs 4x as much. My kids were thrilled to have a new little toy appear in the morning (I gave them one every-other morning, 3 each) and enjoyed their new Disney shirts. They never commented on the fact that they never saw us buy them or asked where they came from. Also, if you're going to be there at night, take some glow sticks or (better) glow wands from the dollar store so you don't end up with a $10 light up sword that is as tall as your 4yo (this one I learned the hard way).