Car trip with a 19 month old?

[trumansmom]

We are getting ready to go on a LENGTHY car trip. Although DS has flown many times, this will be our first attempt at "seeing America" as a family. We've broken the trip into several days, and anticipate stopping at many small town city parks along the way in order to give DS a break.

We did go buy a travel tv/vcr for the back seat, and I got him a little backpack so we can fill it up with appropriate toys. Now the question is, what toys would be best for the car? Any suggestions would be welcomed! We've already accepted the fact that the greatest expense of this trip will most likely be things to keep Truman happy!


Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01

[sparkeze]

My DS's favorite car toys are books and "forbidden" objects. We do take along other toys but he's only interested for about 2 minutes in those so they don't last very long! One thing that works great for us is to fill up a wallet with old receipts, credit card looking things (like grocery store saver cards, etc, stuff you don't care about) and have him empty it out, then I put it back together again, and again, and again. I also let him play with my cellphone, chapstick, lotion, etc and sometimes I fill up a purse with that kind of stuff and he has a good time going through it. Inexpensive stuff, eh? Favorite books, songs, snacks, and scotch tape is good for long periods of time! Any kind of tape actually - he pulls it off one finger, then the next.

I think I have the hardest time with long car trips - it's a lot of work to sit back there and entertain DS for hours!

And also - if you buy new toys, loud blinking toys are good, but make sure your DS never sees them beforehand! Actually, if you leave it all in the packaging and let him open them all up on the trip (maybe even gift wrap each one to add to the fun) that will lengthen the time of happiness.

HTH!

[jal]

I realize this idea is worthless if you only have a single child, but I can remember being about age 12 and I built a little table (about 3'x1.5') with unequal legs so that it would fit in the backseat between my sister and me. The legs were removable so that we could take it apart and store it under the front seat. We spent the entire trip palying card games (or other games that would fit on the little table) and the time seemed to fly by.

[trumansmom]

I love the idea of Scotch tape! We'll definitely try that! I also got a Baby Lite Brite (lots of flashing lights!), and am planning on getting more of those cloth activity books. I wish we could figure out some sort of table, because he LOVES coloring, but I can't figure out how to keep the crayons from going everywhere!

DH and I keep trying to figure out if this trip is the best or worst idea we have ever had! I guess we'll know soon!

Thanks for the ideas,
Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01

[elf]

Magna-doodles are great. Coloring but without the crayons, and the design is great for travelling.

Also, you might try hiding a few favorite toys a few weeks before and unveiling them during the trip. Stuffed animals and toy cars (like come with little people) are hits this way. My daughter also likes her noisy toy phone.

Take some tapes of his favorite music. My daughter will listen to Bear in the Big Blue House for hours.

For food, I had a small container that I poured small amounts of snacks into. A good snack is cheerios/raisins (my daughter likes cashews also). This is also an occasion where we'll offer chips or fries if necessary. Have a cooler with fruit and cheese slices, and a choice of juice, milk, or water.

Plan to stop regularly at rest areas or points of interest, get out and play on the grass. It might be good to find interesting parks or stores or museums on your route (anyplace with no admission, so you won't feel bad spending only a few minutes) and walk around and play. Even places you're not going to 'shop' at can be good - like it can be very relaxing to walk around at a nursery for 15-20 minutes.

My daughter has been on several long road trips, and we've enjoyed every one.