What keeps you SANE in the car??? I have a 8.5+ hour SOLO car ride with Ian :(

[SASM]

Can you help me revise our routine? I normally have 3.5+ solo trips with Ian but NOTHING this long.

What do you find helps keep your little one and yourself sane? Here is our current routine:

CD's: Baby Neptune, Mozart. Do you have any favorite children's CDs that you can actually tolerate?? I have tried Raffi and a few others and have wanted to pull out my hair and yank off my ears!!!

TOYS: Mozart Magic Cube, Travel MagnaDoodle, cars, train, a coily keychain, soft books. Anything that is easy to feel for in the back seat to pass back to him after he throws it.

SNACKS: Rice cakes, crackers, juice, and milk. Anything that is BIG and easy to pass back to him.

Our routine works for shorter trips but I think that it might need some tweaking for a longer trip. PLEASE HELP!! I DREAD not having DH there for Ian's entertainment and MY sanity :( I know that I am going to have to stop at least twice for diaper changes, bathroom breaks, and food. Getting a portable video player is not an option ~ not that he really watches much television anyway. Unfortunately, I think that we are going to have to leave shortly AFTER he wakes in the morning. I am going to TRY to tire him out before the car ride but I do not know how successful I will be.

TIA (I hope.).

[flagger]

Books on tape or CD

[SASM]

Does Cocoa have any particular favorite books on CD?? I guess anything with a cheerful voice would work, right?

[Melanie]

Magna Doodle!!!!! There's a great one by "Parents" that I found at Target. It has 4 little magnet animal shapes & a pen on a string they can't drop...though admittedly our particular one is difficult for toddler hands to erase, I hope it's just a flaw. Another tip, leave the tag on. That alone kept Ds occupied for a good 5 minutes.

I like the Raffi's 'singable songs for the very young' and Hap Palmer's 'getting to know myself.' though I've never used them in the car.

What about board books? We like Eric Carle & Byron Barton. Or, gasp, the annoying books ones with sound? We have used those for car trips in the past. TIP: Pick one with MANY different sounds, not just 4. You will get sick of the 4 very quickly. *eyeroll*

Little cars. Ikea has a great set of 4 wood & rubber ones...assuming your son is out of the 'put things in my mouth' stage.

A paper lunch bag (or several) with "surprises" in it. You could hand it back to him with the top folded and he gets to open it up to find something. (snack? book? car? Not necessarily brand-new things...maybe sneak away some items in the week before you leave and they will be "new" to him again).

Have a peaceful/sane/not horrible trip. LOL.

Melanie

[macassi]

Well, I was going to suggest leaving at night when he is likely to sleep. We often start car trips at 7pm. I noticed that this isn't an option for you though.

I would wear him out as much as possible the day before -- run him at the park and all sorts of physical exercise. Then, I'd get him up early in the morning and leave early, if that is possible. Hopefully, he'll be tired and take an early nap.

[Kimberly H]

Melanie, it's not just your Parents MagnaDoodle. Ours is impossible for Mia to erase herself. :( She sure loves it though.

[amp]

Toys we use in the car....Parents cell phone, Parents PDA, Battat (I think) mini piano from Marshalls (has like 3 big keys and 4 little ones and can be held in one hand), Parents key chain remote, Sassy, wallet (although all the cards do fall out), travel magnadoodle, board books.

As far as CD's what one person can tolerate, another cannot. We like the Disney CD's w/ the mouse ears on the front and various songs from various movies (I think there are about 4-5 cd's in is series). We also like Songs for Wiggleworms, Philadelphia Chickens, For the Kids (particularly the Barenaked Ladies song "L is such a lovely letter"!)

I know you won't use a portable DVD player, but it did SAVE us on a 13 hour trip this summer!

[flagger]

We did the Harry Potter Books. The reader is very entertaining and can get into different voices quite well.

[SASM]

Melanie,

I LOVE that paper bag idea :) So cute!! You are so right about the MagnaDoodle - that toy is the lifesaver of the bunch. Ha - every now and then Ian will surprise me by having over half of his masterpiece erased!

I will have to try out those CDs - thank you. The only Raffi one that we've tried (can't remember the name) drove DH and I crazy BUT ya never know... I haven't heard of the other one :)

I actually like the idea (well...as I sit in the front the computer it sounds like a good idea to me!) of the books with sound. Do you suggest any in particular?

I LOVE IKEA!! Ian has a little train set from them that he LOVES!! He wouldn't go anywhere without a train in his hand. That was until those cute Tonka Chucks (with the little hats) came into his life :)

Thank you so much for the suggestions!!!!

[SASM]

Marci,

Oh...how I wish that I could leave at night. That would be sooooo ideal for Ian. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that I am not going to get a lot of sleep in preparation for the drive/move that night before. Maybe it would be a GOOD thing that Ian is a wild man in the car to keep me on my toes! :( UGH - it is so sad - at 21 weeks gestation I am STILL exhausted, as if I am still in my first trimester! Ohhhhh...I hope that I get some sleep the night before the trip :(

Thank you so much for the post!

[SASM]

Andrea,

I think I know what piano you are talking about - is it by Chicco? I think that I almost bought that once - way too cute!!

I do like the board book suggestion. Ian is going through a Destructo Boy phase where he just likes to shred his books :( That is why people do not buy nice books for their children!! We have this nice little library of Eric Carle, Boynton, etc, and all Ian wants to do is eat or tear them to bits. Maybe I'll go to the dollar store and pick up a few cheapo books.

Thank you for the CD suggestions. I will run to the library tomorrow :) Actually, tonight I may have found a CD (WITH WORDS) that Ian likes - Putumayo "World Playground"!! We are 1/3 of the way through it and he seems to like it - YEAH!!!

[deenass]

Could you maybe split up the trip and do it over 2 days, for your own sake as well as DS ...

With regard to whta to listen to on the radio, try listening to musi YOU like in addition to kids music. My son dnaces to quite a bit of mainsteam radio and I go less bonkers.

[Jen in Chicago]

Ralph's World CD's! They keep me sane, and Jude loves them. We have them all. My favorites would be the original Ralph's World and Under the Sea.

One of Jude's favorite car toys is a baseball cap. He tries and tries to put it on.

We have a small collection of "car" toys that never leave the car. We have 2 books in the car, one a bath book that I can easily wash and a ABC baby book... I'll say "where is the ball" "where is the sock"... and he points to himself.

Funny how you come up with these games! We also go through his animal noises a few times.

DH in a moment of weakness gave Jude a snack tub of Teddy Grahams which he loved, and we are still finding in the car.

Ralph's World will keep you sane, you will find yourself singing along b/c they are not annoying songs.

[HGraceMom]

VH1 put out a CD at least a year ago titled "For the Kids." It's DD's absolute favorite - she thinks it's kid's music, but I can tolerate it because though the songs are written for children, they're sung by artists I love (barenaked ladies, etc.)

Also, DD seems to like Simon & Garfunkel - I can't listen to it for 3 hours straight, but 1 CD here & there is ok.

Martha Stewart "Sleepytime" always knocks her out, and "Playtime" isn't all that bad for mom.

Your library should carry at least the first two - if you're lucky, the children's section might carry a MS.

If you have a visor for the window, that was a lifesaver for me more than once - and toys / paci's attatched to the car seat with rings or shortish ribbon kept me from pulling over at every stop when DD went through her throwing stage.

Happy Driving!

[jennifer860]

Another vote for Ralph's World!!! We also like They Might Be Giants "No!" cd.

Good luck with your move...

[SASM]

Oh...how I WISH that I could do that!!

[SASM]

Jen,

Thank you so much for the suggestion. Hopefully my library will have one to check out tomorrow!!

Ian is the same way with his hats!! He especially loves trying to put on his denim visor hat :) It usually ends up around his neck - quite a sight in the rear view :)

[SASM]

That VH1 CD sounds so cute!!