Any suggestions for traveling with a 7, 5, 3 year old and a 6 month old on a 20 hour road trip?

Question

For Christmas this year we are taking a road trip to visit my husband's family. They live 20 hours away. We have a 7 year old boy, 5 and 3 year old girls and a baby who will be 6 months old at the time of the trip. Does anyone have any suggestion or had a similar experience on keeping all these kids from driving us crazy as we drive cross country? Any tips on things to pack, games to play, stops to make etc. Is there one or more things that you wish you would have packed? Thanks in advance for the help!

ok I noticed alot of DVD player suggestions and we are taking one of those. WE are also stretching this trip out a tad over two days and stopping at a motel. I just used the 20 hour trip to emphasive the distance. We will be switching timezones any help there? And how often is car sickness an issue? The longest trip they have ever been on is 3 hours and noone got sick then. Lots of great suggestions, keep em coming.

Answer 1

I traveled with the same age kids. Best advice is to break up the trip with stops that involve kid-friendly things (beach, playground, children's museum, whatever). We traveled 20 hours, but did it over a period of 3 days down and 4 days back.

For the three older kids I made binders with a pencil holder that clips in, with stickers, crayons, pencils, and a pencil sharpener. Besides plain blank paper I put lined paper (for a "journal" for the two older kids), tracing paper (they brought books with illustrations), and lots of printouts from the internet (kids' sudoku, travel bingo, coloring pages, dot-to-dot, mazes, color-by-number, logic puzzles, etc). I also printed a two battleship grids per page so the older two kids could play battleship (they drew in their own ships and marked off hits and misses), and a list of states for them to cross off when they saw license plates. Everyone had 2 animals or dolls to socialize with each other, and a lot of books. I also had an etch-a-sketch and a pocket-sized simon (you can also get pocket-sized sudoku games for the older two). Another choice is the magnetic games like chess, checkers, or chutes and ladders. For the baby, I just had a bag of baby toys that I kept in front with me and passed back as he got grumpy. We sang a lot of songs, played a lot of word games, and stopped for breaks as often as possible. Honestly, the three-year-old probably spent 3 hours having the different color crayons "talk" to each other. :-)

I expected disaster, but our trip was a blast for everybody. Have fun!

Answer 2

suggestions traveling 7 5 3 year 6 month 20 hour road trip

Answer 3

Well, I would say the dvd is a great idea first off. I would recommend that in a heartbeat, but seeing as it already has been.....
I would make sure you have snacks and drinks for sure. Tons of wipes.
Then bring a bag with some favorite toys. And games like car bingo will be grat, even for the 3 year old. They can help find things along with the rest of them, if not have their very own card to play with. Card games, like go fish and old maid are good. Then there's the aqua doodle travel pads and magnadoodles. There are these really cool things now called go paint and they have certain packs especially for travel. So, that's a good idea, what kid doesn't love to paint. (again another good reason for tons of wipes.) Good old fashion paper and crayons and coloring books. Just books in general are a good idea. For your 3 year old especially a new book about going on a trip, not a bad idea for the 5 year old either. That way they can learn a little bit about going on a trip.
Hope that helps a little. If I think of anything really good I'll let you know.

Answer 4

Have a cooler with sugar-free snacks (you dont' want a bunch of hyped up little kids in the backseat) and juice boxes. Get a portable DVD player, if you don't already have one, because it is TOTALLY worth it!!! Pack their favorite movies and some headphones. For your seven-year-old, a few books or a gameboy might be helpful, too. Include favorite pillows & blankets, lovies, and a few books, coloring books, and other small, relatively quiet toys.

Get out often. Stretch your legs, let them wear off some energy, get something to drink, go to the bathroom, and get back on your way.

If you can, I'd allow for the drive to be a two-day trip. You may find that you just have to stop and stay at a motel, then finish the drive the next day.

My husband's best friend suggested to us to take along a jar, and let the boys have pee breaks in the car. I just couldn't bring myself to do that, though.

For at least your seven and five year old, this can be an educational opportunity, too. My grandparents took me on a long road trip when I was about three years old, and that trip really helped me out twelve years later when I was trying to pass geography (not a strong subject for me). I had memorized from an early age most of the southern states(11 of them... Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas), in the order in which we visited them, and I still refer back to that list that I learned all those years ago when I'm trying to remember the layout of the south-eastern part of the United States.

The main thing is to keep your expectations low and to be prepared. If they have not been on a long car drive before, I would strongly suggest taking along some dramamine (for the right ages) and some extra bags (barf bags). That's not a surprise you want to deal with unprepared. And I would stop referring to it as "a 20 hour trip", because it most likely won't be a 20-hour-trip for you again for a very long time.

Answer 5

We traveled with my son when he was 5 months old and it was a disaster haha. We were in the car for 10 hours. The tip i can give you is stop frequently and get the baby out of the car seat. It might help that he is a little older and can do a little more, but my son hated the whole trip if he wasn't sleeping. I like the first person's answer, travel at night...I think this would help a lot! Good luck and have fun!!

Answer 6

lol, reminds me of my earlier years, my mum used to travel all over with 5 of us!! she always made it a night trip which is so much better as the older kids will more likely sleep so pack a few pillows & blankets 4 them, & colouring books, magazines, hand help toys etc are all good time wasters!! get the baby out of the car seat frequently as a trip that long in a car seat is no good 4 there backs. Also limit the amount of fluids u allow the kids 2 drink because you'l be stopping constantly 4 loo trips! hope this helps, good luck.

Answer 7

Save up a little extra money and stop at a motel on the way. That is much safer, you will be less exhausted and more pleasant for your Christmas visit.
For the older kids, magnetic games are good. Also comic books.
A portable DVD player as well.
I trust you have a large enough vehicle so everyone can be comfortable.

Answer 8

For car sickness, have them take benadryl 20 minutes before the trip. Go to the dollar store and secretly buy little gifts (toys, books, game, candy) and wrap them up in Christmas wrapping paper (to get them in the spirit). After x amount of miles, give them one of the gifts. Give them disposable cameras to take pics in the car, have them look at license plates to find the letters of the alphabet (in order). And don't forget you have a 20 trip home too!! Pack extras for the ride back! Good luck!! You are a brave soul!

Answer 9

Invest in a portable dvd player for the road!!!! And Ear phones, you can usually put two pairs in them. My daughter talks more than anyone on earth, and movies kept her pretty quiet during a 14 hr trip.
If I were you I'd ask the Dr for a couple of valium for you during the trip, so you don't freak out on them while they are nagging, LOL
GOOD LUCK...I DON'T ENVY YOU!!!!
Stop at a Mc Donald with a play place when they are starting to get really antsy, and let them play for a good half hour or so to get out some energy.

Answer 10

My son plays his nintendo DS on car trips...Look into handheld games (not necessarily that expensive) for the 7,5 and 3 year old..the six month old might sleep most of the trip, if not, assign the kids time slots to "occupy" him/her...Contemplate renting or buying a DVD player that they can watch movies on during the ride also....a laptop works fine too if you have one...