12 hour car ride

LilliansMom · May 2013

So I have made te official decision to take a 12 hour car ride to see my youngest brother who is graduating from boot camp next week. My sister is going to come with me as well as Lillian who is 19 months old. I am going to leave at like 2am so she is sleeping most of the way and we will stop for breakfast and lunch for food and excersize. Anyone ever take a trip this long with a toddler before? Not sure if I am crazy but I'm feeling like it won't be too bad. Any suggestions on what to bring for activities in the car?

captivated · May 2013

Ive done it tons of times with infants and toddlers. It really isn't that bad! I always leave at night and my children sleep most of the time. I buy a couple new toys right before we leave and they don't get to see or play with them until we get in the car and start out

Snacks are key as well!

jules · May 2013

I just did long trip with my daughter and we do it all the time to see family and stuff it's easier whenI have hubby to drive so if she needs me I'm able to help but it's not bad with just me. I like to leave at night too. Then like u said stop to eat so ur lo can run around plus to change and stuff. I always bring yummy snacks she doesn't get everyday and lots car toys and sometimes I'll turn movie on she loves that. Plus nap times help too! Oh and I have neck pillow for my daughter that way once she's asleep I put it in the front that wayher head doesn't fall forward and keep waking her up really helps!

1stWoodsBaby · May 2013

I did this with Keegan last month (18 months). She did great.we left at 8pm so she slept most of the night. On the ride home we left during the day. She napped a lot. New toys & the iPad with her apps helped the most.

MommyLovesSparkle · May 2013

I did this with a four hour car ride and it was horrible. We even bought a portable dvd player and she was still bad lol. She hates car rides tho. She's 19 months.

LilliansMom · May 2013

Thanks everyone! Makes me feel better that others did it with it not being too bad! Lily is excellent in the car so I know she will be good and probably sleep a lot. I am going to get a DVD player so she can watch some of her shows or a movie on te way too. The part that sucks is that I can't afford to take too many days off of work so I drive down Wednesday night and have to leave Saturday. So I will only 1 full day there before driving back so there's not much time to recover from te drive before doing it again! It will be worth surprising my brother though!

kayleigh27 · May 2013

We did that going to Texas back in Nov. We left at night as well. They did wake up probably because they were uncomfortable but we made it. Just got them snacks and toys.

monkey_girl · May 2013

I did a 32 hour car ride! Don't know how I did it...lol I bought a portable DVD player at Walmart and it saves me every time.

stephforever89 · May 2013

I recently took a 22 hour car ride from NC to TX my son was 15 months. Bring lots of toys to keep them entertain. Snacks and food too. I've done this twice once before when he was like 7months.stop as much as needed to stretch.

stephforever89 · May 2013

I also bought a portable DVD player. But it only played for like and hour before it died. So o took it back and got my money back. Plus Isaiah wanted to push the buttons

LilliansMom · May 2013

I want to get one that goes on the headrest and has a car charger so she can't mess with it and it won't die. I am going to go look a Walmart this weekend!

stephforever89 · May 2013

I couldn't afford the nicer ones. I probably would have been more satisfied with my purchase if the battery lasted longer and it hung up on the seat.

trixiesmom8 · June 2013

Hope everything goes smoothly for you. You'll have to let me know how Lillian does for that long. I'm hoping Trixie will be ok, even if we are driving during the day.