We had an absolutely lovely Forth of July weekend in Blanding. So lovely that I didn't once take my camera out of my suitcase. Rest assured that others were snapping pictures right and left (that may make an appearance here eventually) and that we were decked out in red, white, and blue just about the whole weekend. Good times, good food, good company. Couldn't have been better.
But I must say that the coming and going of the trip could definitely have been better.
Raymond, in his short 13 months of life, has proven to be a TERRIBLE traveler. I mean, won't sleep for six hours, but instead will cry, whine, fuss, and fidget. Yesterday's drive home was rough. Rough, I tell ya.
And we're doing an even longer drive in about two weeks. Yikes.
So far, we've tried watching movies (our new car, unbeknown to us beforehand, has a DVD player). We've tried starting the trip right before a nap (so he'll be tired and (cross your fingers) go right to sleep... doesn't usually work). Or starting the trip right after a long nap (which just means we then give up all hope of him sleeping).
We've tried handing him pretzel after pretzel (after pretzel) for hours to keep him occupied. Usually someone sits back by him and hands him his toys as he chucks them to the ground over and over and over.
We usually end up stopping way more than we want to in order to let him get out and stretch his little legs. But, man, I want to just plow though sometimes. But the crying... it gets to ya.
Anyhow, all you wise and experienced mamas out there... what do you do with your one year old to keep him happy in the car for 6+ hours at a time? I really really want to know what you've found that works for your kiddos.
Pretty please.
Or do I just have too high of expectations? Do I just need to come to grips with the fact that driving with kids in long, laborious, and loud? Tell it to me straight. I can handle it. I think.
11 comments:
Major bummer that Raymond doesn't like to travel. Unfortunately, it sounds like you've tried a lot of our tricks. Rachel loves pretzels and we use a lot of those. Sometimes movies don't work if they're not already the ones he loves. I know you guys don't watch a ton of TV, but things like Toy Story, Cars and even Baby Einsteins have worked well at that age. The other trick that Jim does is to turn to the classical station on the radio and turn it up. Eventually, they stop crying. I don't know if that will work for you or not. It's a struggle and I wish you luck.
well kade didnt travel good until he hit 15 months then it just changed and he now travels great. One thing that use to help him was a bottle of water cause he would be thirsty. hugs!
may sound crazy but he might be a kid who gets a bit carsick. Maybe something to combat carsickness will work. dimetapp worked well for my kids.
Ooh, that's a good point about carsickness. Is Raymond used to being in the car longer than 5 minutes? Angie and I are in the car pretty much every day for at least 20 minutes one way (Dallas is kind of spread out) so she's used to being in the car. That doesn't make long drives particularly pleasant, but we try to break them up with stops along the way, and we hand her books to read. Finger plays and songs with hand motions help, too, but she likes those anyway. And yes, you will need to just leave him alone and let him cry it out to get him to sleep in the car. It's aggravating, but it's what we finally resorted to on day 3 of our last trip, and she finally napped just fine. Hope this helps!
Well, unfortunatly you are hitting the worst age of traveling in my opinion. And the fact that Raymond already didn't like it is not helping. But, from 12months - 2 years they are just so active and do not get the whole car thing. Chase was pretty tuff on our last trip. But, I am just a big believer if you travel with them lots they will eventually just get use to it. I am one to not make a lot of stops. I have found if you stop a lot or if you don't the complaining and crying is still about the same. We generally do stop at least once and give about 20 minutes of activity for the boys to move and run and crawl and get energy out. But, that is about all for a 6-7 hour trip. I am not one to want to stop lots. Chase is not much of a movie watcher either. But, some of the Baby Ensteins did work for him. Do you have any of them? I could mail you mine to use for your trip here in a few weeks. Let me know. Also one with lots of music.
My kids are all about the movies. They watch movies the whole time. Oh and we eat lots of little snacks. Weston used to like to watch episodes of Elmo's world when he was that age. Good luck with the CA drive!
CLAY'S PARENT'S LIVE 4 HOURS AWAY IN HOUSTON, AND WE ARE THERE FOR EVERY LONG WEEKEND AND HOLIDAY. I WOULD THINK THAT LINK IS A TRAINED TRAVELER, BUT HE WONT SLEEP IN THE CAR:( HE GETS IT FROM HIS DAD(SLEEP IS BORING AND IF I SLEEP I MIGHT MISS SOMETHING). LINK LOVES TO LISTEN TO PRIMARY AND DISNEY MUSIC. CARS, JUNGLE BOOK, CINDERELLA ARE SOME OF LINK'S FAVORITE MOVIES. WE ALSO LIKE THE BACKYARDIGANS SINGING SENSATION DVD THAT WE RENT FROM REDBOX AND CAN TURN IN WHEN WE ARRIVE THERE AND SWAP OUT FOR SOMETHING NEW FOR THE WAY HOME. WATER AND SNACKS. PACIFIER, BLANKET AND HIS STUFFED PUPPY ARE GREAT COMPANY AND COMFORT. OTHER THEN TRYING EVERYTHING THERE'S NOT MUCH MORE YOU CAN DO:)
MORE VIDEOS THAT LINK SEEMS TO LIKE IS THE SESAME STREET VIDEO CALLED, "WHAT'S THE NAME OF THAT SONG?" AND THE SCHOLASTIC DVD OF WHEELS ON THE BUS. ALSO YOU CAN CHECK VIDEOS OUT FROM YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY AND RENEW ONLINE IF YOU ARE STILL OUT OF TOWN WHEN THE DUE DATE COME UP.
I know this might not help right now, but I think kids kind of out grow the bad traveling, although part is probably due to differing temperments. When Isaac was little he would scream for hours on end. Sounds familiar? Now he does great. We tell him we are going to be in the car for a long time to help prepare him, we play I spy and sing lots of songs (I'd recommend checking out Wee Sing from the library (CDs or books). Since he faces forward and Amy faces backward they are able to entertain each other. I know that doesn't help right now because Raymond is too small for eye spy, but maybe songs will help. And sitting with him. Some other ideas...toys he hasn't seen in a while, puppets, books, and special treats. You could try night driving with the hopes that he'll sleep, but this doesn't work for us. We tried, and at 2 am the kids were wide awake and we wanted to be asleep! Good luck!
PS: I love your writing. Sorry I don't leave as many comments as I want to!
I don't know if this could be the case. BUt all our kids travelled well except Jordan. We didn't find out until he was nearly 2 that he had eustachian tube dysfunction - which means your ears don't pop well and when you travel all the elevation changes make you miserable. I don't know if on his next doc visit if they could check that for you - it may or may not be an answer. I always felt badly that it took 2 years to figure out that Jordan screamed in the car for a reason.
GOod luck!
Great ideas. I don't travel often while my kids are little. Tough love is hard sometimes (letting the child cry it out).
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