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Tips for Taking Sleepless Toddlers on Roadtrips |
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by jenlemen  (August 2007) (rank 10th) |
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My friend Natala just wrote me and asked if I had any suggestions for taking a one year old on a road trip--"oh and by the way, this is a kid who hates to sleep in the car." Here you go, N--all the best advice I can think of
for you and all the Minti moms in the same boat.
- Drive during the day. Some families swear by that drive through the night thing, I find at our house everyone is happier if we go at a chilled out daylight pace. Start your trip a little bit before rush hour and breakfast to make the most of your daylight hours, and continue on until dusk. When my kids were small, the best plan was always to drive with the sun and sleep with the moon.
- Take lots of breaks. It's never worth it to push your kids beyond their limits when it comes to the car. It would be difficult for a toddler to stay happy in a car seat for longer than a two hour stint. Drive for two hours, take a short gas/refuel/run around the rest area break and then get in the car for another hour and a half. When you break for lunch, make it a nice long break. Don't rush through your meal and make sure your little one gets lots of time to be active before she has to get into the car again. Do this right and you just might win yourself a couple hours of an unexpected nap in the backseat.
- Bring a secret stash of never before seen treats. Do NOT let your kid see you pack this bag. Let it be a little bit of magic that comes out every 15-30 minutes to keep your little one enthralled. No need to buy sophisticated toys--I once got through a three hour plane ride with one plastic Easter egg and one Curious George finger puppet. The possibilities are endless.
- Stock up on snacks. The more novel the better. Now is the time to break out all the things you'd never serve at home. You can still bring the tried and true favorites--a little cooler with yummy fruit and ice cold drinks will satisfy much longer than fast food drive through.
- Travel with a companion. It's always nice to have someone to sit in the passenger seat and keep your little captive going. Once your child knows that his needs will be honored and not ignored, you'll be in much, much better shape and things will go more calmly than expected.
- Put it on repeat. My sister and I once helped my 18 month old get through four hours of stop-and-go traffic by singing the Sesame Street Song "C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me" for at least one of those hours. My daughter couldn't get enough of it and something about the familiar rhythm of that song really helped her stop crying. As long as we kept on singing. :)
- Use the power of the radio. It's really difficult for the most resistant of little non-sleepers to not start snoozing when the radio is playing Enya, calm classic or some New Age station. At your last stop (dinner) if you really must keep driving, put your little guy in his favorite footie pajamas, give him his lovely and crank up the soundtrack of nature on your portable player. If no one speaks and someone holds his hand, I promise you it will be very very difficult for him not give in to Mr. Sandman.
- Don't be afraid to drive at night if you think deep down that getting there faster is the only thing that will work. We really found that everyone arrived in much better spirits when we took a slower pace, but if you really must get there fast, give the drive-by-night plan a try. Our best success came when we started late or had an extremely full nap-free day before getting in the car. Sometimes it's better to just get there, even if the process isn't totally pleasant.
What are your strategies for toddlers, sleeping and roadtrips???
