My twins will be two in few weeks. I am thinking on taking my two to Mexico to see their grandma(DH mom). With shorts stops it would be about 10 hrs. of driving. I drove there many times when we did not have kids. Now I am not sure if I should be driving at night hoping they will sleep most of the trip o or day time that we could do more stops. Has anyone done that? any advice would be great
My family lives about 10-12 hours from us and we've done the trip several times - starting at 4 months old and we're actually leaving tomorrow to go. We bought a DVD player that we put in the car for long trips and it helps a lot. I also have a bag of little toys and books that I hand to them from time to time. When we stop for a meal, we try to find a place where they can burn off some energy. We've done the driving all night thing and driving during the day and honestly, it is not as bad as we thought it was going to be. Last time we drove during the day and they did great. This time we're leaving tomorrow around 10:00 p.m. and will drive all night. You will be fine...I say go and enjoy your family!
We just had a horrible drive to Buffalo this last weekend. It took 10 hrs up! It's normally a 7-7 1/2 hr trip. The twins did perfectly! They had snacks and movies to watch. They slept and talked. We had not one word of crying or complaining. It helped to talk about what we were going to do and see. They were more excited about the trip than the long hrs. Now, we do travel long hours often due to travel hockey (the reason for this particular trip). But this was by far the longest and they did beautifully. We didn't even leave until 10 am. We drove mostly in the evening and night on the way back. They cried but it was due to them not wanting to go home. LOL
We have done several long road trips with the twins. They have done really well, but I always go prepared! DVD player is a life saver. Also, I would recommend "surprise bags". Make up bags ahead time w/ goodies inside (small toys, snacks, stickers, etc...). Have them labeled at certain destination points through out your trip (say every 75-100 miles). Hand them out once you get to that particular point. Another thing I would recommend is to schedule stops. We always have a rough idea as to where we will make stops. Even if it is only for 5 minutes at a roadside park, let them get out and burn off some energy.
Sure! We have taken long road trips with all four kids... it always helped us to leave insanely early, around 3:30am. That way we knocked out a good five hours before the kids even woke up, my husband usually did that shift, I would try to sleep, then he would nap when I took over. Helen
We have taken plenty of trips and mostly good. The only bad ones were the middle of the night and kids woke up crying and din't want to go back to sleep. But hte DVD player has saved us. You only live once, do it. We do lots and lots of snacks with a huge variety, that also helps.
We drove to Michigan last summer (our two 17 months old at the time). On the way out there, we left at night hoping that the kids would sleep while we drove. Which they did for the most part until we got a flat going from PA to Ohio and had to get a hotel room at 2:00 in the morning. But, they did great with all of that. After we got the tire fixed the next morning, we drove the other half of the trip during the day and we had plenty of toys and books to keep them occupied and since my parents were traveling with us, there was always two people in third row to entertain the kids (they were rear facing at the time). On the way home, we drove during the day and in addition to the toys & books we also made a couple of stops so the kids could run off some energy. Good luck!
We've done several long trips with mine and they haven't been bad at all. We drove about 12 hours through the night when they were around 7 months and they slept the entire time. So at 19 months we decided to try the same for a shorter drive (around 7 hours). They ended up staying awake the entire time, meaning they didn't go to bed until 2am - and still woke at the normal 6am! So, just this week at 20 months we did the 12 hour drive again during the day this time. I woke them a little early (around 5am) and they did great! They slept some and we only made stops for gas, ate meals in the car, and only had them out once. Down and back with no problems! I agree the DVD and good snacks are key. I would definitely go.
Laura, I LOVE your idea about having "surprise bags"! We are leaving in a couple of weeks for a long drive and I was trying to figure out something different. To the OP, we went on a trip last summer when my girls were just over 1 year old. It was probably 5 or 6 hours, but they did great. There were a few times they got upset because they wanted out, so we would try to find somewhere to stop pretty often. We did have a DVD player and that helped tremendously. And judging by the other comments, if you don't have one already, I'd invest in one! I'm sure you'll have a great time!
We recently drove to Michigan (12 hours) with the girls. We left at about 7 p.m. thinking they would sleep. Wrong. We ended up getting a hotel half way there. They did not sleep AT ALL during the ride there or the ride back, nor did they nap while we were there. They did amazingly well though and I was proud of them for being such troopers. I can't believe they never slept in the car. They never really do sleep in the car, but I figured they would on such a long trip. I took me a week to recover from that trip though! Good luck to you. If yours sleep in the car, I think leaving at night is a good option.
Thank you all for your responses.It seems it is doable and I am ready! Did I mention I will be driving alone with twins? Many of you advised to get DVD player. So my question is should I get 2 portable and put them on head rests in front of them, or I should buy one and have it installed? thanks.
We have one that can come in and out. It has two screens, and the DVD goes in one of them. They connect together so that the movie is shown on both screens. Ours just straps to the headrest of the front seats and we can very easily move them in and out. Like this
We've had both portable and installed DVD players. I like the convenience of the installed player we have now. But there are other uses for portable. We spend gobs of time at hockey and the twins are often bored. We have recently used our computer for those "portable" needs. It really just depends on your future needs. I personally didn't like having to strap up the portable players. But it works very well for some families.
We do 5 hour trips several times a year and twice did 11 hour trips in the past 4 months. We do NOT have a DVD player and they have been super travelers!! We do 'surprise' bags, books on tape, coloring, Viewfinders, small toys, music, pens& paper, stickers, and small toys.....really they like to look our the window too! Go for it! We always travel by day.
