Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: Phoenix...until next week, then Maryland...tick tock tick tock
169 posts, read 607,680 times
Reputation: 108
Advertisements
Hey everybody,
I was wondering if anyone has any good suggestions and/or input as to how to keep myself & my 18 month old son from going insane on the 5-day car trip from Phoenix to Maryland next week! Unfortunately, I don't have a car cool enough to have a DVD player (nor do I have 5 days worth of Baby Einsteins ) & no money in the budget for a portable one... So that's out...but I have "sequestered" a few of his favorite toys away for the trip. Other than that, I'm hopelessly clueless! Any thoughts (or posts of sympathy...hehe ) would be greatly appreciated!
I can give you both thoughts AND sympathy. When we drove to our new home (a two day drive)...I won't lie...it got challenging at times. Be prepared to stop more often. Let the little guy out and run around. If you can, when you get a meal on the road take it to a rest stop or somewhere where he can be active while you stop. Also I don't know if this is out for you or not, but if you have a friend you could borrow a dvd player from, I'd recommened it. If not it will be okay. We did use ours, but after awhile it wore off. Not to mention mommy and daddy got a little tired of Einsteins and Elmos..ha ha ha. Also we bought some "new toys" (real cheap at Wally World and Dollar Store) and broke those out one at a time when we needed some help. And give him some space. Sit back with him some and then go up front some. They need "time alone" too. Good luck. It will be okay!!!!! If I can think of anything else I will post!
well..i can give you my "redneck: idea of what we did. i went to radioshack and bought a power invertor-dc to ac and used my daughters small tv and vcr in our van...no i admit it wasnt high tech looking, but it sure helped on a long trip...just a suggestion..if you do watch movies the whole trip, get the driver some headphones or something..after the 5th time the kids watched "legally blonde" i had the words memorized!-lol, even though i cuddint see the screen
Location: Ohio, but moving to El Paso, TX August/September
434 posts, read 1,653,084 times
Reputation: 310
Quote:
Originally Posted by MsB23
Hey everybody,
I was wondering if anyone has any good suggestions and/or input as to how to keep myself & my 18 month old son from going insane on the 5-day car trip from Phoenix to Maryland next week! Unfortunately, I don't have a car cool enough to have a DVD player (nor do I have 5 days worth of Baby Einsteins ) & no money in the budget for a portable one... So that's out...but I have "sequestered" a few of his favorite toys away for the trip. Other than that, I'm hopelessly clueless! Any thoughts (or posts of sympathy...hehe ) would be greatly appreciated!
See if you have a friend that you can borrow a portable DVD player from if you can't afford one. Seriously, it's a huge lifesaver.
I just looked on ebay and there are some AWESOME deals for portable dvd players. There are a couple ending in 5 minutes that have no bid and start at .99 cents. Just a thought!
Location: Phoenix...until next week, then Maryland...tick tock tick tock
169 posts, read 607,680 times
Reputation: 108
Quote:
Originally Posted by little_thirsty
I just looked on ebay and there are some AWESOME deals for portable dvd players. There are a couple ending in 5 minutes that have no bid and start at .99 cents. Just a thought!
Wow! Thanks! I'd rep you again if I could! LoL
Reps all around for your suggestions guys! Thanks!
I'm soooo nervous...not only are we moving in July (why do I always end up moving in July or August--no matter what kind of lease terms I sign, I always end up moving in the middle of summer... >.<) but it is a 5 day drive with my son to a place I've never even been!
Oh wow, good luck! But really how exciting!!!!!! We just moved and it has been awesome. You know the first month or two is kinda of stressful but then you start to feel at home! Maybe you can meet some new neighbors over City Data. San Antonio has had two meet and greets and it has been awesome. Good luck and just stay positive. I am learning from experience the more stressed I get, the more stressed our toddler gets!!!
Reps all around for your suggestions guys! Thanks!
I'm soooo nervous...not only are we moving in July (why do I always end up moving in July or August--no matter what kind of lease terms I sign, I always end up moving in the middle of summer... >.<) but it is a 5 day drive with my son to a place I've never even been!
Location: Ohio, but moving to El Paso, TX August/September
434 posts, read 1,653,084 times
Reputation: 310
Quote:
Originally Posted by MsB23
Wow! Thanks! I'd rep you again if I could! LoL
Reps all around for your suggestions guys! Thanks!
I'm soooo nervous...not only are we moving in July (why do I always end up moving in July or August--no matter what kind of lease terms I sign, I always end up moving in the middle of summer... >.<) but it is a 5 day drive with my son to a place I've never even been!
I guess life wasn't exciting enough.
...did I mention we don't have jobs yet?
I'm in the same boat as you are (kinda). We are moving from OH to El Paso, TX (which is 28 hours drive). My husband has to be there mid-August and the boys and I will follow whenever our house here in OH sells so who knows when we'll be moving. But I'm moving with two 3-year olds.
Your trip will probably be way worse because I remember doing a 10 hour car drive and a 7 hour flight when the boys were your kid's age, and it was a nightmare. Something you might want to seriously try, is an herbal thing called "Chamomile Calm". My boys' pediatrician (and he tends to be on the more holistic side) recommends it and we don't travel without it anymore. It's all herbal, and it's like a kid's version of chamomile tea. It is not a medication for them so it is not drugging your kid, it's the equivalent of an adult having a cup of chamomile tea to calm down. You can get it at most health food stores and it is a great product.
5 days...?!?!?! ((gasp)) Oh heavens... I did a lot of car trips with my 3 & 4 year olds when they were younger and 4 hours was hard enough...LOL I think the suggestions of borrowing a portable DVD player or the other suggestion of EBay.... sound like something to try out. For me... it was using my imaganation.. doing little puppet shows, being completely silly - singing songs.... hand clapping... peek-a-boo... I brought along toys that I knew my children loved and would play with them.... (talk on pretend cell phone) squeeze the hell out of the squeek toys.... it's all about entertainment... though I was blessed because mine slept a lot Maybe stopping off @ McDonald's to run around in the play area might help too.... GOOD LUCK!! Let us know how your trip went and what you would recommend if you had to do it again
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) & no money in the budget for a portable one... 
So that's out...but I have "sequestered" a few of his favorite toys away for the trip. Other than that, I'm hopelessly clueless! Any thoughts (or posts of sympathy...hehe 
) would be greatly appreciated! 
