I have a question for those of you who have either traveled a lot by car with children, or have opinions on traveling in the car with kids
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My experiences are all as the oldest sibling and not a parent, of course, but if our family car trips are anything to go by, with small children you spend a LOT more time on the road than whatever google maps tells you, especially when the kids aren't old enough to understand why they have to be in the car all day in the first place. That 13 hour stretch looks like a herculean endeavor to me.
We've done road trips all the time with our trip to Chicago being the longest to date with kids. We actually really love it but we also have a built in dvd and tv for the stressful times. It depends on the trip for how often we stop. When going to MA, we only stop for bathroom breaks (generally 2), the trip is about 8 hours without traffic. I pack snacks, activities, etc. With our trip to Chicago, we broke it up a bit. We were driving from MA (stopped at Niagara Falls) spent the night in Cleveland, drove the next morning to ND and then drove on to Chicago. Honestly, it was a pretty easy trip but the boys were also older. I would say to make it as far as you can on the first day. The novelty wears off after the first day. We also stop at all of the random things you see signs for - biggest ball of twine, random museums, etc. It breaks the trip up. But, keep in mind, all of this is coming from a girl that loves road trips and actually loves taking her children on road trips. I think I'm an oddity. :)
A car trip with very young kids will take at least 2 hours longer than with just adults. Plan on that so you don't get annoyed every time you have to make an unplanned stop.
Get a portable DVD player and stock up on movies they love. This was such a blessing when we drove up to OH. A big bag of toys they've never seen before might help too.
When we moved from TX to CA, we drove it almost exclusively at night, so that Joshua would sleep for the bulk of the car time. It was brutal on us grown-ups, but we had absolutely no problems with him riding in the car.
If it were me, I would do B. with the first leg being mostly at night or in the wee hours of the morning. The other two legs are totally doable, especially if you plan a meal break (with play time!) in the middle of the 7-hour trip. I don't know how yours are in the car, but Joshua travels like a champ, and we used to make the trip between Ft Hood and Dallas regularly with no problem.
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Everything with kids takes longer and new and interesting distractions are a must.
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A car trip with very young kids will take at least 2 hours longer than with just adults. Plan on that so you don't get annoyed every time you have to make an unplanned stop.
Get a portable DVD player and stock up on movies they love. This was such a blessing when we drove up to OH. A big bag of toys they've never seen before might help too.
When we moved from TX to CA, we drove it almost exclusively at night, so that Joshua would sleep for the bulk of the car time. It was brutal on us grown-ups, but we had absolutely no problems with him riding in the car.
If it were me, I would do B. with the first leg being mostly at night or in the wee hours of the morning. The other two legs are totally doable, especially if you plan a meal break (with play time!) in the middle of the 7-hour trip. I don't know how yours are in the car, but Joshua travels like a champ, and we used to make the trip between Ft Hood and Dallas regularly with no problem.
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