To take my toddler on a 3.5 hour train journey?

[Peppapigforlife]

Has anyone ever done it? I want to take her on a toddler holiday. I don't think my phone battery will last long enough to keep her entertained and I think the trains are older ones without plug sockets. It's not just one train but three changes.
The longest she has been on a train is just over an hour.
Any experiences would be really appreciated.

Oh just to add I don't drive and I checked for coaches, but there aren't any.

A Poundland back of stuff is the way to go, stickers, colouring in, a wee comic. I spy, etc. Save the phone for the third journey when it's all getting a bit samey (bring headphones!!!!).

When she gets a little bit older, pre-pandemic I discovered that comics like the Beano still do a summer special - do you remember those from when you were little? Kept DS going for a whole trip to London and gave me a massive hit of nostalgia at the same time.

I've got a 26-30 railcard which needs making the most of, as hardly used this year. I think I'll be okay without booking her a seat though as trains in the south east where I am, during the daytime, never have that many people on them.

Wrap toys up with layers of paper like pass the parcel. Every stop you take a layer off. Or every time you pass a field of cows you take another layer off. You could actually wrap her snacks as well so she gets a box of raisins and a finger of fudge. Good just having one with you and so no competing

@NoYOUbekind yes I loved the Beano!

@mum5net ooh I like that idea

I took mine on a 6h trip across Europe on the train at that age. She loved it and still talks about it two years later.

Colouring book, snacks, bit of telly on phone, new small toy (a train!).

The tricky part was managing changes with toddler plus luggage. Don't go for any short time changes!

Anker power bars are great - lots of sizes/price options. Enjoy your trip!

Pack an emergency drink for both of you.

I was once on a train to Cornwall from London (5 hours without a delay) that was delayed. A fellow passenger had her young twins with her, her husband was driving and meeting them in Cornwall but they thought the train would be better for the children.

Because of the delays the train crew were giving out free drinks but didn't have any milk other than the small pots you get with tea.

I agree with booking assistance and take a blanket / shawl to cover her if she sleeps.

Absolutely. The more you expose children to these things the easier things will be when they’re older. You dont have to entertain her every minute, just the usual books, snacks, colouring. Go for a walk up the carriage if restless.

I did three hours and then five hours with my toddler over summer as he’s car sick.

He was only 17mo and not interested in phones really so no headphones or anything. He’s also strong-willed and likes to walk.

Was an adventure. Some hairy moments (got on wrong train and had to be saved by a lovely helpful employee) and got stuck with the pram in a couple of vestibules because couldn’t collapse pram while keeping baby safe, but we muddled through.

Lots and lots of snacks. Lots. And new pop up books.

Just check any toys you take to ensure they're not noisy. Just Remembering a long intercity train journey years ago where mum took a little ice cream van type toy, DS loved it, and then she realised it went "pop, pop, pop, pop" as he drove it along the table. She was trying to distract him with books but he wanted his pop pop van.

As with a few others here we once did pretty much a full day on trains with our then 2 year old. Eurostar to Paris and then from Paris to Barcelona.
You've had really good advice here already, with regard to bringing treats out every so often and lots of snacks.
Sticker books were really our saviour, especially the themed ones.

DS is now 8 and has plans for us to do all our future holidays on trains as he loves it!

You’ll be fine. I used to take mine from Leeds to London at a similar age and it was ok. Take plenty of activity books, snacks, drinks. Maybe try a charging case or portable charger for your phone?

I do it every summer since mine was 6 months old with her older sister To those saying go in first class....only if you want death stares.
My tips don't travel on a Monday or Friday travel outside peak times. Though my best time ever was when a hen do took care of both of them as they thought they were so cute!! Book a seat for them though they travel free under 4 - they won't get an allocated seat. And just keep feeding them, give them lots of stickers, 3.5 if big enough to watch a film/ play a game on a tablet. Totally doable. Though one warning in summer they do engineering work which means journeys take longer than usual so definitely check

Still book a table seat, as assuming it'll be fine is different to reality.

No suitcases, you'll need a largish day/backpack.

Set of chest harness reins - not just for stopping escapes, but because it's far more reassuring when getting on and off a train that doesn't have level access to have them securely wrapped around your forearm.

A lightweight buggy with a carrying strap is far easier to manoeuvre.

The way you navigate on and off safely is child in reins, backpack on, buggy over other shoulder so you have one arm to lift and carry the toddler and the other is still free to hold onto the grab rail - no attempting to get child in buggy up and down safely/without risking tipping out.

@NeverDropYourMooncup they don't have seat allocations on the routes down here.

Ah right, you're on Southeastern. Fair enough - being a narrower profile with backpack, folded buggy and the like will make you that tiny bit faster; to be able to get to the nearest table seat if you find yourself on a service that has a group of students or the like all bundling on, you don't want to be trying to get a standard width buggy folded up or down the aisles as everybody else is shoving past to get the seats first.

I regularly do 3 hours with my 3 year old to visit family.

We usually try to leave around 10-11am in the morning.

We have set activities for the trip which we've found work for us:

• Snack time - we usually buy a small cake on the way to the station and share it on the train.
• Threading beads.
• Water colouring in book.
• Lunch time
• Reading books
• Window stickers
• Small tub of playdoh, a rolling-pin and a couple of cutters
• Snack-time - fruit and cheese cubes.

After my DC has exhausted these activities (normally 10-15 mins max per activity), I admit defeat and put the tablet on.

When my DC was younger, I would bring reins/a harness and use it as a seatbelt for the train seat so they couldn't escape and run wild through the train carriage. Meant I didn't have to restrain a wriggling toddler the whole time.

I’ve done this a few times, starting when dd was 18mo. I’d add to ideas from pp

• window clings/gels (get them on Amazon). Very small to carry and can occupy toddlers for ages if you get a window seat
• small set of magnetic tiles and a duplo figure/toy animal or 2 (can make houses/vehicles for the toys from the tiles and they end up on the floor less than some toys due to being magnetic = fewer tears in our case)
• comic
• food that takes ages to eat, e.g. apples, carrots with dip

We did all our holidays by train when DD was a toddler, and it was fine. Reins are a good idea - we also used them as a seatbelt, and it helps with safety on the platform. Changes are actually a good thing, we realised - if you have half an hour between trains then they can have a bit of a run-around before you get on the next train.

I’ve taken a toddler on a 24 hour flight by myself more than once, it’s fine.

Without sounding wanky, you can last that long without phone screen. Sit at a table, stickers food screen repeat. It will be fine.

I used to fill my sons bag with stuff to do like puzzle games, a couple of toys, activity book and snacks. The longer train he got to open the bag, the shorter ones he was given something else like a book or could watch the iPad as I couldn’t deal with the hassle of everything coming out and having to go back in again within twenty mins lol
Just be prepared.

Worth checking the first class prices on some of the journey. Sometimes off peak it's only a couple of pounds difference in price from the standard ticket, and you can get free drinks/snacks and a more comfortable seat!

When DS1 was 2.5 we did a 7 hour train journey across Poland as part of a trip and it was fine. As pp have said, you can walk around which helps. We downloaded some Cbeebies episodes, some colouring, stickers etc and a couple of meals and the time went surprisingly quicly!

Glove puppets were my go to for travel entertainment when mine were tiny (they were always mute though but would sometimes whisper in my ear a la Sooty).
If you're lucky you might encounter someone like me who is nostalgic about entertaining toddlers as her 6ft bearded offspring get themselves about or just sit with headphones in ignoring me!