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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Driving Holiday with 3 kids

21 replies

ScarletTiger · 31/03/2009 19:29

We are about to embark on a driving holiday around Scotland this summer with 3 children aged eldest is almost 4, then the 2year old and a 6 month old baby.

Any tips on what to kepp them occupied on the long journey and at the various pit-stops enroute?

What good games can I take along that won't take up too much room - we are taking the usual balls, scooter, play tent as it's foldable.

Is there any other good kids games/tous?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

FigmentOfYourImagination · 31/03/2009 19:30

One of those portable DVD players.

smee · 31/03/2009 19:46

"First one to see a phone box/ bicycle/ motorbike, etc, etc." You can chug through quite a few miles playing that.
Audio books and good music - not kids music or you'll go spare..

morningpaper · 31/03/2009 19:50

that actually sounds like my PERFECT idea of hell

good luck!

smee · 31/03/2009 19:53

actually I was thinking that too, but didn't like to say...

DanJARMouse · 31/03/2009 19:54

You are brave!

We are going up to visit my grandmother in May with a 4yr old, 3yr old and 1yr old.

700 miles.

We are breaking it up with a stop in Edinburgh on the way up and the way back.

Im planning on charging the DS for the older ones, the aquadraw mini mats, books, cds etc.

And lots of stops!!!

TheProfiteroleThief · 31/03/2009 19:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

morningpaper · 31/03/2009 19:56

Can I recommend:

Butlins
Centerparcs
A caravan in France

that's it

Waswondering · 31/03/2009 19:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Surfermum · 31/03/2009 19:56

My dsd is really good at keeping dd amused on long journeys. Shall I rent her to you?

madwomanintheattic · 31/03/2009 19:57

just... why?...

TheProfiteroleThief · 31/03/2009 20:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

ScarletTiger · 31/03/2009 20:10

I know - it's insane - BUT my husband is Australian and he has never seen Scotland, so we are going to drive up from London (what the???!!!!!) base our selves out of Perth and do day trips to various places - I agree it sounds like hell - but NO hell is the return trip to Australia and as I am still nursing they won't give me valium.

OP posts:

mrsgboring · 31/03/2009 20:12

If you can cope with the mess, playdough is good - even in the car, certainly at stops. Although I've always been lucky with the weather in Scotland, don't neglect to take plenty of indoor amusements too.

What are you using for accommodation? If self-catering, you can extend your toy range with things like lentils for stirring in pots and transferring between things (again messy!)

If space is tight, can I also recommend using "Poste Restante" services to extend your range of toys - basically you post yourself a big box of new toys to be collected from the local post office en route and post home what you've got bored with. We've done this a few times and it's worked really well. link to Royal Mail's info If you do this, as well as toys, pack parcel tape, scissors and another box collapsed inside the package, so you can immediately send stuff home. In fact, we usually end up keeping all the toys but send home souvenirs and dirty laundry instead, so you come home with more toys than you drove out with.

morningpaper · 31/03/2009 20:12

You are going on a driving holiday in Scotland with NO VALIUM? Turn back now!

mrsgboring · 31/03/2009 20:23

It will be a hell of a lot to go to Perth all in one go. You could stop in the North East of England which has loads to offer.

We drove to Shetland (via Aberdeen ferry) with an 8 month old. Twas extremely hard work, but we really enjoyed it by taking our time. Now 3, DS really quite likes touring, because it's a new place every night. We drove down Denmark and across the top of Germany last summer and it was great (admittedly we only had the one DC to manage )

madwomanintheattic · 31/03/2009 20:28

y'know, it would be far more sensible to just get the ferry to mull and call it a balamory holiday. dh can look out of the window on the way there and back. dvd mainlining miss hoolie essential.

long haul flights are far far easier than driving anywhere lol - you can walk around, go to the loo, and pass the screaming baby to well-meaning hostesses who are paid to ensure the comfort of all the other passengers so have a vested interest in peace and quiet...

we lived in glasgow and drove south regularly. always overnight, leaving when the 3 dcs should be going to sleep (in their pjs, with a beaker of milk each). sometimes we even got, ooh, a mile before we had to park and get one out to try and stop the wailing....

on one memorable occasion we sang 'old macdonald' for 6 hours straight (it was the only song dd2 knew the 'words' to in makaton). that was when we bought the dvd player. i still suffer flashbacks.

enjoy...

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 31/03/2009 20:30

Can I just ask - WHY?
What would make you want to impose this torture on yourself in the guise of holiday?

KHS · 31/03/2009 20:31

Wow-I like the poste restante idea-that's so organised.

We went on a driving holiday for 3 weeks with 3 year old twins in the back last year and had a great time. DH didn't want DVD players as he insisted the kids should look out of the window and pay attention to what they saw... I was very open to the DVD idea but then again I could see his point. So we invested in these little babies instead.

It's a very basic MP3 player for kids and you don't need to bother with the earphones (bit fiddly for little ones) as it's got a speaker. We filled them up with songs and audiobooks, and the boys entertained themselves for hours on the trot with this little gadget, sitting in the back with a basket of toys and a pile of books between them. Might be good to invest in some new books that come with CDs so they can look at the books while they are listening to the stories. And the MP3s are quiet enough that they can both listen to their radios while we listen to our stuff in the front. Magic!

KHS · 31/03/2009 20:40

Other tips:

Stash of biscuits in the glove compartment carefully timed for distribution when tempers are fraying but it's difficult to stop.

Small duvets to increase the comfy factor at sleepy times.

Stash of exciting magazines with cheap plastic toys in them (i.e. Thomas Tank, Cbeebies) to whisk out from secret place in boot when all other toys have ceased to be interesting.

Keep drinks to a minimum to prevent lots of wee stops. We had bottles of water with those easy close spouts-they're easy to hand to the back seat without spilling.

Good luck, and have fun!

Waswondering · 31/03/2009 22:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fledtoscotland · 31/03/2009 22:30

i personally agree that valium is needed to drive that way with 3.

we regularly make the 500 mile trip from glasgow to devon but stop overnight halfway to give the kids a break from their carseats.

as for tips to make the journey bearable - lots of favourite snacks always go down well with our DS1 (18months). last week on the way home from my mums he managed to consume about 1lb grapes, 3 packs of crips, a chocolate muffin, choc buttons, 2 cups of milk, one fruit shoot (utter bribery in traffic jam) and steal his brothers dummy 23531 times - all in the space of bout 240 miles.

the other thing we do is sit between the boys and play with them. they seem to get less board if one of us is in the back rather than us talking back to them through the seats

good luck

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