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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

Is 17 months too young to watch DVD player in car?

13 replies

Hannah17 · 20/06/2010 20:46

Hi, we are off on holiday in a couple of weeks which will involve a 6 hour car journey with our DD (17 months). We will stop regularly but she is not a great traveller (seems to be the only baby I know that won't sleep in the car!) and gets very frustrated at being in her car seat. Distractions of songs, books and toys don't last very long and we are contemplating getting a DVD player in the hope it distracts her with CBeebies favourites (in short bursts!). However, I'm worried that she's too young for this and wondered what other people thought?
Thanks

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MaamRuby · 20/06/2010 20:48

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belgo · 20/06/2010 20:50

yes too young, and could make her sick anyway.

Music is what you need. And plenty of singing and action games, and regular stops.

pranma · 20/06/2010 20:51

If she has a reasonable attention span it may work-no harm I think and may lull her to sleep.I'd factor in lots of fun breaks for her too.

fairimum · 20/06/2010 21:36

Worked for us on a long trip when DD was 18 months, would go for it as ours is invaluable on long trips now she is 2!!

pebbles77 · 20/06/2010 21:40

I think no right nor wrong if it's what works to get through long journey. Before i had children i would have thought appalling but now i have a 2 1/2 yr old on long car journeys it is sometimes a life line.

What i would say is perhaps try out before in case of sickness

Good luck

ps - my ds cried for about 18 months everytime he got in car however is now fine!!!

KeithTalent · 20/06/2010 21:48

She's too young.

Olihan · 20/06/2010 22:14

We borrowed one from a friend when Ds1 was 15mo for a 5 hour trip.

TBH, it was a lifesaver. We bought a couple of his favourite CBeebies DVDs and he was completely happy to sit and watch it.

He is the sort of child who will happily watch TV 24/7 though and always has been, if she's not much of a TV watcher then it might not work as well.

runnervt · 20/06/2010 22:20

My ds2 (19m) enjoys watching for a wee bit but then loses interest. We put it on mainly for ds1. Can't hurt to try it though I reckon.

UnseenAcademicalMum · 20/06/2010 22:21

When we do long car trips e.g. for holidays we usually try to drive at night. We give our ds's their dinner, get them ready for bed and set off having packed the car up during the day. It works well as the ds's (aged 5 and 2) then just sleep for the whole journey and we get to drive without any congestion.

We then make sure that anything we will need to settle them into bed at the other end will be readily available so that they don't have to wait through us unpacking the entire car.

Would this be an option for you?

BornInTheLGI · 20/06/2010 22:25

We did that, UAM, when ours were that sort of age for 10-hour trips to Cornwall. It worked well over all - we were pretty exhausted for a day, arriving at 3am, but it was better than the DCs squawking and kerfuffling. Now we break the journey half way at a Travel Lodge, and keep them entertained with audio books (lifesavers) and bribes of Tic-Tacs if they've been good for a certain amount of time. I also wrap up the kind of tat they get in party bags, and let them open something every hour if they've been good. Bribery works for us.

tryingtoleave · 21/06/2010 03:53

Worth a try. YOu might even find it helps your dc go to sleep. I think we got one for DS at around this age as I frequently made long trips and was tired of spending hours singing old macdonald. I don't travel as much now, but when I do I also try to go at night. I don't think you need to feel guilty about it.

Original poster

Hannah17 · 21/06/2010 06:42

Thanks for all of your comments they are really helpful. It seems to work for some and not for others. We tried travelling through the night last year and DD woke up and was awake the whole way until we got to the ferry port when she decided to finally drop off!
I certainly don't want to make her sick but may well give it a try to see if it works. Thanks again for all of your comments, fingers crossed we have a reasonable journey!!

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Galena · 21/06/2010 09:54

We bought one when DD was about 10 months. We regularly do 3-5 hour-long journeys. DD loves TV and hates the car and her carseat. We hooked it up so she could watch it in her rear-facing carseat, and she would watch it for a few minutes then fall asleep. If she woke up, she would happily watch it for a further half hour or so without screaming.

We've recently moved her into her forward facing carseat and haven't tried the DVD player since, but fingers crossed!

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