9 hour car journey with 2.9 and 1.9 year old. Are we mad?

[Piggy]

We are thinking about driving up to stay with my parents in a couple of weeks time. They live 450 miles away and it's usually a 9 hour drive including stops. My 2 dses (2.9 and 1.9) are very active and I do think we might be mad to contemplate this. However, we have lots of story cds and those portable dvd players that hang on the headrests. We did a 5.5 hour journey in June and it was almost bearable.

We would leave at about 7am. They have a sleep (1 - 2 hours) late morning so they would sleep for a little bit of the journey. I would also plan to take a picnic and stop off somewhere for lunch and try to give them a run around.

Has anyone else tried this? Would you do it? Are we nuts?

not mad, we've done similar journeys with DTs since they were about 8 months, as has been mentioned you'll need plenty of snacks, bag of surprises (jsut things like party bag fillers, xmas stocking toys etc) try Ispy with colours rather than letters, stories on cd/tape, spot a pink car (quite rare!) most services have a little play area

we're off on a 400 mile trek tomorrow, DTs are now 3.7 and getting harder to entertain...I have a stash of toys now that only come out on journeys from my 'sac magique' (I teach french and used to love tots tv ) and they only get them every so often, car looks like a bombsite by the tiem we arrive

Or if you really don't like the sound of a 9-hour journey, do it over 2 days with a cheap stay in the middle. So on the first night set off say 6-7 p.m. and drive 3 or 4 hours. Hopefully, the children will doze for some of this. Stay in a Travelodge (some £15 or £26 deals around if you book in advance). Next morning leave at a civilised hour and do the last half of the journey, getting to your destination relatively fresh.

Thank you all. You are all so wise and helpful.

We are going from the New Forest to Edinburgh so if anyone does have any suggestions for stop offs that would be good. Tebay is probably the best service station to stop at for any length of time but that's quite a long way in.

I think dh and I will get up at 4.30, get everything ready and head off as soon as we can. I'll print this thread off to give me encouragement to get me through the journey!

Thanks guys.

Or your husband flies them up and you drive which may be more peaceful for you. No reason women should have the hard bits of life etc.

Or have you tried the train? But you need the car. You used to be able to take the car on the train up to Inverness.

I really think flying would be easy. We fly a lot to Newcastle from London on very cheap flights and it takes 45 mins. Even allowing for getting to airports it's much more civilised and fun for children. And then hire a car from the air port. But then you've got car hire costs I suppose.

That's exactly the dilemma we've got Xenia. Another thing to factor is the cost of the flights. By the time we've paid for our flights (including my mum's flights up and down to help out) we are looking at over £800. Car hire would add loads - we'd want a decent sized car with car seats and last time it cost us about £300 for a week. I'm so not a tight wad but I do resent paying full fare for a tiny 2.9 year old! Our local airport just has one carrier up to Edinburgh now and as a result the fares have gone through the roof.

Xenia -I like your suggestion about the husband taking the kids.

Car hire would increase costs but would be worth looking into I think, in fact Piggy do you really need the car in Edinburgh or could you manage?

I am lucky as can use my sister's car once up here. Actually she is on hol (teacher) and is looking after my kids whilst I work in her house and don't worry about my own housework. DP is knocking out our orange bathroom and putting in an uber modern one whilst I'm away so think i got the better deal flying with the kids.

Sorry crossed posts Piggy.

We have a cheap airline from Liverpool to Inverness - can you fly Bristol to Edinburgh maybe?

Carseats are only £5 each to fly with so maybe cheaper than hiring? Maybe your Mum could get the train - is she a 'sit and read a book type'??

It's actually a small village outside Edinburgh so we would need a car (and car seats). We'll be visiting lots of friends and family and can't rely on using my dad's car because he's out so much.

x-posts again! The train from Edinburgh to Southampton or Salisbury is almost as expensive as a flight!

Portable DVD players that hang on the headrests are very dangerous - they can kill a child in an accident . I read an article recently that suggested they ought to be banned.

I couldn't have contemplated a nine-hour drive with my daughter when she was 1.9. She would have yelled all the way.

Yes Piggy I can imagine it is. Anyway I'm sure you'll be fine driving - not sure why I'm encouraging flying when I am feeling guilty about me emmisions from this week.

My two are 3 years and 17 months and we were fine. Both like etcha-sketch and eldest had a stamp set and ink this time. Also those wipe off books are good but have a dishcloth handy. It helps when they get fractious to have an adult in the back in between car seat too - you could draw straws.

Nooo - children don't yell all the way. They yell when they are tired or fed up and when they yell, you know that it is time for a break.

You'll be fine, Piggy. I promise.

My daughter yelled constantly in the car until she was 2. She absolutely loathed the car and being strapped in the car seat. So I took the bus/train etc where she could move around.

She's fine in the car now.

We drive from London to Argyll every school hol with dd (now 2.7). It's fine. Lots of snacks and music/story tapes etc.

To op, can you split the journey into two and stay overnight en route at a travelodge?

Set off at 5pm one everning, stay at travelodge, arriving about 9pm. Up early, get to Edinburgh in time for lunch. Very easy.

Staying over somewhere would be a nightmare for us. All of us in one room (plus large dog) wouldn't work unfortunately. Boys would wake each other, dog would get excited and think it was play time and bounce around all over the place or else howl all night if we left her in the car. We'd also need a cot for ds2 and a bed guard for ds1. I'd rather do it all at once tbh.

Liking the etch a sketch idea laundrylover!

This is the first mention of a large dog !!!

Sorry - you are right laundrylover! She's actually so easy so I don't usually need to think about her!

we've just survived the annual trip from devon to northern Italy. Our children are older though. I recommend to break the 9hours journey into two smaller ones. You'll be fine. And bring lots of organix cheese puffs ;-D

I've got 3yo dd and drive 7 hours to see family regularly- have done since she was a couple of months old. Admittedly I prefer taking the train but that's more because I hate long mototrway journeys than because of the stress of dealing with dd. It's rarely been a problem, we don't always stop for proper breaks as that just prolongs the journey but do toilet stops every couple of hours and have lunch in the car. We have portable DVD player and let dd pick the DVDs but also pack a coupl eof comics (free gifts entertain her for hours), paper and pens and normally a new little toy she hasn't seen before. Story CDs are also a good diversion even if they do drive other passengers mad . You'll be fine, go for it!

Large dog? Lord-a-lucky, I wouldn't like to trave anywhere with a large dog.

The dog's the easy bit pointy! She's a soft black lab and is happy as long as she's with us. We have a big car and her bit at the back (on a lovely soft dog bed - natch) is the quietest, most peaceful part of the car!

Haylstones - oh yes, if I hear the Thomas story cd one more time I'll get out of the car, even if it's on the M6!

Piggy - you've had loads of advice but I'm going to stick my oar in anyway.
Firstly, don't split the journey over two days - I find it just prolongs the agony.
Secondly - is there any reason why you can't pack the car the night before? Saves you having to do things in the morning
Thirdly - have a constant supply of snacks - dried fruit, bread sticks, plain biscuits, juice cartons.....and resign yourself to the fact that your car will be a total mess at the end of the journey, but shoving food at them does lessen the crying.
We recently drove from London to Ireland - we got up early, got everything ready, then scooped the kids up out of their beds while they were asleep and put them in the car. They woke up and stayed awake for an hour, looking slightly shellshocked, and then went to sleep for a couple of hours. When they woke we stopped for breakfast (note: every stop will take at least an hour! It is not possible to do it faster)
It'll be a long day, but it will be fine!
Enjoy