I want to do a 'useful' bag to leave in the car. Ideas for contents please for carsick-prone 5yr DS and 16mo DD

[bran]

We (by 'we' I obviously mean DH ) would forget our heads if they weren't attached so I want to have a bag that lives in the car and can get us out of a tight corner. I don't want it to be huge so the contents have to be minimal but useful.
In fact it would be good if it was small enough to be hidden under a seat so that DH doesn't know it's there until it's needed, otherwise he won't bother bringing anything with him and I'll have to keep topping it up again.

So far I'm going to include
nappy/wipes/nappy bag
basic change of clothes for each child
bottle of water and straws (or should I have a sippy cup for DD?)
a couple of plastic bags for DS to throw up into/store soiled clothes
pack of oatcakes and snack-sized raisins
small bottle of antiseptic hand gel
kitchen roll (not a full one)

Optional extras are
one or two muslins
sunblock (I may be being overly optimistic here)

We already have a first aid kit in the car so this would just be child-related.

I'd put two small sports cap bottles of water in instead of the large one and straws - that way there is less spillage.

And some cat litter - the gel sort. This can be sprinkled on vomit in the car and absorbs the liquid and stops the smell. You can also put it in a bag to be vomited into, or worst case weed into.

Boots have little pouches of sun cream atm which would be useful. I have put one in each of our cars as we have been caught out before

I always take a towel. I know it is very hitchhikers guide but you can use it as a pillow or a blanket, hang it over the window to cut out the sun, mop up sick or wee, sit on it as a picnic blanket and wear it instead of clothes if you get wet.

and sachets of calpol. can't go anywhere without those.

Leave it in the boot so it doesn't get nicked.

ooh, big tupperware with lids much better to be sick in than plastic bags, less likely to leak, keeps the smell in till you can stop and easier to dispose of sick and rinse out.

What about some sort of entertainment? For you and for kids (comics etc, small toys, pen and paper). Having been stuck on the M6 in a traffic jam for 3 hours (thankfully without any DC) with nothing to read I always make sure there is something like this in the car.

A towel is a good idea, I have one from Ikea that was very cheap and it's so thin that it folds up really small. I love hitchhikers guide too, so that works out neatly. Tupperware also a good idea, I might use it to store things in rather than an actual bag.

I'll probably either split everything into the door pockets or tuck the bag under one of the front seats cornsilk. We might as well not have it if it's in the boot when DS starts vomiting. We have an estate anyway and I hardly ever remember to pull the cover thing over so it would be more on view in the boot.

I don't think entertainment is an essential MGF, although I may well have to come back and eat my words on that. DS is one of those kids who can't do anything by himself, even read a comic so unless one of us climbs into the back with him to do whatever emergency entertainment we have we might as well just stick with I-spy. Anyway, DS's favourite activity is whinging and hitting DD and I don't need to pack anything special for him to do that.

I'll check out the cat litter (DH will think I've gone bonkers). I think I'll just pop a spare sun block in as well, the little pouches sound good but at the moment the only suncream I've found that doesn't trigger his eczema is SunSense. It's quite a neat little roll-on anyway so it won't take up too much room.

I think there are actually two bags/sets to be made up. Things that we might need while the car is moving (sick bag/water/food) and things that we would have to stop the car to use anyway (change of clothes/sun cream/nappies). The in-car stuff can probably be tucked into door-pockets so we can grab it quickly if needed.

Speaking as a mum of DCs who suffer with car/plane sickness, better than plastic bags are the aeroplane sickness bags that are in the pouch in front of each seat. Needless to say, I stock up when flying and now have a stash in each car, just in case.

As a parent of an extremely carsick prone DD (also 5 yr) I second the tupperware and the sickness bags. I used to collect sickness bags all the time! But what I always do now is have a plastic cup in the car at ALL times (the sort that u get when u buy a Starbucks frappucino or McDonalds soft drink). And also Extra Large or Grande or whatever it's called. Much easier to be sick in those, and you can wash it out after, and use again or throw away too (as it's disposable). And it's quite easily replaceable at hardly any cost. I get extremely ANGRY like the incredible hulk if anyone removes it fr the car because we commute a lot daily and dd almost always used to get carsick!
Once, annoyingly, SIL threw it out when DH borrowed the car and I was so upset!!!

my sister has a bucket lined with a few carrier bags so if one of her lo's is sick she can just lift out one bag and bin it and then she has another incase lol,and a towel!
it just sits in the footwell at the back for easy access!

I use the containers from chinese takeaways - with lids, just a quick wash and you can reuse them!! Everyone keeps them for me and they do last a while before they need chucking out!

Another essential is a ravel potty!! Always found wees weren't a prob esp for ds but poos were always a trauma!! The travel potty has saved us so many times!