Long car journey entertainment help needed

[lizzywig]

DD (19mo) has never really been fond of the car, more so when it stops or we get stuck in traffic. The last 2 or 3 months especially she has been seriously grumpy when in the car which is very difficult because we commute to work/nursery daily, journey is usually 20 mins in and 30 mins back. On occasion I have sat in the back with her to try and keep her entertained but it makes absolutely no difference. She has a small selection of toys in the car, she's not interested. She is in a RF car seat although she has been in a FF a handful of times when in other people's cars and she is exactly the same.

We have a 4 hour car trip coming up and I need some ideas to help the journey go more smoothly because for one we really don't want her to be unhappy but also, my husband is finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on driving and block out her screaming. So far I have downloaded some toddler apps on my phone, I am going to buy some new books (she loves reading) and get her the In the Night Garden magazine, I was also planning on buying a Taf Toys car wheel which looks like it might help. I thought maybe some sticker/colouring books etc could be good and we plan on going just before nap time.

Knowing what she's like though and the various things we've tried before I don't feel that these things will make enough difference. I'm looking for some ideas but I'd also like to try and 'solve' this in the long term. A friend of mine was buying some car sickness tablets for her DD the same age the other day and apparently all of her children suffer with this and from toddler age. Although my DD is saying some words she doesn't say anything that would indicate car sickness so I have no idea how to gauge whether this is what it is....apart from the screaming which could be anything.

Any ideas of advice would be very welcome.

We take a tablet and load with stuff DS isn't usually allowed to watch for long periods - so Peppa Pig, Cars films and similar.

Works for us until he get back and then expects the same on every car trip

We don't have a tablet and I'm being made redundant in 3 months so now isn't the time to buy one. I did think about a portable DVD player but again was umming and ahhing over the cost. I said to DH that we should get either the Taf car wheel or the portable DVD player and he suggested the car wheel. So maybe a portable DVD player would be good by the sound of it.

Dh won't entertain the thought of dvd players, but if it is a straight choice then think about which would have the longer lifespan. A 6yr old won't be using a taf car wheel (ds is 3 and he wouldn't look at it for 2 min) but they will a dvd player. I know it seems a long way off but it will come along soon. I can imagine though that if you have more than one that there might be some squables over what they watch.

Dvd player ever time. They are not that expensive.

Good point, I hadn't thought of it like that. We only have one child and aren't planning anymore for another few years so no immediate problems with that. I think DH is at his wits end and just wants to be able to concentrate on driving! That being said I wonder how distracting an in car DVD player is. I've just come across this which looks good but I wonder if it's just more paraphernalia for the sake of it rather than being something useful?

Do you think she could be bored rear facing now that she is older? If I try and imagine myself sat backwards in a car I think it would feel quite odd?? Also she won't be able to see you and your DH which again could be unsettling if she is aware of your presence?

We often do long journeys and my DSs like to have books to look at. Also they would often fall asleep, can you time the journe to coincide with nap or bedtime?

If possible, do some of the travel close to a nap time - mine will sleep for longer than normal in the car as long as we keep moving - so when we hit a traffic jam, cue kids waking and complaining!
We also do lots of snacks and drinks now in a more upright positing - how reclined is the RF seat??
I think the DVD player would have more use in the long term than the toy.

We've never done DVD players....have heard from friends that they often don't work as a distraction as intended.

massive x posts!

Think the play tray would have more longevity than car wheel. Depending on size could see our 6 & 8 yr old girls using it for drawing etc, however dd2 gets car sick so reading/drawing etc is probably out if it is car sickness. She is generally ok unless trying to read/ look at things in the car. She didn't moan too much in the car though at that age, dd1 did though but it was partly because she knew she would get us holding her foot, sitting with her etc, by the time dd2 came along there wasn't space for us so she didn't realise it was an option!

We bought a DVD player when DS was a similar age after a horrendous journey from Birmingham to Scotland when he cried all the way. We made a rule that it is only ever used on journeys of 2 hours or more, so it's a treat and it has been brilliant as a distraction, still gets used now they are 9 and 7. We don't use it for all long journeys now and even when we do they are quite likely to just watch one dvd then put it off and listen to music, audio books or sports commentary.

hairybaby - I did wonder if it was that but she's never been great in the car from day 1 and the times she has been in FF she's been exactly the same. Besides which as much as I want her to be happy when she's travelling it's my job to keep her safe so I'd like to keep her RF for as long as possible.

Whoknows - this is what I was thinking, only for long trips....doesn't help me with the daily commute though :-(

I think I'll revisit the DVD player idea.

DVD player, the steering wheel & tray won't work for long, save your money on those and spend it on the dvd player it will last years.

Little food like cherrios, raisins, wotsits that take ages to eat.

Sticker books and magazine sound good and leaving at nap time, just before we did a long journey at that age I went to a car boot sale and picked up a bag full of little toys, jigsaws, books etc.

DVD player. We drove to the middle of France when dd1 was 2. It was a dream. However she said "no tv" when we got their and our host said he had found cbeebies! We only use it for journeys over 2 hours.

DVD player - we use it for driving to France, 9.5hours. Can't imagine doing the journey without them TBH. DTs are two now.

Audio books are great for short journeys, you can borrow them on CD from the library.

Our DVD player takes a good few mins to take on and off the car (screens attach to headrests, it all has to be got out of the case and plugged in etc), so even if we wanted to use it for short journeys it would be a bit of a pain on a daily basis. When we bought it it was something of a novelty and valuable and we never left it out in the car for fear of a break-in, don't know how attractive to car thieves it would be nowadays if you left it on. But TBH, even if you did leave it permanently in situ or had one of the ones that is more like a laptop, by the time you switch it on, navigate through various menus to get the DVD started, and then risk a protesting child because they have to stop watching halfway through when they get to the destination, hardly worth it for shorter journeys.

Do you have a nursery rhyme cd? Or maybe even a story cd with Kipper or similar.

DS screamed in the car from day 1, for hours at a time. Much better once forward facing, but I see you've tried that. Long journeys still v hard until the magic DVD player arrived. Again, we only use for long journeys.

Your other option, depending on how portable your DD is once asleep is to travel in the evening. Set of after tea, you'll have an hour of whinging then hopefully she'll fall asleep the rest of the way. Worked for us.

My 15 month old was exactly like this in his rear facing seat, and we hoped that all would change immediately once he switched to a forward facing seat. It didn't, and we were despairing, but he calmed down a lt within a few weeks of moving into the FF seat, so it might be worth persevering...? Other than that, lots of fiddly snacks like nuts and raisins, and singalong audio CDs.

Agree with a dvd player. We bought a Nextbase one from amazon as the reviews were good. Dvd goes behind, it doesn't have anything sticking out in front. They are about £80 now, well worth the investment IMO.

Once DS was old enough we also bought some JVC earphones. Means we can listen to Radio 4 on 3 hour journey to FILs.

We have also taken it on planes, however it eats batteries so an ipad might be better.

Good luck.

DVD players, we won't travel more than an hour without ours, went from Scotland to midlands without one whine. Dc's are 6 &4 now had the DVD for long journeys since ds was 1 . IMO not as distracting as screaming

Also audio books, you can get the cd and book so you can look at the book as its playing

WhiteShakette I'm fairly relaxed on giving kids things to eat, but whole nuts, in the car, is asking for trouble, please don't do it. Its a massive choking risk, with limited opportunity for assistance. Fiddly snacks - raisins, breakfast cereal etc are less risky.