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Parenting

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Original poster

How do you amuse a toddler in the car?

16 replies

sharond101 · 18/10/2013 21:48

Ds 17mo gets very restless in the car and persistently whines. I give him toys and books in the car and even sometimes DH's iPhone with his favourite cartoon app but after a while he begins again. We were out for the day today and he had such fun but the 30minute car journey each way was stressful.

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ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 18/10/2013 21:50

Is he in the back by himself, or is one of you sitting with him?

ElBombero · 18/10/2013 21:51

Get a music cd from ELC and sing.

debbie1412 · 18/10/2013 21:53

We catch the trucks, buses ,vans and guess when the lights will turn to green and we can go go go!

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Original poster

sharond101 · 18/10/2013 22:08

he is in the back by himself. Have tried sitting in there with him but he just demands attention the whole journey and it's as if it makes it worse. He is not so bad in our second car as his car seat is in the front.

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EugenesAxe · 18/10/2013 22:08

Yes I think music is the way to go for that age... you could try the Gruffalo & other JD books CD set, which each have story and song. My DD that age quite engages with them. She also enjoys 'spotting' - it's fun when you get 'sheep!!' or ''orses!' hollered from the back. Since having two, I realise a sibling is actually one of the best car entertainments you can give a child.

In terms of music, we have this CD. It's very traditional (so can be a bit brutal) but the tunes are often lively and little ones like them. For older ones (and us; it's absolutely hilarious) I can heartily recommend Alan Bennett reading Winnie The Pooh.

Alanna1 · 18/10/2013 22:13

Seriously? Of course at toddler gets bored in the car! They can't run around. They are stuck in a seat. I sit in the back for longish journeys and read books / sing etc.

BananaPie · 18/10/2013 22:15

We have the same problem - car seat in the front is the only thing that really stops it (but I worry that it's not all that safe). Peppa pig on the iphone helps, although I try to ration that after a couple of near miss sick incidents...

Pomegranate · 19/10/2013 18:03

hello

WidowWadman · 19/10/2013 18:39

We normally just talk to the kids, maybe sing a song. After a while they drop off.

awwwwmannnn · 21/10/2013 22:55

we play games with our DD (2.11) we have a game to see who can spot the most yellow cars or minis - gets quite boisterous with 5 of us shouting yellow car or mini and trying to outdo each other, but its good fun and keeps her amused!! we talk about what's going on outside the car point out interesting things to her...if we're going over bumps then we count to 3 and we all go bump...very dramatically but it makes her giggle and she loves bumping against her seat and making us laugh....it works for us, but we just do whatever we can to make any journey as interesting and fun for her as we can!

whyno · 22/10/2013 06:07

CDs. We have kids songs, Charlie and Lola, and the Gruffalo.

neontetra · 22/10/2013 06:11

My 18 month old has always liked listening to classical music in the car - seems to calm her down. Also we sing with her or use books/toys.

MicroPigInHighHeels · 22/10/2013 10:02

Can he see out enough? My toddler loves to point out other cars, buses, lorries, people on bikes or walking dogs, any sort of emergency vehicle is also a highlight of the journey! We've never had to resort to any sort of special CD of 'kids' songs thank goodness!!
Awwwmann - we also play that mini cheddar game with yellow cars & minis! Sometimes ds shouts cheddar randomly though :-)

MaryAnnTheDasher · 23/10/2013 07:03

We bought twin DVD players for the car. Expensive enough (about £100) but on long car journeys to France and Cornwall this year they were invaluable. Pepa pig on one and Dora on the other. Not the most relaxing journey for me and dh having kids tv in surround sound but did limit the relentless 'it's taking too long' style whinges. Also perfect for using as a normal DVD player on holiday if you're staying somewhere that doesn't have a telly.

clara85 · 23/10/2013 08:45

we drive 30 mins a day each way for work so use our ipad in the back as a dvd player when grumpy or tired and the kids are great thankfully, otherwise toys / watching the traffic is enough x

Original poster

sharond101 · 23/10/2013 22:01

Thanks everyone. I feel better knowing some other children are the same. All my friends kids seem happy to sit in the back and stare out the window. We drove to the swimming pool this am, just me and DS so he was on his own in the back and did well. This afternoon we went out with DH too and I was in the front on the outward journey. He whined and we gave in a gave him DH's iPhone. On the way back I sat in the back and we did spot the bus and read a book. It's not a relaxing journey at all.

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