Long car journey with 17 month old

[Continentalmama]

Hiya, I'm looking for tips to keep a 17 month old entertained on a long car journey. It will take about 11 hours door to door, about 8 of those will be actual driving and it will just be me (driving) and DD. I was considering getting the Amazon fire tablet for the trip but I'm wondering if she is too young for this and it wouldn't be worth the cost as currently she wouldn't sit through an episode of Peppa pig let alone a movie! She is generally good in the car, we regularly do 5 1/2hr car journeys and she will nap for some of it but I'm looking for any tips or toys that people have used to keep their little one entertained in the car for this amount of time! Thanks

How much of it could you do overnight?

Well I have been considering leaving around 4am so she sleeps for at least the start of it, on my own I don't feel comfortable doing the whole thing overnight and I would prefer to get up early and arrive mid afternoon then leave late and arrive middle of night as I could go to bed early and still get a decent sleep before driving.

I came on to say leave at her bedtime and drive through the night- you'll be knackered but it will still be 100 times easier than during the day.

Late/Night driving is surprisingly good. It's much more relaxed and hassle free.

Do consider reconsidering ( )
Early morning you'll only have a a couple hours and then a Really Wide Awake child bouncing off the walls the rest of it.

Get a Kindle or iPad. And download a million episodes of nursery rhyme mini videos etc! Maybe find something to attach it to so she doesn't need to hold it as they'll inevitably turn it off or drop it!

I did a 4hr journey on my own, not as long but I definitely felt a million times safer putting her in the passenger seat in the front. I could pass her snacks/dummy etc check on her when she was sleeping and wasn't constantly looking behind me to check on her. Just make sure to turn the airbag off!

Ok a few things to think about! Those who would drive overnight, when you stop for petrol/coffee do you still get them out for a run around/nappy change? I'm worried the first stop after a few hours snooze will perk her up again and then she wouldn't sleep anyways. I'd never considered putting her on the front but that would definitely make things easier so will have a think! Thanks for all the suggestions.

If you’re travelling at night, you must be sure you can remain alert. It’s easy to fall asleep. The good news is, the roads are not crowded. The bad news is, more drunks on the road.

My nephew’s son, 18 months, could easily be distracted for hours with an iPad loaded with games.

Problems with the front are safety related. If an airbag deploys, it can kill a child sitting in front.

Which is why the pp that suggested it said make sure airbag is off!

I do a lot of long journeys with DD. As long as your DD's car seat has a good recline, if she's asleep you shouldn't need to stop to give her a break at 17m (just for clarity, with younger babies it is vital to have lots of breaks on car journeys in case others are reading this).

I have switched to doing all long journeys overnight. As an example, for the 300 mile drive to my parents place, previously I was setting off 8am then stopping at 11am ish for a 1.5-2 hour lunch break/run around/nappy changes, then setting off at 1pm and arriving by 5pm. The journey took that long because of traffic and the need for a good stop. DD had a lie flat car seat as a young baby so I didn't have to worry about car seat safety.

At around 18m I switched to setting off slightly before bedtime (6pm), usual dinner, bath routine and then milk in the car, and just getting the drive done in one stint, taking 5 hours, no stops at all (means tactical drinking plenty of water for you in the morning to hydrate but then not having too much to drink in the afternoon to avoid having to stop for loo breaks!).

I wouldn't consider putting DD in the front seat of the car. There are various safety issues attached to this and I think for a long journey you want them as safe as possible.

In terms of entertainment, my DD doesn't like screens much either so that would be pointless.

Also bear in mind that any entertainment you provide them with is likely to get dropped and cause upset when they can't get it back.

DD tends to have a couple of soft toys and a muzzie. If she gets fractious I sing or tell stories.

For daytime journeys I sometimes give her a magazine (we get a great one from Whipsnade Zoo which DD loves).

I avoid hard toys/books as in an accident anything loose in the car will fly around and become a missile.

A lot to consider, thank you for all the replies! I'm going to have a think about the night driving, it will mean only stopping once and will cut down the total by 2 hours, if I can work it so I can get a good nap in on the day then I think I would be ok. Yes toys are a problem as she will chuck them after 10 mins then complain when she no longer has them which is why the front seat idea sounds good but then again I don't want to compromise safety especially on a long journey. I'll have a think, we will manage it, it just won't be the most enjoyable day for us but will be worth it.

Be careful where you're driving at night, some routes have major roadworks starting at 9/10 which brings some motorways to 1 lane and it's a total pita. We tried this one time to get DD to sleep and 4 hour journey ended up being 6 because of road works/dd would actually sleep so had to keep stopping was a nightmare.

Best long journey we've done was leaving really early.

Does your lo nap at lunch? If you left early you could get a good few hours in whilst still asleep, then a few hours awake, a stop and then a few more hours while they nap over lunch?

Good luck!!