What do toddlers do on long car journeys?

[Soverymuchfruit]

We don't own a car but will hire one over the summer. We're used to keeping our toddler (will be 20mo then) entertained on the train, where he can move around, read books, interact with us etc. He's going to be bored silly in the back of a car. How do you keep them entertained? Got any toy recommendations that work? Or what?

I think max journey time will be 4 hours, though we'll break that and not drive more than 2 hours at a time. One parent can sit in the back with him but still it sounds boring!

To answer the original question, at that age we’d do something really energetic in the morning (swimming or soft play or park) to tire him out. Fill him up with lunch then hope to get a good nap out of him for the first few hours. Stop for a good chunk of time on waking. Then we’d crack out toys or stickers for a bit then put CBeebies on on our phones in one of those little wallets you can get that attach to the seat. Audiobooks have been great from 2.5 ish but I’m not sure DS would have got them at 20 months, but might be worth a shot.

I did a 6 hour journey with a 23 month old and a 6 month old recently.
6month old luckily slept between each stop and 23 month old did have a bit of a nap but for the rest of the time she played with some of her soft toys, had some snacks and then I had some hidden toys (new that she'd never had before) hidden in my drivers door to give to her throughout to keep her entertained.
It was only 3 new things and they were cheap from b&m but one was a flashing coloured ball, a glittery pop-it thingy and then a rainbow coloured wiggly worm thing.
The pop-it one kept her entertained the longest but worked in keeping her quiet and not bored

Hopefully sleep a bit

Download toddler tunes to play. Paw patrol, nursery rhymes 🙈

You could try audio books? Ours doesn't like them

A few snacks here and there

Regular stops

I like to leave super early in the morning so
Roads are quiet and they're tired

This! Screens and books are far more likely to make them cranky and carsick. We have a hyperactive DD and even she has learned to sit through regular 2hr car journeys without any entertainment. I talk her through about stuff happening on the road, someplace we're passing, the landscape, look for unusual trucks etc. She often complains a bit about it boring but once combined with nap, the journey is definitely doable.

Tips that don't involve screens would be:

1. Playlist with their favourite songs (Baby Shark, Peppa, Cocomelon etc) and everyone sings along

2. Small treats or snacks that they're normally not allowed to have at home. I had a phase of driving where I'd keep a lollipop collection in the glove box and DD got to choose one before the journey. Kept her happy for 30mins. Or she gets a mini packet of crisps.

3. A small blind-boxed toy that they need to unwrap. Mini Sylvanian Family figure or something similar. If they really start kicking off, you can defuse it with that.

4. Plan extensive stops. The most difficult phase was between 2.5-3.5 yrs. I ended up researching kid-friendly attractions en-route and always made sure we only drove an hour or so. Had a lot of fun exploring new places along the way. She would be satisfied and usually sleep for the remaining half of the drive.

5. Best tip is to always drive during naptime or whenever they are most likely going to be tired. Leaving right after breakfast is usually a disaster but late afternoon after a full day of activities (or nursery) is the sweet spot.

6. Late departures at 6-7pm also work. Get them in their pyjamas and stuck them in the car. In summer, it's still light enough for it to be easy driving and you arrive around 10-11pm which is still fully reasonable.

At that age we always left before 5 so they went back to sleeping the car for first two hours then a nice breakfast then much less time needed to fill.

Books, toys, someone in the back with them. Silly songs playing, audio stories. Sing nursery rhymes.

Squirm, kick the back of the chair in front, mash food into the upholstery if you are desperate enough to give them any, repeatedly throw their water bottle under your seat and then repeatedly insist they need it, squirm, grizzle, laugh hysterically at a passing hearse, see a bus and shout that he wants to go on the bus instead, drop their toy then insist they need it, squirm.

If they go quiet they are either asleep or concentrating on producing a really astonishing poo.

My two tended to sleep. We’d have music on that they liked. No audio books or anything.

They also have their ‘snugglies’ and perhaps a favourite (non noise making) toy.

Songs and stories. You cd get a cd or choose a playlist and play it at home to familiarize them with it first. They sometimes complain about one until they get into it!

Snacks. Novelty toys from charity shop you don't mind losing. If possible have one adult in the back with child to read books etc.

Mine regularly does a journey of about 2.5 hours. She naps, eats snacks and listens to her Toniebox. I can imagine that if we then stopped for an hour so she could run around she'd be quite happy in the back listening to more Toniebox or singing to music with us. We might relent and give her one of our phones to watch some Netflix on at some point. I wouldn't find this a daunting trip so don't worry too much.

You can also get car activity trays that strap to their car seats so they can draw etc. I've never tried one but they look cool!

I used to do long ish journeys alone with my ds as a toddler. I'd time it so that it was about 30 minutes before nap time. So we'd have 30 minutes novelty value of being in the car pointing out cows, busses etc. Then 1.5 or 2 (if I was lucky) hour's nap followed by an hour of watching portable DVD player.
3 hours was the maximum we got. Then I'd stop, eat, find a park, soft play, swimming or other tiring activity and continue after bedtime when he slept again.

Or just drive through the night if you can bear to.

We don’t do anything either. Several drives of around 5hrs the last few months.

We aim to leave after breakfast 2.5 hr drive, usually he looks out of window an hour or so, gets bored, and falls asleep with favourite teddy.

Stop somewhere to eat and long play. Ie 1-2hrs stop somewhere like farm, decent play area etc, or swim. Wear them out basically.

drive the other half and hopefully it’s so boring and they are tired again that they fall asleep.

Mine kind of just zones out and stares out of the window 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

I sat in the back with her. We watched films, sing silly songs, play with soft toys, sleep...
It is difficult......

In the past done loads of European travel with young children (including 24hrs on a coach with a recently potty trained 20mth old.........naivety of youth🤣). I used to buy loads of cheap toys (home bargains/poundshop type) and wrap them then everytime they got back in the car they got one. Made getting them back in the car after a stop to stretch legs much quicker and no moaning👍

Another one who doesn't do a lot! I've been doing 3+ hour drives, alone, to see family since DS was three months old. Fill him up, give him a run about, in the car to nap as long as possible. Then he'd chatter away, look out the window, have a snack when we stopped. It's nice for them to be bored sometimes!

Ugh yes my son would get sick!
Sleep hopefully

Whays their usual nap routine? At that age we might get 2x90 min naps so we worked entirely around those.
So we'd set off when nap was due. When they woke up, time for a story or two (patent sitting in the back). Nice long break at a service station - lunch and lotof running round. Some of the big ones have outdoor areas - our favourite was always Beaconsfield as it has a playground and a duck pond. Alternatively just stop in a town - swimming or soft play is a great way to burn some energy so they're ready for.another nap. Then 2nd let when 2nd nap due.

Trickier if they are only one nap at that age... it is hard to entertain them for more than an hour while sitting down and you have to pack quite a lot - books, things to draw with, stickers, snacks..... we have car organisers that hang on the seat in front so you can easily access everything.

Good luck! It can be hard work but as long as you plan/pack sensibly it goes ok. The key bit for us is picking a good place to stop halfway.

Is your DS used to travelling by car if you don't have one? We don't have a car and as a result DD is VIOLENTLY sick every time she has to travel more than 20mins. My mum's house is 25mins drive from the nearest train station 🙈Make sure for a journey that long you have loads of towels and muslins in the back with you, lots of changes of clothes accessible and you know where all the services are so you can stop for a clean up if needed.

We took our toddlers to France on long car journeys. We had sticker books, tiny snack boxes, boxes with little bits of Lego or similar in, music/story CDs, a mini whiteboard with pen (they were supervised and passed things by older DD in the back) and they slept quite a bit too. That was around 10 years ago so less access to screens but it was certainly doable.
Little bags of age appropriate items that your DC hasn't seen before will help hold interest for a bit.

My 2 year old just sits looking out the window or chatting. We drive for as ling as she isn't crying then have a break, the first stretch is usually 2 hours then decreases from there! We can buy ourselves an extra 20 minutes singing nursery rhymes or playing her music. If possible we time our drive to coincide with her afternoon nap.

At that age mine would probably sleep most of the way.. then be up all night 🤣

I keep track of the points and pointed out a lot of cars to the younger one, she could look out the window and yell "red" from before she was two and I'd give her a point regardless of if there had actually been a car.

Audiobooks generally only get about 20 minutes attention, I don't think they actually follow the storyline when their toddlers but enjoy the silly voices, sound affects and catchphrase/ rhyming.

Oh and mine doesn’t nap at home, hasn’t for ages. But the car usually sends him off to sleep in comfy car seat and being bored. Bit of music ( no kids stuff).