Taking a toddler on a very long (8 hour) train journey - is it do-able?

[TheLemur]

We are off to see the in-laws in Scotland this summer. To fly would be £400 and to drive would be 12 odd hours. We have discussed driving partially through the night but I really don't fancy that long in the car myself let alone with a toddler. The train is looking like a good and surprisingly cheap option. Unfortunately we're not in London so can't get a sleeper so it would mean 8.45am-5.30pm on the train with one change around lunchtime of 45 mins. DS does not nap btw so no problem there.

I initially thought this would be fine - toddler can potter round carriage(s), we can have lunch on board, there will be a table so he can do colouring etc. However it's dawning on me that it might be packed with business men, we are not be guaranteed a table, the portable DVD player we have can't run on batteries so the train might be WORSE than going by car! Has anyone got experience of this sort of thing?

yes it's doable, we have done longer with toddler/s.

Businessmen should be booked into the quiet carriage, and you shoulnd't be, so that shouldnt' be an issue. With 3 of you you will probably get a table when you book, but otherwise nice people will sometimes swap with you. (or despeartely try and move away from you ).
THere are often plugs these days for dvds/laptops.

It can be hard work but can be fine.

We did 10 hours on a train recently. When it all gets too much, if there are two of you alternate half an hour each looking after child / ignoring said child and reading magazine while downing vodka. Makes it more bearable......

Yes absolutely plan your day out in advance and make sure it all fits into one or two bags so you don't leave anything on the train.

8.45 - 9.45 breakfast, cereal in a plastic resealable box, toast, fruit, beaker of water.
9.45 - 10.45 Walk up and down train, visit the on train cafe and toilet, nappy change, look out of the windows
0.45 - 11.45 Singing and reading books
11.45 - 12.30 one train change ?
12.30 - 13.30 lunch time train picnic
13.30 - 14.30 colouring in plain paper, colouring in books /get out puzzles/minature farm toys
14.30 - 15.30 Walk up and down the train again, pausing to play with other children
15.30 - 16.30 DVD time?
16.30 - 17.30 maybe have a little nap
Pack up all bags, coats, colouring pencils and get off train.

Thanks all, especially for the day planner, that is a good idea (although I'm not sure about me singing in public!)

It sounds like it won't be a relaxing journey and I'll need to take lots to keep him entertained but if it saves £400 on flights then I can live with that.

Yes.

Definitely do-able. Especially with 2 adults. We do 6 hours on the train to see grandparents in Scotland. My top tip is to bring things to play sitting down - for some reason it took me ages to think of this one. Last time I brought a little pot of play-doh & some expendable plastic bits to play with it, & we got some good entertainment out of that! Stickers, fuzzy felt, snacks etc.

Long distance trains almost all have plug sockets these days for laptops (some of them have pay TV sets in the back of the seat as well, but not many, and probably not the seats that you're booked on). OTOH your chances of getting a table are slim.

I've done Scotland to London many times, and I'd say take the car if possible - you can start and stop when you want/need to, you have the use of the car while you are on holiday and don't need to rely on your relatives and it is easier to deal with a toddler strapped to a car seat than in a train. Then there's the luggage issue to consider - potential for theft of your bags (can be difficult to keep bags where you can see them), and just the whole hassle of having to lug them on and off for change of trains.

I still shudder to think of the train journey from hell we took with our 2 ds age 2 and 3, when on a very hot day we were forced to stay in the train for 2 hours due to an incident on the track, no air con and irritated adults who could not understand toddler behaviour which was quite normal under those conditions (ie fed up and playing up despite our best efforts)

To top it all, after the train got going again ds1 launched himself at the big red emergency stop lever and pulled it before we could stop him - there followed an emergency stop and faces as red as the lever as we had to explain what had happened to the guard!

Kids love trains but anything over a couple of hours get tricky.

The train would be cheaper than a car for 1 person - but for 3? I don't think you'll be better off taking the train unless it's a very cheap deal? Also factor in the cost of taxi to get the family and bags to train, or the cost of parking at train station.

Its VERY do-able. From reading you OP this is your only option, so you make it work

I used to regularily do long train journeys all over the country with DD to go and be with DH where he was working so we could actually get to be together, so I did it alone.

I"m not sure why you can't book yourself a table seat with a socket though? I've ALWAYS been able to do this at the time of booking, without exception.

Another tip, is, to run for the disabled labled carriage, as there is extra room infront of the table where you can put your buggy, DD used to look out of window and fall asleep. She was not a napper at the time either THere is nothing wrong with doing this as you can't reserve it if you are disabled, I am, and have tried! IF there is someone needing that space, then let them have it and you can have the table anyway, or go across the aisle. OR as I said, make sure you do book a table with socket seat. I still don't know why you posted that you can't do that... I've literally just booked a train up to Inverness for DH for work and done exactly that as he needs to do some work on route...

Lastly, have a bag, which is just packed with 'entertainment' in mind. Jigsaws, paper, pens, little books, etc etc and also plenty of snacks, even if you'd not usually give them, a bag of a little something always gives some peace for a short while. I used to give DD a bag of organix alphabet biscuits, some raisins ( actually, the raisins came out a lot! ) a drink.

walking up and down the train is also good, but make sure inbetween on the long stretches of stops! personal experience, being almost trampled on and both falling over, when train took off again!!

Hope some of that helps. It really does work, and can be SO much cheaper, and actually stress free, and you do arrive without the exhaustion of a long drive. At least a child can run around a bit and stretch legs, when wanted, rather than being strapped in to car seat for such long periods of time needed with a long drive.

GIve it a go, ring the train company if you cant book it online with a table and socket - they will do it for you when allocating seating. I always booked those online, but usually headed for the disabled seat, which is NOT the tabled seat next to it by the way, its a fold away seat so if not being used you are doing no harm using it for your stuff ( i've also checked that out with train operator too!) GOOD LUCK

Thanks everyone so much for the responses, they are really appreciated.

I must admit I'd forgotten it might be hot on the train (do they not have air con?) and there might be delays etc. That's the trouble, you just don't know if you're going to get one of those bummer journeys (mind you, you can get 2 hour delays in the car as well can't you) Also I didn't realise you could book seats with a table, that's a great tip.

We've done the car from Peterborough to 1 hour north of Edinburgh (6 hours driving time, 8 hours inc stops) and that was just about pushing all our limits. This time we are talking 500 miles to get to Isle of Skye which will take at least 10 hours without stops, I'm just not sure I can handle 10 hours in a car.

The train is really pretty cheap actually, £80 return each for DH & I and DS goes free so total £160. I think we'd probably spend that on fuel on a 1,000 mile round trip.
We would be talking an extra £10 for a taxi to the station this end and £150 for car hire at the other end. We were planning on taking the car seat & push chair on the train

The other option is to drive to Crewe in the evening and get a sleeper train from there at 11pm but that's £100 more costly and I'd have to share a bed with DS (plus all the unknowns of how he will sleep on a train)

we did london to newcastle with 2 small children and it was fine.

worth buying a family railcard - it paid for itself in a single journey. it made buying 2 adult and 2 child tickets cheaper than buying just 2 regular adult ones. both were under 5 at the time so did not technically need tickets but this way we got allocated seats at a table - a godsend.

I'm a bit confused now as to whether you can get allocated a table or not? I was intending to book online

You have a thirsty car! I'd say £130 tops for a smallish car (remember you will get much, much better milage on long journeys than in town driving), for that distance.

Obviously the train is a lot cheaper than the plane by a long way (and you'd have rented a car at the other end anyway)but I'd still be edging towards my car I think - no car rental to pay either! But that's maybe just me.

Trains do, in theory at least (!) have air con, or air blowers at least, but even when the trains moving, they can be pretty usless (depending on age of the train), and they seem not to work at all when the train is stopped. Trains are often stuffy and hot in the summer and either boiling hot or freezing cold in the winter!

We have travelled a lot by train, plane and car with and without kids, and have given up on planes except for long-haul, due to both the cost (2 parents, 3dc over the age of 12), and recently we travelled from Scotland - London by car - it took us 8 hours door to door. People thought we were nuts to drive until we pointed out that 8hrs driving (including our stops) was actually less time than it would have taken to fly (a long drive to Edinburgh airport,a long wait in airport, short flight, arrive London, get train/bus to station, get taxi to hotel would have taken about an hour and a half longer). And driving was at a fraction of the cost of flying or going by train. It depends how far away from airports/how well conected to the train network you are, of course.

Similar with the trains, you can get 1/3 off rail cards for the older teens, and that's great if they are going somewhere on by themselves, but if 2 or more are travelling it starts to get very expensive and the car becomes the better option, which is a shame really.

Yes, very do-able, I recently did a 7hr flight with 2 under 2 - no break. You need lots of 'new' things to bring out of the bag to surprise LO. I had a bag full of magazines, new little toys/books, cartons of fruit juice and chocolates etc etc. All these things were totally out of the 'norm' so he was completely taken in by each thing for 20-30 mins! We were soon there! Good luck

We took dd to Berlin - 17 hrs each way on the train. The advantage was that by the time we got to Belgium I knew her story book by heart and could read from memory whilst admiring the view over the Ardennes. It was hot and no airconditioning- when it got really hot we stripped dd's top half and sponged her with water from the water bottle.

My parents (plucky souls!) took my 2yo db on the train from Sweden to Greece- I believe it was a 3 day journey.

Thanks everyone, we've just booked it! DH worked out petrol would be about £110 (he is very pro-car and sees all the advantages you do oldmum42) but as children under 5 go free by train it's not too much more expensive - worked out at £144 in the end (although of course we have to hire a car at the other end which will bump it up)

I managed to reserve a table seat when I booked, yeay!

I'll start scouring the charity shops for new and interesting toys & books!

We took dd to see her inlaws in Glasgow last month at 18 months and put up a very similar thread - much of this advice was really helpful. One thing that I'd suggest though if you can is to book a seat for him - we did this and were able to reserve three seats around a four-seater table and this gave us much, much more space for everyone. In our case the fourth seat was never booked, but you can be fairly sure that if someone did get assigned to it they'd try to sit somewhere else!

gladders - I didn't think you could get a family railcard unless the kids are over 5? Definiteyl worth knowing if you can!

may I suggest these?

As a one off, they'll keep DS entertained for about an hour, they're brilliant.

Something like this Peppa Pig House is small enough to take on board, but might well keep entertained for a while.

Do you have a laptop? Might be better thana DVD player as for batteries, and you may even be able to charge it on the train.

Take a trip to the shop just before the journey, and let toddler pick a couple of special magazines.

You certainly used to be able to get a family railcard with younger kids, because I did it for a trip to Glasgow from London once - it meant that we paid about the same as the cost for two adults and a free toddler(including the cost of the travel card), but we got three seats, which was a huge improvement.

For a journey that long, you need to ensure you have a seat for each of you. Treat it as you would do a plane journey - pack to take in easily reachable luggage whatever you think you may need (including snacks and activities, changes of clothes, etc.)

I've just twigged what you mean about the railcard... you essentially get free seats for the DC rather than gambling that there'll be free seats. I've worked it out that our tickets are just cheap enough to not make that worthwhile on this occasion. Plus we've booked them already. Will bear it in mind for next time though!

Have done 7 hours to Hamburg no problem, but haven't yet plucked up courage to do Prague-London - kudos to cory! Although DD has done it in utero. The ride through the Ardennes is lovely, isn't it.

With more than one adult should be fine - expect lots of trips walking back and forth to the buffet car and jumping up and down in the vestibules. I've done near-8 hours with a 3 year old + other kids and it was fine (once his mum told me not to bother cleaning felt tip off them, just clean them once at the end... best parenting advice ever!)

Ds is nearly 2 and just getting into books and stuff so a long trip will be a lot easier now than a couple months ago when it was moving around or nothing (just as well, 4 hour trip in 2 weeks for holiday - but broken into several fun sections)

I agree with others, do-able with 2 adults. I couldn't imagine hefting along 2 suitcases with a toddler. I would have only ever flown if someone was picking me up both ends. Now we have DC2 i'd have to travel with another adult ideally. At least until they were out of a buggy.

We do the Scotland to England trip at least twice a year by car (400 miles). Last time we left at 11:30am and got to my mums at 10:00pm, that included 2 stops of an hour each as had to feed baby/exercise the 4yo.

I'm really pleased you've booked it lemur and with a table seat - they all have sockets. You might be really lucky and have a whole table section to yourselves.
THe guards that go up and down, are usually really nice when it come to children, so its really worth asking if there are any free 4 seat table places anywhere, if you don't manage to get that anyway.

Also, please, do check out the carriage with the disabled sticker on it - usually nearer the front of the train, although I think there are 2. Even if you have allocated seats, if the table seats directly next to the disabled foldaway chair area, it really is more comfy,loads of space infront of the table - with socket! and you won't be moved on, unless someone with a wheelchair does get on. I say this as you can put up your buggy, have your bags there too, or at least your food & 'entertainment" bag and be more comfortable with more space. Its not doing anything wrong- as I said in my earlier post, I checked it out many times with various guards,and the answer was always, its fine unless genuinely "needed "

And again, my DD was not a napper ever really come to think of it- anyway, I did used to put her in her buggy,recline it, face it to the window and she'd doze off with the motion of the train. then I got to read my magazines!

You might actually find you have fun. I honestly didn't dread it ever, even when DD was very mobile and needed lots of entertaining! I didn't have a DVD player, but not sure she'd have watched anything, she was far too interested in everyone else.

I can still recall some of the kindest people i've ever met, being on my own, on those trains. Also having some really lovely quite intense one to one 'sessions' with DD, playing with a jigsaw or reading, or anything I'd brought.

I recently found these BTW and they are fantastic, in the car, anywhere really, so I'd recommend getting some.

Crayola magic pens

In that link, it also shows similar magic painting, too. As you will see, there are loads of different books to get to use with the pens, infact I think they all just come as packs. BUt DD has loved them. It says age 3+ but, i'd say any child able to scribble will have fun with them. Well worth the money IMHO

Sorry for such a long post, but I'm a really seasoned train traveller, on long journeys, and as said, I did it on my own, no probs - except when she was a baby & I needed a wee... I even had other passengers, i'd got talking to, holding her up by the window and talking and bouncing her etc at times just to give me a break to eat or something. Always in view - obviously.

IF you've read on, thankyou! and I hope some of it helps
Have a great time and best of luck with your adventure. Trust me, you will do it next time too