Ideas for a Long Car Ride

Things that make noise are always good. I kept a bag of stuff in the front seat--things that were either new or hadn't been seen in a while. Whenever my kids started getting fussy I would get something new out. Also, if you have a portable DVD player things like Baby Einstein might keep his attention.

Children Sing-along cd is a must! Mom and Dad need to sing along and make it a family affair.

Yes, DVD players are good, but I'm not sure at 14 months they will keep his interest that long. Don't give him too many toys at once, little at a time. Also, plan on stopping, there are some really nice rest areas. During the daytime I know it makes the trip longer, but let him get out and play, wear him out as much as possible. Now you probably think I'm a bad parent, but I had to go to Illinois with my 2 year old, and we stopped at Family Dollar store, he picked out this kid chain saw that made noise, he LOVED it, it kept him quiet for hours at a time. When we made the trip back, he was given a car thing, that has the steering wheel and has a horn to beep, you know the play set... well that worked good with his chain saw on the ride back. I also tried to do most of the driving when he was sleeping.
Enjoy the ride, you'll talk about it for years!

Have a great trip! We used to pack up the car the night before and then set the alarm early (around 3:30 in the morning) Then we would wake up the kids and put them in the car (or put them in the car sleeping-all belted in). It was usually easy to get them back to sleep since it was dark and the car was moving. Then I would wake them up at their normal time and we were already several hours down the road. Then the trip didn't seem quite so long to them. We usually stopped for a rest stop soon after they awoke and let them run around little. I always carry water, cheerios, easy to snack on food to provide if they were hungry before we stopped. Sometimes, if rest stops were limited, we would plan to stop and gently wake the kids up. The other ideas of what to do while the kids are awake were terrific.

A portable DVD player with entertaining DVDs! I know some parents are opposed, but we got one for our girls for long car trips only and it is a boredom buster for them and a sanity saver for my husband and me. We limit it, though. Since your son is so young and can't really read or do activities yet, I would suggest getting a bag full of new and exciting things he can play with that are age and car appropriate. Ration out the items to last for the whole trip (including the trip home). Also, snacks are good to keep him happy. Take a break at least every 2 hours to let him out and stretch his legs and walk some if he is walking. Bring a blanket to cover him in the car in case the AC is too chilly for him. Of course bring anything he is really attached to. Good luck!

I would pack a bag full of new toys (cheap though, like from the dollar store) and in addition to the toys, I would put a bunch of things in the bag that he never gets to play with that aren't toys. By that I mean things that are typically no no's, for example, my baby loves things like remote controls, cell phones and things of that nature. Usually these are things that they want badly but never get to play with. I would dig out an old remote control, dead cell phone and broken camera and give him one of those when he gets super bored. I know my daughter would sit forever and play with a remote control if I gave it to her like that. They are way too young at 14 months to take any interest in movies, so I wouldn't bother with that, it just won't help. I would have plenty of snacks also. I would suggest that you sit back there with him a little of the time. I also would suggest feeding him his meals while you are driving, versus when you stop. You know he will be happy while he is eating meals. And even if you stop to feed him, he will have to sit still, so you might as well make driving progress while he eats. When you do stop to let him play, you should all eat your own meals while he plays, that way you don't waste any time. That 6 hours will go by pretty fast though. I would probably put him in the car hungry and feed him breakfast in the car, something that he can eat with his hands that you hand him. Then he will probably play a while with the crazy new thing that you give him, fall asleep for a while, you can then feed him again, maybe little meat sticks or something, then give him another crazy thing to play with, he will fall asleep again and you will be there before you know it. You will probably only have to stop once. Just keep him strapped in his carseat!!!!! When I see people with their kids out of their carseats, I call the police with their license plate and follow them until they get a police officer there! It is so dangerous! I am sure you are more responsible than that, but there are plenty of people out there who let their kids out of the seat while driving. If you need to let him out of the seat, stop the car!

We don't do road trips over 2 hours HOWEVER, our neighbors with 3 girls under 6 do it all the time.

They leave at bedtime for the children and drive all night. The girls sleep. They swear by this method. They are gone every holiday/break to NC or CO or further.

Good luck

Drive as much as you can at night, if it is daytime, stop every two hours to stretch, change baby and let him run around somewhere baby friendly, if you have a DVD player in your car stick in a Baby Einstein or something for a distraction if he gets really upset, get a stash of new "toys"....plastic measuring cups and toilet paper rolls offer endless fun at this age, keep snacks and drinks on hand in the car, try singing or playing a toddler music CD. Good luck! We did a 24 hour round trip with a 14 month old when I was 4 months pregnant. At times I wanted my husband to leave me on the side of the highway. But we survived using the things I told you about here. :-)