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Family Travel Forum Staff

Here's our pick of the top 50 tried n' true tips, culled from families who've logged enough road miles to circumnavigate the globe.  Whether you're driving to the local mall or across the sands to Timbuktu, there's bound to be a tip you haven't thought of!

Before Departure

1.   Make sure your vehicle or rental car gets a thorough pre-journey inspection.

2.   Pack a spare tire and repair kit, flashlight, candles, safety matches, a waterproof tarp, blankets, and a gallon of water in case of emergencies.

3.   Copy and carry all drivers' licenses, registration, insurance policy and car keys.

4.   If you're renting a car, don't pull out of the lot until you've checked the owner's manual, spare tire, tools, radio/CD player, headlights, windshield wipers, A/C, GPS and obtained a 24/7 contact number.

5.  Call the D.O.T. Travel Safety Association Auto Safety Hotline (888/DASH-2-DOT) or visit www.nhtsa.dot.gov for current highway safety reports.

6.  Contact the local tourist information office or your automobile club for free maps and destination information. Use www.familytravelforum.com and other Internet resources to find local festivals and special events en route.

7.  Ask kids 3+ to help with trip planning by sharing brochures with them.

8.  Select one activity per day to please each child, note hours of operation, then plan ahead.

9.  Long drives with infants are easiest on the whole family if you stick to flat, well-marked, well-lit highways, where the driver can breathe a little easier.

10.  Review your route and explain if there will be stressful driving zones ahead. Devise a signal in advance so children will know immediately when you need tranquility to navigate tough intersections or narrow winding roads.

11. When the kids learn to appreciate scenery, call 800/4-BYWAYS or visit www.byways.org for a list of federally-designated National Scenic Byways.

12. Set realistic driving goals; end each day at a motel or hotel with pool for off-road fun. 

13. Make a route map for the backseat: photocopy an enlargement, cut it into one-day-drive sheets, cover with clear contact paper, and let kids 4+ discover on their own, "Are we there yet?"

Safety First

14. Never let children under 11 ride in the front seat of a car equipped with passenger-side air bags.

15. Lead by example; studies show only 24% of passengers under 14 wear a seat belt when the driver doesn't.

16. Learn how to properly use and install your child safety seat to maximize its effectiveness.

17. Children between 40-80 lbs., if not in a carseat, should have a booster seat to elevate them for proper seat belt use. (This helps prevent motion sickness, too!)

18. Shell, Allstate Insurance, Hertz and many other vendors offer free carseat and car safety information. Read it.

Essentials for Every Journey

19. Keep a trash bag and some zip-loc bags in the car; the former for car sickness and garbage, the latter for preserving toys, souvenirs and creating new snack packs.

20.. Keep a small First Aid kit, tissues and wipes in the glove compartment. Spare toilet paper, liquid anti-bacterial soap and paper towels can be a life-saver in funky public restrooms.

21. Provide rolls of masking tape so siblings can stake out their territory.

22. Keep a booklight handy so children can read or play after dark.

23. Keep spare batteries and an overnight bag accessible; everything else gets buried so you don't have to reload the trunk or roof rack after every stop.

Scheduling Your Days

24. Plan to begin long car drives after a good night's sleep and breakfast. Some parents swear by The Early Start; in our experience, this only works if you load the little ones into the car without waking them. Otherwise, throwing off children's sleep schedules is sure to backfire!

25. Imitate routines from home. If you eat lunch at the customary time, your child is much more likely to take her usual nap.

26. Plan your stops: as often as needed to nurse; every 3 hours to check diapers (overnight diapers help); every 2 hours to stretch.

27. During night drives, simulate bedtime. After supper, change your child into sleepwear (at least, slipper socks and a blanket) and share a story or book-on-tape until she falls asleep. Don't make changes to the temperature, velocity, sound level or her car seat until she has settled into a deeper sleep (usually 20-30 minutes)

28. Long periods of confinement and constant car motion will make most under-3s quite sleepy. Be prepared for restless babies at night!

The Snacking Super Highway

29. Have beverages readily available but don't let infants drink too much at once. OJ makes many little ones carsick.

30. Bring plenty of dry snacks and finger foods: Cheerios, pretzels, bagels, cheese slices, dried fruit, lunch meat 'roll-ups'.

31. Have a folding nylon cooler and compact knife/fork/spoon sets ready so each passenger can have a moveable feast. Buy enough perishables for one day only -- it's impossible to keep things cold overnight.

32.Take meal breaks in small towns, so the kids can enjoy a playground or local park.

Entertaining Kids

33. Keep baby amused with plastic mirrors, cloth books, jangly keys, and some soft cuddlies. Consider bringing a second 'toy bar' for her carseat to distract her on the ride home. 

34. Bring favorite music for little ones, with a lyric sheet so you can sing along. Music for Little People's catalog ( 800/346-4445) has many suggestions.

35. Bring story tapes or CDs or podcasts. Classic children's literature read by professional actors is available at the local library. Films-on-tape/CD are condensed soundtracks from the movie, sold with a large-text picture book so kids can follow the story.

36. Plan some games for the over-3s: a Highway Hunt for objects you've pre-marked on index cards or printed out from clip art; a poetry contest with words from billboards; a raindrop race to see which drop on which window falls fastest; or maybe a spot-the-colors contest with pre-readers. The variety of age-old games is endless; draw on your memory or on dozens of game books (Rand McNally's are excellent) to create more.

37. Keep some tricks up your sleeve: cool placemats, colored bandaids, stickers, crayon sets, and fast-food packaging provide instant distraction when you really need it.

Favorite Toys for Long Trips

38. Hands-on toys and art projects will keep kids 3+ amused, though you may lose a lot of parts. (Learning Curve offers free replacement of lost parts on most toys.)

39. For toddlers, consider Crayola's almost mess-free, washable markers and coated paper. Auto Bingo, widely available in toy stores, is our favorite for pre-readers.

40. Felt Kids and other great family-tested travel toys and games are available from the Family on Board catalog (800/793-2075; www.TinyTravelers.net/gear.)

41. Kids 4-8 like Magnadoodle and Etch-a-Sketch. Wonderboard makes magnetic game pieces and abstract shapes that stick on their own metal board.

42. The "Amazing Book-a-ma-Thing for the Backseat" by Klutz Press provides hours of fun for kids 5+; Brain Quest (Workman Press) is a card game to keep kids 6+ entertained.

43. Ask older children to pack their own sound systems, a headset and music. Would they like to make a tape of their favorite CDs for everyone to share on the road?

44. Showing a movie on a portable TV with built-in VCR, or on the new portable DVD players, is an expensive but unbeatable way to entertain kids.

Behavior Modification

45. Keep the mood light; stop bad moments quickly before they become blow-outs.

46. Distract babies by suspending a clothesline or string with clips, hung with soft toys and baby pictures, behind the driver's seat.

47. Make a grab bag of small wrapped toys. Let kids select one when squabbles and complaints begin; hand out treats in stages.

48. With several kids, move the carseat or change seating at regular intervals. At rest-stops, our family enjoys Musical Seats: we all get out, blast the radio, run around the car until the song stops, then grab the nearest available seat. If the minors end up in the driver's seat, joke's on you! (Kids love that.)

49. Reward patience and good behavior. Some parents dole out one quarter to children 5+ for each successful driving period. Some try the reverse; they start with a quarter roll and deduct one for each squabble.

50. Start a Trip Log. Pick up souvenir ticket stubs, menus, autographs, dried leaves or brochures and have your journal keeper note each day's special stops. Let little ones use a disposable camera. After all, this trip is bound to be unforgettable.

These trusted tips, compiled by FTF's staff and members, are updated regularly to make road travel - a family rite of passage - easier for the next generation of Tiny Travelers and their adults.

As well-meaning, health-conscious parents, we rarely allowed our children candy when they were very young. But we made an exception to that rule when we traveled, and pulled out the life savers, lollipops, and gum (sugarless of course) for the car. The goodies amused the kids and definitely sweetened the ride. They began to look forward to car rides as treats.

We also far preferred story tapes that the entire family could enjoy together, rather than videos which the children watched by themselves. Story tapes allow the driver to be amused and entertained along with the troops. The website Audible.com has a selection of stories for children and families and it allows you to preview a story to see if you like the reader. Then for a fee you can download the story onto CDs to play in the car.

Laura Sutherland
FTF's Blogger



Posted Fri Oct 20, 2006 2:24pm by FTFblog

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