[benu9714]

In a sedan one can put two small suitcases in the space between the front and back seats and place a thin mattress over the entire back seat. This makes it into a cushioned area where a child can lie down or romp around. Of course, adults at the back have to sit cross-legged.

On long trips (Bombay-Goa, Bombay-Hyderabad etc) we left home very early (by 4 am) and took tke sleeping children from bed directly on to the prepared back seat where they slept for about four hours while we crunched up a lot of KMs (as much as an Amby at full pelt would achieve !).

[Ushuaia]

Wonderful topic especially for parents.

My experience started when my daughter was born, it saw us moving to Pune, since she was a colic baby, we had to spend considerable time allowing her to sleep, one trick which worked considerably was drive her around for a small ride and she would sleep blissfully. Guess the road had its effects on her,
- She was 3 months when I started taking her to office over weekend with me while I worked she would sit there watching me. Wonderful feeling!! Also oriented me to take full-time responsibility for a day (Important for dads).
- Started taking her for small drives, coz wifey wanted to have a little time to herself. Mostly Laxmi Rd or some local market in Pune with friends.
- Then we started going to Murud (Golden Swan), start early while she was sleeping and then reach there by the time she wakes up
- Did Pune Ratnagiri, Mumbai couple of times with her, got her Parents (Oh Grand Parents too)
- Then we started doing Shimla, Nainital, Manali mostly since the route was predictable, known pit stops
- Few weeks back finished Delhi-Manali- Rohtang and little beyond (Aug 5th, there was mayhem amongst drivers - Leh Cloud Burst!) with Wife's friend and her son, since kids meet often, the car was a riot, Innova with rear seats folded. Reason: Wife's B'day and wanted to surprise her with Ladakh (She hasnt been there)

Few things I learnt -
1. Weather your self with patience
2. Even if you can be ready to take breaks when needed (necessary) especially to have kids relax their joints, ours relax when inactive, theirs when they are active
3. Try to fold the rear seat to make a flat bed, my zen has amazing rear space, fill the gap between front and rear seat and put a razai to make a playarea/bed/Shock testers
4. Behind my seat diagonally across wife's seat is food basket. We use the traditional cheapie 150 bucks (plastic one) with 2 handles and 2 flip up sides. It can take some abuse, lasted 6 years now, guess it traveled more than kids
5. Carry kids favorite fruit, in our case inexpensive banana and some apples, some boiled eggs (dont de-shell them) though cold but remains fresh. Atleast 2 milk tetra packs, earlier only liter packs available, now you get smaller ones so not a lot is wasted, sandwiches made at home, mostly little butter, salt n pepper, cucumbers, boiled potato mashed with slight butter or shredded eggs. Lemon rice/tamarind rice/parantha's, 2/2-liter bottles, dont use these unless emergency. small immersion rod for boiling water for sterilizing water bottles.
6. Now first response kit, a plastic bread box for medicines, in fact now a days I prefer the sewing kit boxes since they have compartments.

- Medicine for headache, stomach upset, fever (usually same for headache diff. dosage), stomach ache, nausea,
- A digital thermometer,
- Nappy rash cream, neospirin powder and cream,
- Disinfectant, gauge and assortment of bandaids with cartoons (especially since both daughter and son are actively engaged in testing their derma through scraps, cuts, bumps) we've seen the whole works. In the genes, last 8 years now I have some metal implant or the other in my body.
- Oh if you have fairy, dont forget to carry UTI meds (Urinary Tract Infection), girls usually catch it more often.
- Wipes, with neutral PH,
- After they grow up, I now carry powdered soap (normal soap, just scrapped to powder), use as much as required, since with most liquid ones, spillage is a problem.
- Atleast 3 toilet rolls, 2-3 bottles of reusable water bottle

7. Carry enough clothes, especially till they are 3, you can see an accident on the road, but cant afford within the car. We prefer to carry loads for them and not was it there. Me and wife are usually light travelers
8. Carry some light source, you cant drive with I want my fav pencil, when its wedged between rear seat and door
9. Ensure rear door locks are checked before travel
10. Usually on Indian roads mostly long distance, a sign with baby on board my not work, but look for similar signage but with pictorial, (easy to understand)
11. All stops are governed by kids PI-PI routine, so we stop adequately for them, and after long stops there is a rain-check done to ensure we don't stop in another 10 mins.
12. Regarding road-side food, mostly beforehand we explain to them, that food will be a bit bland, like khichdi, idly, dal chawal, we avoid giving them chutney's and fried stuff. but once we reach the destination, they have a free run.

Mostly start as early as possible, for a blissful drive.

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by Ushuaia

Wonderful topic especially for parents.

My experience started when my daughter was born, it saw us moving to Pune, since she was a colic baby, we had to spend considerable time allowing her to sleep, one trick which worked considerably was drive her around for a small ride and she would sleep blissfully. Guess the road had its effects on her,
- She was 3 months when I started taking her to office over weekend with me while I worked she would sit there watching me. Wonderful feeling!! Also oriented me to take full-time responsibility for a day (Important for dads).
- Started taking her for small drives, coz wifey wanted to have a little time to herself. Mostly Laxmi Rd or some local market in Pune with friends.
- Then we started going to Murud (Golden Swan), start early while she was sleeping and then reach there by the time she wakes up
- Did Pune Ratnagiri, Mumbai couple of times with her, got her Parents (Oh Grand Parents too)
- Then we started doing Shimla, Nainital, Manali mostly since the route was predictable, known pit stops
- Few weeks back finished Delhi-Manali- Rohtang and little beyond (Aug 5th, there was mayhem amongst drivers - Leh Cloud Burst!) with Wife's friend and her son, since kids meet often, the car was a riot, Innova with rear seats folded. Reason: Wife's B'day and wanted to surprise her with Ladakh (She hasnt been there)

Few things I learnt -
1. Weather your self with patience
2. Even if you can be ready to take breaks when needed (necessary) especially to have kids relax their joints, ours relax when inactive, theirs when they are active
3. Try to fold the rear seat to make a flat bed, my zen has amazing rear space, fill the gap between front and rear seat and put a razai to make a playarea/bed/Shock testers
4. Behind my seat diagonally across wife's seat is food basket. We use the traditional cheapie 150 bucks (plastic one) with 2 handles and 2 flip up sides. It can take some abuse, lasted 6 years now, guess it traveled more than kids
5. Carry kids favorite fruit, in our case inexpensive banana and some apples, some boiled eggs (dont de-shell them) though cold but remains fresh. Atleast 2 milk tetra packs, earlier only liter packs available, now you get smaller ones so not a lot is wasted, sandwiches made at home, mostly little butter, salt n pepper, cucumbers, boiled potato mashed with slight butter or shredded eggs. Lemon rice/tamarind rice/parantha's, 2/2-liter bottles, dont use these unless emergency. small immersion rod for boiling water for sterilizing water bottles.
6. Now first response kit, a plastic bread box for medicines, in fact now a days I prefer the sewing kit boxes since they have compartments.

- Medicine for headache, stomach upset, fever (usually same for headache diff. dosage), stomach ache, nausea,
- A digital thermometer,
- Nappy rash cream, neospirin powder and cream,
- Disinfectant, gauge and assortment of bandaids with cartoons (especially since both daughter and son are actively engaged in testing their derma through scraps, cuts, bumps) we've seen the whole works. In the genes, last 8 years now I have some metal implant or the other in my body.
- Oh if you have fairy, dont forget to carry UTI meds (Urinary Tract Infection), girls usually catch it more often.
- Wipes, with neutral PH,
- After they grow up, I now carry powdered soap (normal soap, just scrapped to powder), use as much as required, since with most liquid ones, spillage is a problem.
- Atleast 3 toilet rolls, 2-3 bottles of reusable water bottle

7. Carry enough clothes, especially till they are 3, you can see an accident on the road, but cant afford within the car. We prefer to carry loads for them and not was it there. Me and wife are usually light travelers
8. Carry some light source, you cant drive with I want my fav pencil, when its wedged between rear seat and door
9. Ensure rear door locks are checked before travel
10. Usually on Indian roads mostly long distance, a sign with baby on board my not work, but look for similar signage but with pictorial, (easy to understand)
11. All stops are governed by kids PI-PI routine, so we stop adequately for them, and after long stops there is a rain-check done to ensure we don't stop in another 10 mins.
12. Regarding road-side food, mostly beforehand we explain to them, that food will be a bit bland, like khichdi, idly, dal chawal, we avoid giving them chutney's and fried stuff. but once we reach the destination, they have a free run.

Mostly start as early as possible, for a blissful drive.

Wonderful list. I have not travelled much with my daughter, but am planning to have along drive with her soon.

[hvkumar]

1. Never let a small kid sit in the front seat.

2. However small the kid, never have an elder sit with a kid on his lap or on part of his seat in the front, even if the kid is also strapped on.

3. If for any reason, the small kid has to sit in the front seat with an elder, make sure the kid is sitting on the window site (and not the gear side)

4. Keep your door child safety lock on.

5.Never let the child put hands out of the window, keep windows closed at all times.

6. Never leave a child alone inside the car.

[Ushuaia]

@HVK Sir, Absolutely agree with you.

1. Never let a small kid sit in the front seat.

2. However small the kid, never have an elder sit with a kid on his lap or on part of his seat in the front, even if the kid is also strapped on.

3. If for any reason, the small kid has to sit in the front seat with an elder, make sure the kid is sitting on the window site (and not the gear side)

4. Keep your door child safety lock on.

5.Never let the child put hands out of the window, keep windows closed at all times.

6. Never leave a child alone inside the car.

Their safety is paramount and I got my daughter used to a Car seat strapped to rear seat belt,
1. If you are driving alone make it a practice that kids till 2.5 - 3 yrs age have something to keep them busy in their car seat.
2. I used multiple seat belt cushions and another strap attached to rear seat belt to ensure they don't slide back and forth when braking
3. Never let a kid stand inside the car, however big or small, as much as possible keep them low to towards the surface of the car, during sudden braking this ensures there isn't any dangerous forward or backward movement
4. During hill/ghat ride, find a rhythm to taking turns, you may enjoy the turns and its exhilaration, usually kids don't like the sway, by rhythm I mean don't break the steering with tangential movements, turn the steering gently, this will also ensure you don't tire out yourself. You'll feel the difference when you reach your destination
5. Especially if your kid, like my son has known allergies, carry a sample report, most of the destinations you can find doctors, as much information or facts you can provide the treatment is smoother.

@RKB, dude your Leh rides are growing to become a series!!
Mostly your kid will endure how you nurture them, ensure you are prep'd up and carry enough supplies/medicine for your kid.

One more thing, most parents who love traveling would agree, the dimension on travel unravels so much to kids, learning, observing, patience (well my son started chanting mountain everytime wife pulled out warm clothes for cleaning and sunshine that it became a joke of the household)

He keeps chanting, while going to school (are we going to mall), any overbridge (is there a metro) and any pic of mountains ( manali ja rahein hai!). So our tag-line is " Lets go to Mountain, build a mall and get metro to run there" ALAS!!

[phamilyman]

Folks,

This comes from our trip to Kasauli yesterday. The distance was ideal as it took us 7 hours door-to-door including ~50 min breaks. Daksh did cooperate by being in the car seat for a good part of that duration. However, as with all 15 month olds, boredom kept creeping into his life and he would just start bawling.

Each way, we ignored his cries for almost an hour before we gave in, and allowed him 40-50 mins in the rear seat, wandering about under the firm control of my wife (who was herself belted up). Yet, i had to slow down considerably - I was cruising at ~60 unlike the ~90 kph that is my regular speed on NH1. Even then, it was fairly nerve wracking as I was on very high alert.

Hence, my question - all those of you who use the car seat on long drives religiously, how do you entertain your little ones and keep them busy IN their car seat only? Esp little masters who have the attention span of a butterfly, get bored quickly, and have the patience to howl an hour to get what he wants

Many thanks in advance

EDIT: This is a BIG deal, because previously, I have done 20 hour drives (incl 2 hours of sleep, and maybe an hour of food) overnight to Munsyari. With Daksh, I can't even imagine doing that with him *safely*
EDIT: Request to mods - kindly don't merge this with the parenting threads. This is a specific topic about ensuring safety of little ones on long drives, that IMHO deserves a thread of its own. of course, if my prior search has been lacking - kindly do merge it with a previous thread on this topic. thx.

[pganapathy]

See if it would be practical to get a tv screen fitted in such a place that you can play some shows he likes. Otherwise music that he likes.

A few of my cousins choose to sit in the back with their child and find ways to keep the child occupied/interested, but this tends to become difficult on the parent in the back seat unless the driver is switched regularly, especially on a long drive.

I know, after an hour of your child bawling, your frustration must have hit a point where you chose to let him out of the seat, but please, for the love of god, don't make this a habit. Not to be an alarmist but accidents can happen in the blink of an eye for no fault of your own. A better solution would be to stop on the side of the road for half an hour to an hour and play with your child, and then continue driving again with the child in the car seat. The time taken will probably be the same given you can drive at 90 as opposed to 60.

Try giving your child his favourite toy when he is in the car seat. That ought to keep him occupied and switch the toy every so often so boredom doesn't set in.

[rrahul_2778]

I have this problem with my 18 month son as well; he shows the same traits that phamilyman described.

Tried the below, works for few mins and again the crying starts. I think that is because he has the urge to strech and the car seat kinda restricts his movements.

- Fav game on iPhone or tablet i.e. the talking animals (which repeat whatever you say into it)
- Chota Bheem and other fav cartoon movies
- Fav toys

I have now started taking a bit more breaks; essentially a 10 min break every hour (except meal time breaks which are longer breaks). I avoid feeding him in a moving car. My journey time has considerably increased because of this. And the time he sleeps, I just keep pushing, that is the best time to catch up on lost time.

Only thing that I need to do is to find a suitable light in the back seat of the car. In the late evening hours, the car gets dark and my son is extremely bored. I am not sure what options are available, but i need to get some kind of soft light that illuminates the rear bench area.

Another thing i am considering is to get a portable dvd player

[Vikas Arora]

I can understand your problem, even we used to face this few years ago. There are no easy solutions to keep the little ones busy throughout the journey. Here are some tried & tested techniques that we used for over 4 years:

1. We used to carry loads of toys to keep my daughter busy. Since the attention span is too small, carrying multiple toys helped a lot.
2. Carry something for baby to munch - cookies/cut fruits (apple etc)/toast and any other eatable that you think is suitable for your little one. Believe me food can keep them busy for fair amount of time and once their tummy is full they will go off to sleep.
3. Whenever she got too restless then my wife used to shift to the rear seat for sometime but the baby was still belted in the car seat.
4. Most of the time i used to keep car seat in reclined position so that lying down would make her go to sleep sooner. This helped during her initial years but later on she used to complain that she wants to sit straight.

Don't let your baby out of the car seat while the car is moving. Believe me kids are smart and they easily realize what can work in their favor. If at all you need pull him out of the car seat then take a stop before doing so. We followed this for almost 4 years and everything was fine. After my daughter turned 4 we did not follow this strictly and now it is very difficult to make her sit in the car seat/booster chair.

[an_and]

Whatever we do, the tiny tots - well most of them - are a hyper lot. Getting them to be patiently seated is only a dream. Until and unless they sleep off, it is almost impossible to drive. I have been facing the same problem for the past three years now. My son is now 4 and he just cant sit still for more than 10 minutes. Maybe putting him in a meditation class will help :-)

[dushmish]

Originally Posted by andyonwheels

Come December '13 and we embark on our epic 5k+, 16nights and 17 days roadtrip,

Dear Andy,

I travel with my 2 daughters aged 6 and 10. We face a similar challenge as yours. My take and solution is as below:

It is a road trip. Enjoy the road.
No reading in the car.
No playing board games in the car.
No watching videos or playing video games in the car.

Having said this, what we do to keep engaged as a family is as follows:

We observe and talk about the change in vegetation as we cross states.
We observe and talk about the change in terrain and soil as we drive.
We talk about the farm activities we see.
We stop and step in the farms to interact with the farmers and see the crops closely. We have plucked sunflowers, waded through rice fields, plucked cotton pods, had self plucked corn on the cob (bhutta) in a farm and many more such things.
We talk about the various irrigation facilities and observe the ponds, lakes, rivulets, rivers, canals, etc.
We play word games (many available on net)
We play antakshari.
We tell stories about the areas we drive through. These are either history or political or culture.
We talk about the food habits of the people in the areas we drive through.
We talk about the material used for the construction of houses in villages and how it changes from one state to another.
We talk about the various businesses that flourish along the highway.
We observe the dresses folks wear along the highway.
We listen to some (very little) music. No iPods or personal music players.
We discuss the plan for the trip/drive.
Places to stay/eat/breaks.
We Carry 3 cameras. One canon point and shoot, one in my phone (Galaxy Grand) and one in my daughters' samsung tablet. We cick a lot of pictures. And encourage the girls to click pictures and rcord videos.

The GPS and maps keep us busy at times.
Yes we have tried to make a full flat bed on the rear seat. Works well in long drive.
We do not eat stuff like Lays, Kurkure, etc, No Pepsi/Coke during the drives.
We carry Chakli, banana chips, khakra, mathri, roasted chana, peanuts, dry fruits with us. Carry 3 circular boxes. Keep emptying the munchies in these boxes as they get over. At any given time kids will have 3 options to choose from. We buy fruits along the way. Carry Amul chhaas and lassi. A 20 litre Bisleri carboy with faucet in the boot. We avoid buying 1 litre bottles. Saves money and reduces plastic waste. Whenever the 20 litre jar gets over we exchange it for a new one. There are 4 bottles in the car, one for each member and 2 extras.

Most of the talking is done by my wife and I. The kids ask a lot of questions.
The deal is that it is a family road trip and therefore we have to be with each other and not with books, iPods, tablets, etc. Also if we are going by road, we want to learn about life along the road, else we would just take a flight.

To some it might seem a lot of restrictions. It works for us. As a family we try and learn new things on each trip. We also try and have new experiences along the way.

Hope this helps. Wish you a safe and enjoyable drive!

Cheers,
D

[sushil_n79]

Hi Everyone

Greetings for the festive season.

I was thinking about starting a thread around similar lines "How to prepare the kids for a long drive" and voila! just like team bhp had read my mind yet again we have a thread already for the above topic. This is been the second or the third time that whenever I need answer to a query and am looking forward begin a discussion on the same, I have the answers already within reach. Yes! it does help to search the thread before starting one as mentioned in the forum rules. A word of thanks to the site itself and fellow bhpians for the information shared from time to time.

Coming back to the query,
I own an alto lxi 2012 which has barely run about 42000kms till now. We had got this car when my son was barely 6 months old. We had done a few long trips in this car from Hyderabad to Bangalore, Hyderabad to Kurnool and Hyderabad to Sri-sailam as a family between the years 2012 and 2014.
In 2014 I had a change in my profession and could not spare time for a lot of drives as a family or alone. fast forward to 2021 post covid I have been reading a lot of travelogues on our forum and have been planning a long trip. The challenge now is that my son aged 10 and my daughter aged 6 start feeling Claustrophobic or nauseating even after a short 25 kms drive to the airport and they start getting restless about how much time is left to reach the destination. This makes my wife stressed and robs the pleasure out of the drives. Normally she likes to go on long drives . I do make the kids sit on the back seat but they are so used to gadgets that if they are not watching mobile or doing something that they like they feel bored. When I consulted my friend and fellow bhpian scarlet rider on this a valuable advise given was to avoid milk for them before the drive. I am not looking at changing the car right now as I want to get some more juice out of it and I like driving the alto due to its small size and good mileage. I am a sedate driver and normally drive between 80-90kmph on the highway and 50kmph within city limits/

My questions are :

How can I prepare them for long drives so that they don't look at it as a punishment and start enjoying the drives?

Do you think upgrading the rear suspension might help? I did get the suspension bushes replaced and got the suspension checked and found to be alright.

As the tyres get old, does the ride get bumpier? I have noticed that maintaining an air pressure of 32psi on all tyres makes the ride smooth.

I have noticed that my son is comfortable when I keep the speed under 60kmph and keep the drive straight without swaying the car much.

On highways 60kmph is a very low speed so I need help on the same.

Request help and guidance so that he can be trained for long drives.

I want do begin by taking baby steps and make my way up so that they start enjoying the drives.

Regards

Sushil Narayanan

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by sushil_n79

Do you think upgrading the rear suspension might help? I did get the suspension bushes replaced and got the suspension checked and found to be alright.

As the tyres get old, does the ride get bumpier? I have noticed that maintaining an air pressure of 32psi on all tyres makes the ride smooth.

I have noticed that my son is comfortable when I keep the speed under 60kmph and keep the drive straight without swaying the car much.

Never give up!

Go on frequent small road trips , say less than 100 kms round trip. Do not let kids watch anything on the phone or read a book etc, let them watch the moving scenery outside instead.

As with you the driver needs to hold steady speeds and not keep changing directions, that should be alright.

[bhupesh]

On long drives (10+ hrs), I have seen folks letting kids lie flat across the bench and sleep. This is an absolute not for us, given the lack of seat belt.

However, still wanted to check if there are car seat extenders or any other apparatus which can make this possible.

[binand]

Originally Posted by bhupesh

On long drives... kids sleep... if there are car seat extenders or any other apparatus which can make this possible.

What we do is take along regular pillows and duvets to let the kids sleep sitting and belted but comfortable. Combine these with neck pillows and eye masks and the idea works very well.