All the previous suggestions are great, we have done the 6/7 hour journey to Cornwall several times and done everything suggested. They work !
But the best of all are the story tapes/cd as we found watching anything (or focusing eyes) made the girls very sick.
And instead of giving all the new treats in one go, I used to have a bag of pocket money toys, games, sweets, etc which I would hand out about every 30 mins or so.
Have lots of quick stops, turn off the motorway and go the shortest way up a lane. Get out for 5 mins for a leg stretch and wee behind a bush. It breaks the journey up.
Car sickness pills can make children sleepy - BONUS !!
we are driving down to Pentwan sands Saturday from Manchester - did think of stopping off for the night on Friday but for the cost and the traffic on a Friday night - a couple of DVDs should suffice - still thinking of booking somewhere half way on the way home though - was a killer last year - got the motorway equivalent of jet-lag
I would definately set off in the early hours so for the first couple of hours at least they'll be too tired to complain/argue/whinge/. My two eldest are grown up now and no longer come with us, but my daughter thankfully is obsessed with Beatles music and will happily sit for the four hours it takes us to travel listening to her PSP player and we barely hear a peep out of her. Good luck !!.......
Wow.thank you so much for all your replies. Totally inspiring and fabulous as always....very much appreciated.
Thanks especially for games using what's around you ( have sadlyput them down as a session plan!) and to Sangria for the links for car bingo. I really like peppered's idea of sheep and donkeys and wrapping a 'prize' to tempt them!!LAFF! I really want to get the DVD players (have on reserve at Argos as I type) but not sure all 5 will see them and will cause arguements for those in the back, back, who have to peer through to see the screens in the middle row!!! I appreciate all your experiences of stressful times on the long car journeys, so don't want to exacerbate it! But am not sure should I go get them from Argos on way home.........????
Also grateful for the heads up with travel times to avoid traffic.Definately will do this!
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We had dvd players in the other car and they made the girls sickness worse - it seems anything that they stare at for a long time makes them worse so i dont know what yours would be like with them.
We'll look out for you, lol - we will be travelling the same way and will be the ones with the trailer and car packed to bursting and 2 girls and a dog on the back seat, lol.
We are travelling through the night tho so i am hoping they will sleep!
Catalan, we bought the double ones for my four children. We just had to angle it so the three in the middle could see it and the eldest who was in the very back ( Zafira )had one to himself. We didn't get straps with ours so improvised with some of my daughters belts lol. Might take a bit of faffing but you should be able to rig something up.
Although we haven't got kids just yet, whenever we go down to Cornwall we make a point of going very early!
We normally have an early night and set off from Shropshire at around 2 - 3am, so with a steady drive down we aim to get there for around 7 - 8am with a stop. The traffic on the M5 and A30 can be a total nightmare during the day, with a lot of traffic being made up by people who think leaving home early at 8am will mean they miss the traffic!
I always find driving through the night is far more chilled out, with relatively brisk traffic. As a regular motorway driver I find there is a big difference on the M5 compared, there are a lot of people who do not regularly use the motorway, so plenty of unpredictable moves!
My cousin has two kids and always does this, he puts the kids asleep in the car when he sets off and they sleep pretty much all the way!
Although we haven't got kids just yet, whenever we go down to Cornwall we make a point of going very early!
We normally have an early night and set off from Shropshire at around 2 - 3am, so with a steady drive down we aim to get there for around 7 - 8am with a stop. The traffic on the M5 and A30 can be a total nightmare during the day, with a lot of traffic being made up by people who think leaving home early at 8am will mean they miss the traffic!
I always find driving through the night is far more chilled out, with relatively brisk traffic. As a regular motorway driver I find there is a big difference on the M5 compared, there are a lot of people who do not regularly use the motorway, so plenty of unpredictable moves!
My cousin has two kids and always does this, he puts the kids asleep in the car when he sets off and they sleep pretty much all the way!
When we drove from Manchester to Cornwall, 7 hours, I kept my two entertained by buying cheap little gifts, wrapping them in paper and putting them in a bag with their name on. I gave them a pressie every half hour, this could be a pencil, a rubber, crayons, colouring book, drink, sweets etc, only things that cost pennies, but by wrapping them and giving them a time to watch, the time flew for them, If they had a pencil but no book, they watched the time and half an hour isnt too long for them to wait. The hardest thing for me was waiting to give them their lucky dip! Of course this does depend on the age of the children,
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Topic: what 2 do with kids on a 7hr car drive?
- a couple of DVDs should suffice - still thinking of booking somewhere half way on the way home though - was a killer last year - got the motorway equivalent of jet-lag
