Traveling 31 Hours With A Child

[~~Cypher~~]

My Fiance Is Going To Be Traveling 31 Hours By Bus With Her 3 Year Old Little Boy. Is There Anything Other Than (Robutossim) To Give Him So He Will Be Asleep For Most Of The Trip... And Is There A Toy That You Can Recommend So She Can Keep Him Busy When He Does Wake Up On The Trip? I Tried Doing Some Research On The Net But Nothing Comes For A National Trips... Everything Is International Trips...

Thanks

[Linx]

Why do you or your fiance want them to sleep most of the trip? Why not get a small electronic game for the child? Leap Pad makes some great ones. Or maybe even bring coloring book and crayons. Also bring some headphones and some kids song tapes. Possibly even a portable DVD player would come in handy.

I also really hope that you neither you or her opt to drug the child. Givign them medicine when they do not need it, just to convenience yourselves. Medicines such as cold medicines and pain relevers are meant to help keep colds and flus in check. They are supposed to be used responsibly. They are not made available to us so that we can drone out our children.

I traveled 28 hours on a bus with a 18 month old. When he was awake, we played. He listed to music, he colored. He chose to sleep most of the way on his own, but I would have never forced him with drugs had he not.

We take long drives all the time. Course my kids are older now, but even now and when they were younger, we always made sure they had activities they could do to keep them occupied.

[~SleepyWillow~]

Are you suggesting Robitussin to make him sleep??? I have concerns about drugging a child with cough syrup to make them drowsy...If the child gets motion sickness you could use childrens Gravol...that knocks them out, But if it just to get him to sleep then let him do that himself...he'll sleep when he's tired..

[misschief]

um.. drugging a child to make him sleep could actually get her in trouble with child protective services. that's just wrong. she'll just have to find a way to entertain him/her. buy a leap pad, some coloring book, crayons, etc.

if i knew of someone drugging their child for a trip, i'd report them myself. not to attack her... but that's a ridiculous idea.

[Gwenhwyfar]

Its been said but I have to say it again, drugging a child for your woman to have a smooth ride is wrong, plain and simple. Leap pads are great, theres all sorts of little travel games you can buy. She can always color with him, read to him, point things out to him from the window of the bus....hell, go buy a little portable tv even. It is a little young to take on such a long ride, if it were me Id be prepared to deal with it without drugging them or pospone the trip till the kid is older.

[~~Cypher~~]

No no no no no... I wasn't saying that... I have heard that robotussim is a way... But I was specifically asking because I know they exist but I cant find it... an OTC medicine that can be used for kids on long trips... especially kids that are extremely active and I was wondering if y'all knew what it was... Thats all... not like I am going to drug my kid just to get him to make a long trip without a doc's recommendation.

[MorningDove030202]

I would bring one of those magna doodles or the fisher price equivlent. My sone loves it and he can't draw on the car with it, and you don't run out of paper or drop crayons. Maybe some books on CD to listen too together. You can find some at your library.

Talk to your doc about long trips... I have a three year old, and while I understand that not all 3 year olds are alike, I think I could manage a 31 hour bus trip with him, as long as I had a potty, food, and toys (and a good reason to be on the trip.)

Dove

[Ravyn Sylverwyng]

I use the magnadoodle when we go on long trips. Not only that, but you can also go to crayola.com and get print off some coloring sheets. I have done this as they have a road trip bingo game where you sit and mark off the things that you see on the way. With three children all under the age of 8, it is a blessing to have them occupied. Not only that, but I have also upgraded my laptop to have a dvd in it so that they can watch games while on the go. They make adapters so that you can plug it into you lighter to charge the battery on the go. I don't know if a bus will have one available, but I would check into it. A leapfrog is another alternative. Also, when you get a chance to stop, as you will on a bus every once in a while, take the child out and play. You may not be able to leave the bus terminal, but do something creative so that he/she has a chance to exert some energy. It will be tough, but you will be glad that you didn't resort to just knocking them out. I know that on a return trip from visiting family, I spent 9 hours in a car with a toddler screaming. It wasn't easy, but sometimes you just have to cope.

[~~Cypher~~]

Thanks for the advice guys... I hope i didn't irritate anyone with the Robutossim suggestion

[Breathless Falcon]

Most likely the child will sleep on their own, however, I would not want to let them sleep the whole trip. Ever stay up with a child who got too much sleep????? I have and it is not sweet/cute !! A portable DVD player with dvd's are a great sugestion, most will play for 5 or 6 movies on one charge. Will they have any layovers anywhere? The last trip I took with my kids (2) they were 12 & 14 was comming to Germany :shaker: Thank the Goddess the plane was empty so I could move them to different seats so they didn't kill each other. I took color books yes for that age, and puzzle books. And there were movies on the plane and lots of snacks. Best of luck !!!!



PS when I was married to my EX we had the grandkids often and flew them home. We traveled with 5 kids that trip 18m, 2.5y, 4.5y, 8y,10y, and the ex was like a kid, too! :muwaha: Color books and snacks did the job. And let them carry something for the trip so they feel like they are part of it, and not just being drug along. I got little suitcases with wheels even for the 18m old. It actually slowed them down so they couldn't run away as easy and I could keep track of them ALL, and they all walked and didn't want to be carried.

[Dawa Lhamo]

Oh, and if the child gets carsick, you could give him ginger snaps or ginger soda. I don't know anything about any medications to sedate the child... My parents used coloring books and would read books aloud to us. Little pocket video games aren't a bad idea, either.

Tashi delek!
Dawa Lhamo

[Strega Del Vento]

Well, we just got finished traveling in a Uhaul with our daughter (22 months) in the carseat between us. Total driving time was about 26 hours. We did stop overnight so she could sleep in a nice bed and be allowed to stretch her legs. She was an absolute doll for the whole trip with the exception of the last 2 hours. That was her fussy time, she'd had enough of being in the carseat and her tush and legs were hurting her from sitting like that.

I'm not sure if making the child sleep the whole way is a good thing. I've heard that it works best on plane trips (because they are generally short in travel time), and it also helps with the air pressure. If they're asleep and their ears pop, they won't be bothered by it. My daughter took occasional naps here and there, but did most of her sleeping when we stopped overnight.

With our daughter, she was just content sitting there between the two of us and taking in the sites through the big Uhaul windshield.

With my two oldest kids (now 11 and 13), my ex hubby and I would take them on drives to RI from VA when we lived there. Total driving time for those trips was about 12 hours, with stopping and things like that. They were both very small at the time. But, we also kept them entertained pretty well and whenever we could, we'd drive at night when they'd be asleep.

Keeping her entertained is probably a better idea. Most have suggested games, books, toys. That's your best bet. Most little ones get excited when they're on trips and like to check things out.

Additionally, although I've heard about cough syrup being used to keep a child sleeping while on a trip, I do not agree with it at all. It seems very wrong to me, and mistakes can be made resulting in injury to the child. Very sad.

Good Luck :)

[Mistress_Ravenshadow]

i did alot of traveling when my kids were small and the one thing i found is even when you give them stuff to help them sleep they wont lol.. they are often too excited.. what you should do is make an activity pack.. put in coloring books, crayons (as they dont need to be sharpened) a couple of small toys your child loves a couple of story books so you can read to your child and some special treats just for the trip.. maybe even a walkman and some of your childs fav cd's/tapes.. getting a window seat is always a blessing too as the lil one can always look at everything thats going by..
the other thing is to try and work it so that the majority of the trip is at night so they would naturally be sleeping anyway.. also it reduces the amount of times the lil one will want to toilet

[~~Cypher~~]

I appreciate all your advice... Sorry if I irritated people with the medicine thing... I wasn't meaning that I was gonna give him some OTC medicine like robotussim just to make him sleep I was looking for that med that they give children on international flights... anyway... I appreciate it!

[spooky]

the drug is probably DRAMAMINE- but unless you think your kid is going to hijack the plane or pull some other terrorist action if he's awake it's pretty selfish. i wouldn't say cruel though. i'm sure you just wanted to spare everybody a lot of irritation. on your next trip, just let him wear pajamas and bring pillows. make an effort to block out some of the light and the car rocking will probably put him to sleep anyway. a pre- trip late movie night would let him watch a movie AND sleep through a boring car ride.

people don't always come out of dramatol hangovers very gracefully anyway.
congrats on your finacee arriving! have a great time!

[Sleet]

Does she have access to a laptop computer that can play DVDs? You can probably get a couple of movies' worth out of a battery charge.

[Hærfest Leah]

Glad I found this thread....car trips are easy, we've got that down with all the cross country trips we take visiting family, it's flying I'm worried about. Our kids our 21 months & 3 1/2 years. And going to Guam we will have 2 plane changes and a total of like 18 hrs of flying & less than an hr layovers between flights.

So far we plan on taking a few books, a small magnadoodle, our dvd player & some snacks. Not much because the girls are sharing a carryon. I know that crayons are out of the question because if Bre sees Loralie with them she'll want them and Bre will be throwing them all over the floor on the plane so no, I'm not dealing with that. I figure tho that with having to get up at 4 to go the the airport to fly out at 7 & the time changes, by the time we get to Hawaii for the last long flight they will sleep the rest of the way.

And the drugging I've heard of, my sister gave her son a Benadryl just to go from east TN to Myrtle Beach. I say the worst we'd ever do would be a 1mg orange chewable Melatonin.

[Tanya]

I travel to the US often enough to have practiced this one in real life.

1. try to set it up so you get on the bus near her bedtime... sleep good.
2. books to read to her, books she can look at herself (I try to pack a paperback chapter book, like th black stallion, and some of theose small touchy feely books for her)
3. stickers or stampers... a lot
4. food you can play with... cheerios, dry fruit, crackers, teddy grahams, and a bottled drink with the pully top that keeps things from spilling...
5. an etcha sketch
5. crayons and a coloring book..yeah you are going to loose some on the floor... but getting them will keep her busy

6. plastic animals, little cars.. etc.

7. play dough
8. Don't even think of leaving town without THE BELOVED toy or blankie

now, the really inspired thing I've learned is... a week before your trip, go to the dollar store and get some of this stuff new... wrap it and put it in your carry-on...yeah you probably already have play dough... but "new green play dough with a stamper! COOL!!!" Don't let the kid have it all at once.. meter them out so evey few hours you can offer them something 'new and exciting" to play with.

Don't forget your own mind is a source of endless entertainment. Tell stories, sing songs and play games like "cow and barns" and "find a letter" "find a number" and "Liscense plates"

as for car sickness.
1. gingerale & crackers
2. magnetic braclets, the REALLY Work

[DreamSpell333]

My daughter was almost 3 when we moved from New Hampshire to Indiana. it took us 4 days. We stopped 3 times. We got her a portable cd player with childrens songs,and also a doodle pro. We also played eye spy . She slept through a good deal of it. She was really good.
I doubt that your fiance will have any trouble with him. Giving children medicine to get them to sleep is wrong.. Thats why so many pharmacys limit the purchase on certain cough medicines,because ppl abuse the medicine's proper use.
I also flew to NH in march with my daughter,and she was fine. She's also pretty active,but when occupied with a fun activity, shes really good.

Good Luck :)