Any helpful tips for a long car ride with a child?

We recently started to map out our trips a little better and finding purposeful and fun pit stops. My husband and I used to just focus on going from point A to B and finding things as we go, but that backfired a lot with kids. We've been able to find some really great parks and playgrounds on our routes that have made our road trips much more bearable. Better yet, we would find new restaurants that we can order take out from...then we would have a little picnic. They were longer stops than your generic rest areas, but they helped break the trip up quite a bit.

I agree with all of the suggestions that Lesley provided. Her list was quite inclusive!

Two of our grandchildren also get car sick, and the wrist bands and motion sickness medication are a great help.

Personally, I would not consider sleeping in the car a negative factor. It makes the time go by faster, and your child will be rested when you arrive at your destination, and the nap will help with car sickness and the headache that goes along with it many times.

I find that breaking up the ride with frequent stops helps ease the monotony and motion sickness. I think that car time is a great opportunity to talk, relate stories of our adventures and experiences as children, and discuss the destination and plans further. Our deepest discussions and interesting questions have been in the car on trips.

The sibling car fighting is eliminated with one child, which can be the most annoying aspect of traveling with a family.

Enjoy your trip.

Family road trips can be amazing opportunities to create memories that will last for a lifetime. Having kids that are not great travellers can however make it more challenging, but with some forward planning and preparation, you should be able to all enjoy your journey.

My daughter was not a fan of long car trips when she was younger, and she also experienced motion sickness. One of my preparation tools was to take the time to speak to her about long trips and to prepare her for long hours in the car. We spoke about how long a day's travelling would be in times she could easily relate to (for example for as long as you are at kindergarten during a day), and found pictures online so that she had a visual idea of each day's destination. When travelling, we found that she required both an anti-nausea medication and a set of sea-bands (travel sickness bands) to keep her motion sickness well controlled. It also helped that we had her car-seat fixed in the middle of the back seat, allowing her a clear view of the road ahead.

Pack a busy-bag full of car friendly activities, but remember that tablets, books, and similar activities can exacerbate motion sickness, so aim for games that keep your child looking up and around them. Loading a playlist of their favourite songs that they can listen to with a set of headphones is also a winner. When we had multi day trips, I always made sure that I had at least one "new" car activity per day to prevent boredom from setting in.

Finally, before we even started our trip, we identified places to stop roughly every two hours. This provided an opportunity to stretch legs, use the bathroom, run a bit of energy out, and maybe get a snack. Where feasible, we also had a small "treasure jar" that we took with us, allowing my daughter that chance to collect a few moments from our trip - a piece of sea glass, a smooth pebble for a mountain stream, and even a ridiculously sticky piece of candy from a gas station store. These small treasures are great because they can be used later at school show-and-tells and serve as a lovely reminder of all the places you have been together.

Good luck with your planning!