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COMMUNITY
Driving with Kids
Baby on Board
By Alice Cary, GORP Family Expert
They are the hardest little critters to travel with, but if you're lucky, they'll give you time to nap. Take everything they need, of course, and check their diapers and feeding needs as often as possible.
Positioning. It can be helpful to have an adult sitting beside an infant, so that he or she can tend to the child easily. A warning, though: My son got too used to me sitting with him on long trips, and he now wants his personal entertainer at his side at all times.
Driving at night. Many folks resort to driving at night so that their babies will sleep. This can be a great strategy for four- or five-hour trips, but for longer trips the wear and tear on tired parents may reduce any benefits, especially if the babies don't actually sleep.
Creating a diversion. You have to be creative in finding items to hand to babies for entertainment. We put a duffel bag full of baby toys between our two girls so that they can reach things themselves (a predeparture trip to the toy store can help).
One of the most important rules is to never stop while babies are napping.
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In theory, at least, they should be satisfied for a while. But after an hour or so in the car, they lose all interest in their bagged toys. We then resort to straws, old magazines, napkins, you name it. The area surrounding our girls eventually looks like a trash heap, but we stop from time to time to clean up.
Stopping. One of the most important rules of traveling with babies is to never stop while they're napping. Have plenty of gas and snacks on hand when they start snoozing, and make any bathroom stops beforehand, if possible. You want to make as much mileage as possible out of those peaceful moments.
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Article copyright © GORP.com 2001
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