Travelling by car

20 March 2008

Travelling with children is often a difficult. That could be seen as understatement by parents who do this regularly. Trying to concentrate on driving, map reading, giving and receiving directions is stressful enough, but couple that with your little angels in the back and you could be ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat. The other option is to leave them by the roadside when your temper is frayed and your blood pressure has hit sky high! Perhaps a more realistic option, and it ought to be said the fairer option is to look at the advice here on how to make your car journey a more pleasant one for everyone.

Are they sitting comfortably?
Buying and fitting the right car seat for your baby and child must be of paramount importance. It is potentially life saving. Ensuring that your children are sitting safely by law is the driver’s responsibility.
Advice on choosing the right car seat for your baby or child is best taken from a professional. For further guidance and information on choosing and fitting an appropriate car seat please visit the Department of Transport website.

You may also be interested to read the new regulations regarding the use of child car seats, which came into force on September 18th 2006.

Keeping them amused
CD player / Walkman / MP3 player: Great for older children. They can sit and listen to their favourite music through headphones. You can ten listen to what you want to in peace!
Audio books: You can either buy or hire these. They are brilliant for children who suffer from motion sickness through reading a book.
Nintendo DS / PSP or other hand held console: Not necessarily something you want to go out and buy if you haven’t already got them, but they can keep the children amused and not crying ‘Are we there yet?’
Cards and games: A pack of cards is an inexpensive way of keeping the children busy. You can take a small lap tray for them to play on or some cars have fold down trays built into the seats. Alternatively why not use a pillow, which is always handy to have for when the games have tired them out and they want to nap! You may also want to buy some small travel games like Scrabble or battleship.
Portable DVD player: You can now buy dvd players that will plug in to the cigarette lighter in your car. The children take take an assortment of DVDs to watch. If you are considering buying one and you have more than one child, it is worth looking for players that allow you to plug more than one headset in. Click here for a selection of portable DVD players.
Pillows: Pillows have already been mentioned above, but hopefully after all the entertainment you have provided they’ll be exhausted and want to sleep for a while. You may also want to look at neckpillows, which can be bought in different sizes.