Travelling with small kids and a baby

[firm351]

G’day folks,

Call me crazy but I will be travelling from WA to NSW and back via VIC in dec-jan with my wife, two four year old kids and 2.5 month old baby.

I was wondering if anyone else has driven long distances with small kids and/or baby’s and would be able to share some advice to make the trip a bit more comfortable.

I have driven across the Nullarbor twice before so I know what’s out there and what to expect but Bec never has so it will be an eye opener for her.

I have planned it out to take 8-9 days averaging around 550-600 km per day with a two night stop somewhere along the way I don’t reckon that will be too hard on the kids, we will be able to have plenty of stops each day and still travel 600km.


The kids have done a fair bit of driving so they will handle it ok not, sure how the baby will go but I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated,

Paul.

[BigRAWesty]

Get a roof rack.. And occy straps..

I find tie down are a little harsh on them...



























JUST KIDDING... Lots of stops and involve them with destinations..
Try and see some tthings that will interest them. The big Orange, the big Marino sheep etc.
I find our kids sorta only last 3 hours straight.. So we try and pull up for a leg stretch every 2.5 - 3 hours..

And travel games board games.. Maybe not the best pick if the kids get a bit iffy with car sickness..

[MudRunnerTD]

Th baby will sleep most of the time and the other kids will keep each other company.

Some eye spy games and travel games they can play in the car is good as are DVD screens and ipods

I think your distances are OK but they would be the most I reckon. Or hit it hard and get it done fast and tell the kids what the plan is. If they know its 4 big days or 8 easy days they might be ok with getting it done

The baby will be the least of your worries at that age.

Travel safe mate

[firm351]

Thanks fellas, all going the well the baby will be on the boob so i suppose her feeding will dictate when we stop for a break, i just hope she is like the other two were and have a feed every 3 hours during the day.

The two big kids will be sitting right next to each other for the first time aswell so that might get interesting up until now they haven't been able to reach each other cause there was a spare seat between them.

[Maxhead]

Agree with MR. Baby will be least of the worry.

Keep the games up with the kids to keep them occupied, pull up every two hours for 5 minutes just to stretch and break the trip up a bit.
I've done a few days of 8hrs with 6 and 7 year olds and no problems...coloring books, sketch books, ipad if they have one but involve them in everything as much as you can. Eye spy is great and can last hours

Good luck

[MudRunnerTD]

I used to get car sick bad as a kid and my boy suffers now. The kids should be fine traveling along the nullabore as its the corners that kill you.

You are right the baby feeds will dictate the stops so happy days.

So the kids are 4, movies will be your friend and head phones are a winner as you don't want to have to listen to the kids movies all the way.

Either grab 2 little cheap single disk DVD players for their laps or a head rest set up but someone will have the best view.

The remote DVD works great in the tent too ;)

Or a little 10" laptop and a memory stick full of AVI movie files and then your not wrecking disks.

[firm351]

I used to get car sick bad as a kid and my boy suffers now. The kids should be fine traveling along the nullabore as its the corners that kill you.

I used to get car sick real bad when i was a kid, we lived on the western edge of the blue mountains i reckon i chucked up on the first corner going up the mountains until i was about 10.

Luckily my kids have never been car sick but theres not many bendy roads over here to test them out on.

DVD players are already on the list, i never wanted them to have them but for our sanity on a 5 week holiday in the car, i think i will give in on this one.

[Cuppa]

Take some mozzie netting of some sort which you can put up quickly for baby changing. It was over 27 years ago but I remember us battling with 10 million flies when trying to change our son's nappy on the back seat of the car by the side of the road. Also some rubbish bags to carry the used nappies to the next empty bin. You'd be amazed at how many folk just leave the sh*t filled nappies laying around in overnight camp spots!

One of the better camp spots & safe for the kids, off the road & out of sight is at the Norseman end of the Nullarbor is Newman Rocks, about 50kms before you reach Balladonia, on the left travelling east. No facilities, just a table & fire pit. Short walk to the rocks where the kids might enjoy seeing Roos come in for a drink.

Cuppa

[firm351]

Thanks cuppa, i never thought about the mozzie net thats a brilliant idea.

My pet hate is seeing sh!t filled nappies just dumped anywhere, its really not that hard to carry them till you find a bin.