Skipped naps can cause your little one to get overtired, making it harder for them to fall asleep at night, she explains. “Maintaining sleep routines is huge,” says Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, childhood educator and author of the books Raising Your Spirited Baby, Raising the Spirited Child, and Sleepless in America. We also factor naps into the equation, making sure we either can be settled into our destination for the day ahead of naptime or set the stage for a successful car-time nap if we’ll be driving during the day. That’s why we make it a general routine to hit the road no earlier than our usual wakeup time and arrive at our final destination ahead of our toddler’s regular bathtime, nightly storytime, and bedtime. Stick to your child’s sleep routine as best as you canĮverything’s easier and more enjoyable when everyone in our family (adults included) is well-rested. To break the trip into achievable segments, you can create a travel reward chart and offer your little one positive reinforcements, such as a gold star, for every 15 minutes that pass, Trachtenberg suggests. Our family’s faithful standbys include a stack of picture books, lots of coloring supplies, building blocks, and games, keeping our child busy with only one item at a time to maximize the novelty and thrill of each new form of entertainment. Be sure to talk to them about where you’re going, what’s safe to do in the car and what’s not, and how long the ride will take compared to something they’re familiar with, like reading a book or listening to a song, she adds.įamiliar routines can help, which is why it’s important to stick to your child’s regular sleeping and eating times (more on this below) and plan lots of fun activities they’ll enjoy.Īctivities are key because you can trick your child’s brain into thinking the drive is shorter by taking the focus off the journey itself and keeping them occupied with things like games, looking for objects out the window, listening to music, singing songs, and sleeping, Trachtenberg says. Your long trip will go much more smoothly if your child knows what to expect, Trachtenberg says. That’s because they don’t have long attention spans and have a harder time entertaining themselves. Because young kids have difficulty grasping the concept of time, being in their seat for hours upon hours may frankly be boring and feel “extremely long,” says pediatrician Jen Trachtenberg, an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. If you feel tired after a long day behind the wheel, consider your child’s point of view. But anecdotal advice can only go so far, so I’ve also asked childhood development and health experts to weigh in on what may be going on inside your toddler’s mind and body during a long car ride and what you can do to ensure everyone stays happy, healthy, and safe.Ĭreate the structure and stimulation your child craves As someone who has logged thousands of miles with my little one across the continental US, including a cross-country drive, I have learned what it takes to keep young passengers active and engaged. Such multi-day excursions include the classic family road trip, which can be intimidating due to the logistics of planning mealtimes, sleep times, and activities to keep your kid entertained while away from the comfort of your home, not to mention all of the unknown variables that may arise. I’ve trekked to the very ends of the earth, through 28 of the 50 US states, and explored 14 countries with my now 4-year-old, and I always tell fellow parents that if you have what it takes to carefully plan and execute a successful family outing to a park on the other side of town, you can apply the same strategy to longer adventures with a young child in tow. No matter the distance, getting from point A to point B with a little one in tow is always its own unique travel challenge.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |