My $0.02: Puppets. Our girl is endlessly entertained by a puppet peeking over the back of my seat, jumping off the console, tickling her toes etc. Granted, it requires a little more parent-interaction, but I have one of those kids that is not at all interested in TV/DVD’s so we have to get a little creative!

We’re flying at the end of the month, and you can bet that for that trip I’ll have a stock of those Crayola “Colour Wonders” markers/paper, lots of stickers and a puppet or two hidden away in my bag of tricks.

The DVD player and mini magna are things we got for a really long, crazy road trip. Stupid trip. But those were key. Just make sure you have all adapters and movies and whatnot. AND, soooo key for either child, is a water proof lap pad thingy. You know, one you use on the change table or even one of those doggie training ones. No kidding - if, for some reason a diaper explodes or a bigger kid has an accident, the car/booster seat is still dry. Multiple snack packs with a tiny amount of various snacks. Have a large container of watered down juice. Even if they aren’t used to it being watered down, they’ll drink it eventually. Two towels. The size is up to you but be prepared to part with them if necessary. You never know what may happen when a car, movies, extra food and drink are involved. And in the end, it’s not so bad. Even if you’re broken down on the side of the road something fun can come of it. All of these tips and toys work for a plane ride, too! I’ve not gone for the back of the seat organizer but now, because of your description, I’m think I need one.

We typically take the “travel at night” approach, so the kiddo sleeps through the drive. Or, is supposed to anyway. We drive to visit my in-laws in Wisconsin, which is 8 hours away. The last trip, we got home, had dinner, packed up the car, put the boy in PJs, and headed off into the night. The drive is hard on my husband and I, trying to keep awake and all, but TRUST ME, the trip is much quieter.

I suggest a brand new sippy cup…because they’re less likely to leak chocolate milk all over the floor of your 4 day old car. Not that that happened to us or anything. Ahem.

Have you seen those photo albums in the stores anywhere? I bought a couple of them at Michael’s and they were perfect, but they don’t sell them anymore.
Thanks!

What really works for us is this: we leave the driving to someone else. We live in New England and commute to NY (my family) by bus. We used to do train, but it got too expensive. Some of the biggest pluses: someone else has to deal with the traffic snarls and so on (and hubby HATES driving in the city), it frees both of us to entertain our son (not just the one who isn’t driving), our son isn’t constricted by a seat belt for the entire duration (mind you, we don’t exactly let him run around the bus!), there’s a bathroom on the bus, we can all eat, and our son has always liked big vehicles. We use a reliable line with a good safety record, and it has a good schedule and relatively clean buses. (They even offer movies sometimes, but the offerings are usually not ones that interest our son.) Obviously, it probably wouldn’t work as well with kids who cannot keep their voices to a dull roar or won’t stop kicking the seat in front of them, etc. But our son is good about those things, and I think it’s in part b/c of some of those pluses I mentioned.

Headphones. We’ve never had a portable DVD player (because they weren’t around when our kids were younger), but our blind child has never been able to play the license plate game or the billboard ABCs. Instead, he wears his armband radio and tunes in local stations as we travel, enjoying the local culture and accents.

We have often done the 7 hour trip to my inlaws..portable DVDs are crucial! Color wonders are great-although pricey–new markers and a blank pad of paper always work. A tray of some sort (lap desk )with a rim (I’ve used a baking sheet), and a few small toys (cars, imaginext sets) and some snacks water, granola bars etc), all in a backpack. I usually treat to a new toy or two (think matchbox cars) for the trip.