Long Road Trips With Children: Tips for a Safe and Comfortable Trip
We all look forward to summer vacations or a weekend to jump on the road a few days off. But for some families, that moment can become torture when you have to face a car trip with children. To get a safe and comfortable trip, it is important to follow some tips and recommendations, but also prepare children for the trip with a positive attitude and as something fun.
Safety first
Before planning any trip by car with children, it is essential to install one of the best car GPS tracker no monthly fee to ensure a safe trip without costing too much. Having a child restraint system for each homologated according to their age, weight and height is also important. The use of child seats is mandatory for children up to 1.35 meters high, although its use is recommended until they reach 1.50 meters. Do not forget that its use reduces the risk of death by 75% and the risk of injury by 95%.
Plan the trip in advance
Children do not have the same capacity as an adult to adapt to different situations. In general, no child likes to be attached with harnesses or a seat belt in a child seat, so a long trip can be uncomfortable and tired for the child. Try to make the trip using the safest roads, such as highways, which allow a relaxed and quiet driving and where you find service and restoration areas to make various stops along the way. In the case of traveling by car with children, you will have to anticipate more frequent stops and not rush until the minimum two hours recommended on a normal trip. You can plan the stops at the beautiful park and let your children play games to dispel the boredom. It is ideal to have your children bring trackers such as GoFindMe to prevent them from getting lost.
Children with comfortable clothes, without cold or heat
For any trip, it is necessary to take care of the clothes we wear since in the car we will spend several hours without moving. In the case of children, this recommendation becomes more important if we do not want them to spend the trip complaining that such a shirt stings them, that their pants are tight or that they are cold or hot. It is best to opt for breathable cotton clothing that does not fit the body and allows freedom of movement without pressure.
As for the temperature of the cabin, the recommended is between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius. It prevents the environment from being excessively cold or hot, and that the cold air from the air conditioner reaches the child directly. We advise you to carry a jacket or towel by hand so that you can cover it if necessary.
Light food and plenty of water
Heavy, caloric, flatulent or high-fat food is discouraged before starting any trip. In addition to causing dizziness, it may cause you discomfort. An adult can ‘hold on’ until they reach the destination, but a child will complain and cry, a very stressful situation for both the driver and the rest of the passengers. Avoid it by offering light foods, good digestion, and in small quantities. Do not forget to bring several bottles of water to hydrate the child both during the trip and at the stops you make during the trip. Avoid carbonated drinks.
Avoid dreaded dizziness
Children from 3 years of age may experience dizziness when traveling by car because what the brain perceives is not coordinated with the signals received by the ears, organs responsible for the sense of balance. The result is nausea, malaise, vomiting, excessive sweating, and more frequent yawning.
To avoid dizziness, a light meal is recommended before starting the trip since it is easier to get dizzy on an empty stomach. The best seat is the rear center since the child will be able to look at a distant point in the landscape. Reading, movies or playing consoles increase the risk of dizziness, as well as an unventilated cabin with high temperature and aggressive driving and in areas with many curves. If the first symptoms appear, the first thing is to open the window and try to get the air to reach your face.
Prepare toys, games, songs for an entertaining trip
The best thing for a quiet ride is for the child to sleep as long as possible. If the child is not very sleepy, the co-pilot will do well to have organized games to make the journey more fun: singing songs, looking for landscape objects that start with a certain letter, counting car brands and models or looking for cars by color are some options for the little ones. You can also turn to technologies and put a movie or cartoons on the trip, or let him play with a tablet or game console – if he is not a child prone to getting dizzy. Don’t forget to take some of your favorite toys so you can entertain yourself. Of course, do not leave them loose inside the cabin, since in case of collision they become authentic projectiles.
The co-pilot, great ally to avoid distractions in the driver
Infants and young children are the companions that cause the driver the most distractions. A trip with children can be exhausting when they stop complaining, crying or getting your attention. In this sense, the role of the co-pilot or any other adult who travels in the car becomes essential to help the driver to fully concentrate on his task of driving. It may also happen that the driver is the only adult in the vehicle.
In that case, the most advisable thing is to leave everything as handy as possible so that the child can take it without help. If necessary, it is safest to stop the car as many times as possible and attend to the child.
Nothing better to avoid traffic jams, boredom, dizziness and tiredness in a child than making the night trip. If you prefer to drive during the day, nothing better than following these tips and arm yourself with patience to reach your destination after a comfortable and safe trip.
