A Kiddicare survey has recently revealed that being in the car with little ones is one of the most stressful places for parents.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, the kids are strapped in the back and are still demanding as much attention as normal, however you have the added responsibility of concentrating on the road, navigating yourself to your destination, merging on the motorway or dealing with anything else that the journey throws at you.
Like sudden but urgently needed toilet trips for tots.
Obviously a young child doesn’t realise the concentration that you need to have whilst driving. But sometimes it still seems like they're doing in on purpose, right?
Couple that with the fact that the back of the car is not a particularly dynamic environment (so they get bored quite easily) and you have the recipe for a potentially frustrating car journey.
So, here are some top tips on how to help make the journey a little less painful:
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Make sure to pack your car full of fun distractions, whether that’s snacks, books or soft toys, anything to keep those in the back seat entertained and engaged.
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Try to enjoy the chatter - our busy lives mean that it is often quite rare that we get a chance to sit down for long periods of times with our kids. A car journey gives them the chance to have a chat – in fact the lack of eye-contact means that often children feel like they can talk more!
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If it’s a long journey, try to break it up. If you can, look up if there are any parks, lakes or nice view points along the way so you can stop off for some fresh air and have an opportunity to wear them out before the next leg of the journey.
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If you have young children, and can plan ahead, try and align your journeys with your little one’s own sleep and eating patterns. This should avoid any hunger-based tantrums and having to disrupt any naps.
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If the classic ‘are we nearly there yet?’ question comes up, take a deep breath. We’ve all been there! Interestingly children don’t actually have a concept of time until they are around 6 or 7 years-old which means before then time is actually quite confusing. Try relating the time left to the journey to something they would recognise, like the length of a Pepper Pig episode or as long as it takes to get to school.
For more tips and tricks on driving with kids, including a handy flowchart by child psychologist Dr Elizabeth Kilbey that aims to help you answer any question your child throws at you, head to the Kiddicare ‘Driving With Kids’ hub.
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