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How insane am I? road trip w/ just me and Sims?
We're going to visit Topher's dad for Thanksgiving. Topher has a business trip the week before and it'll fly him out of Jersey, where we'll be staying. How super insane am I to try to drive just me and Sims out to Jersey myself? It's about an 8 hour trip.
What all do I need in the front seat to pass back to him? We'll leave early afternoon, get in some driving, he'll fall asleep at some point for his nap, when he wakes up, hopefully we'll have about 3 or 4 hours in, stop for dinner and then I'll hand over the ipad for the remainder of the trip. He's a little techno-addict, so he can watch all of the Mickey and Little Einsteins his heart desires. He's got about an hour in the car where he's ok, then he gets whiney, but I have no problem giving him the ipad. What do I do about the bathroom? He's been out of diapers during the daytime for about a week now - do I put a special "traveling" diaper (Which is the same as his special "sleeping" diaper now. 
on him or stop at every rest stop and make him go?
Thoughts and tips would be appreciated! Thanks!
Re: How insane am I? road trip w/ just me and Sims?
I think your plan sounds good. You know your kid best and how he'll likely do in the car. It wouldn't hurt to have a new toy/book/something to pull out if the whining gets ugly.
I did a 3 hour solo road trip with Jude over the summer after he'd been fully potty trained for a few months (but still wearing pull ups at night). It didn't even occur to me to put a pull up on him for daytime but sure enough he was soaked when we arrived (he slept most of the trip). A lot could change with his potty training progress in the next month but I'd probably do a pull up unless he greatly resists it. If your destination in your dad's house, it will be a pain but not the worst thing ever to have to wash the car seat pad, etc.
I think it's not a terrible idea--with careful planning. I've did a 3 hour trip with me, 2 kids and a dog. leaving right after work was poor planning on my part. The dog was energized from being home all day, Nolan wanted cuddle time and didn't want to be in his seat, and Brinley was feeding off the negative energy. The trip ended up taking 4.5 hours.
However, the trip back was much more enjoyable. It ended up taking 4.5 hours too becaues we got stuck in a construction zone, but everyone dealt with it much better.
Snacks and drinks are imperative. I try to get special things that DD doesn't usually have. Sticker books are always a go-to road trip item for me DD may go through 100 stickers, but it keeps her busy. We don't have an IPad, but DD has a V-reader, InnoTab and a iXL. I also try to pack a few new books and she has some magnet/book playsets that are fun.
I think It's OK to use the diaper as a safety net, but I'd still try to make him go potty when you stop. On our trips we travel through rural areas, so it wouldn't be uncommon for us to pull off a random exit and DD to pee outside if she really had to go. although that might not be preferable in November.
Thats what we do when traveling because you never know when they might fall asleep. DD wore pull ups to sleep in anyway. I just told her, "we're going to wear your sleepy underwear incase you want to sleep in the car". I'd just do pull ups, treat them like underwear and still have potty stops every couple of hours.
We drove the Phili over the summer (about 6 hours) and the kids did great. A dvd player is a huge help.
We did a 7 hour trip this summer, just after Mason was potty trained. I've never done pull-ups with him, so I just stuck him in a diaper before we left. I can't remember if he actually went in it or not, but having him wear one didn't cause any regression.
Both of my boys do great in the car, so I've never had any concerns about doing road trips with them solo, but I'm coming to learn that I'm a freakishly laid back parent! As long as you travel prepared with snacks, distractions, things to keep him busy,etc. you should be fine...and if he starts to get frustrated in the car or a distraction to you, pull off at a rest stop and take a break. GL!
This. Like I said, if you suggest the pull up or diaper and he resists, don't force the issue but it's not a bad idea so early into training.
In a month, you will have a sense of where he is potty-wise. Once Heather "got it", we never put her in a pull-up to travel. She was good at holding it and told us when she needed to go. We don't put Todd in a pull-up either. He is not as good at holding it and not so great about telling us, but I'm not spending any more money on diapers or pull-ups. If he has an accident, we clean it up. It isn't the end of the world. We've driven to Baltimore, camping and many trips to Johnstown since he trained and I think he's only had one accident in the car seat in 6 months.
I did a few solo car trips with the kids while I was unemployed. My family is all 4-6 hours away and we could stay longer if we didn't take DH.
I bought those snack trap cups and filled them with cheerios and cheddar bunnies. I also brought a few treats and cheese sticks for the first snack request. (My kids eat a lot in the car.) I also brought a bag of the Color Wonder markers with matching paper and coloring books - so they could draw without marking up the car or their seats. I packed some board books, some soft toys, favorite blanket and the iPod was loaded with favorite music.
We haven't yet done an actual movie in the car or let them use the iPad, but that is more an issue of not having two screens or two iPads. :-)
I was prepared to stop more often and we took a little extra time when we stopped for food so they could stretch their legs.
I haven't traveled on my own with dd but think that is doable. We just drove 16 hours! So half that even on my own seems ok.
as for pull-ups...if he is doing ok I would just go with underwear. We have traveled multiple times since dd was PTed and we use underwear. I think the first trip we put down a waterproof pad on her seat so in case she did have an accident the seat would be ok we would just need to clean her up. We haven't had any accidents in car or plane. Even last year when we were stuck on the plane on the runway for so long and we couldn't get out of our seats and dd said she had to go potty!