Car Survival Kit

We must have some kind of masochistic tendency because we’ve just taken our energetic, car-hating 9 month old to the Lizard on holiday. That is literally as far as you can drive before you fall off the bottom of the country. And we did it on bank holiday weekend. Knowing it was going to be utterly horrific and he would get bored and shouty before we got the bottom of our road, I put together a car survival kit. It does rely on me being the back with him so won’t work for everyone but I hope these ideas help some stressed parents have a better journey with their small person.

Most of these things were new to him so had novelty factor.

Sensory bottles - fill small plastic bottles with stuff you have at home. I did a blue themed one, a pompom one and a nice noisy coloured rice one. Put some uncooked rice in a sandwich bag with a generous dolop of food colouring. Shake it around til all the rice is coloured and spread it on greaseproof paper to dry. Shaking it to mix the colours is part of the fun.Take an empty bottle to fill with shells or other mementos to enjoy on the way home.

Tug tub - make holes in a takeaway tub lid (corkscrew works well) then thread through pieces of ribbon. Tie at each end. Baby can then pull them through.

Photo album - make an album of photos of family, friends and pets. B is fascinated by photos and definitely recognises his loved ones.

Toys - we were going to the seaside so I packed sea-themed toys. Bath toys are brightly coloured, good for small hands and nice to chew. Finger puppets are great for doing silly voices and tickling games. Wrap in tissue paper for baby to discover to waste even more time, sorry, I mean add to the fun.

Books - go for books with flaps, mirrors and fun pictures. Little books for little hands are also nice.

Muslin - for sick, snot and games of peepo.

Rainmaker and crinkle mat- always good distractions.

CDs - I swore we wouldn’t play baby music in the car. Wrong again. Even mid-hysterics his face lights up at Sing Hello To The Sun. I’m sure any baby cds would do but the Baby Sensory ones have saved many car journeys for us.

Snacks - parents are hypocrites. Pack plenty of fruit-based snacks for the baby and a load of sugar for yourselves. And plenty of water for everyone. Kiddylicious apple crisps are a big hit.

Good luck!