How do I help DS stay comfortable in his seat on a long trip?

Connor's Mom

New member
We will be taking a long trip (14 hours broke into 2 days making frequant rest stops) next month for a family vacation.
I have decided to use the Marathon instead of the Regent for the trip because he looks more comfortable sleeping in the MA, I am assuming due to the incline. He is FF and I am wondering if there is anything I can do to make him more comfortable. He often gets restless and kicks the back of the seat and I wonder if this is due to leg discomfort. He is not very verbal yet so it is hard to tell.

Any suggestions on keeping him as comfortable as possable while remaining safe?
 
ADS

Starlight

Senior Community Member
Last trip we took, we placed (wedged, really) a styrofoam cooler in front of ds1's seat... double duty - we were able to keep drinks, apples, etc, handy, and it also provided him with a foot rest.
 

NanceXToo

New member
About 2 1/2 months ago...so I guess Ben was 16 months, we took a long ride from Pennsylvania to Florida with all 3 kids and I was pretty worried about how they'd do, especially Ben.

But actually they did great!

We did what the other person said and put a cooler in there with snacks and drinks, as well as toys and activities. I even bought a couple of new toys that I didn't give to him until he started getting fussy in the car figuring it would be a novelty enough to keep him happy for a while, and that worked well.

And periodically we would pull over whether to get gas or use the bathroom or get a meal or whatever, and we'd find a place that had a big grassy area and we'd let the kids run around and stretch their legs and play, which I think is very important to do.

And we stopped once overnight on the way there and on the way back to break up the trip.

It actually went a lot more smoothly than I ever could have hoped for, so hopefully it will for you, too! :D
 

fastdogs

New member
we did a long trip (17 hours, two days) last month. We had a foot rest for DS and a soft lap tray. It was the first long trip for him in the regent, and it was great. He sat cross-legged much of the time, or one leg across and one slung over the side. We used the recline bar so it wasn't so upright, and had a dvd player. He watched dora and diego and a couple of movies over and over again. He didn't sleep much in the seat, one of us sat in the back with him and talked to him and watched movies with him, we'd let him doze during normal naptimes. He did great, it was a really easy trip with him.
vickie
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
If I'd seen it before, when Leila's feet didn't yet reach the floor, I'd have tried it -- doesn't look like it will interfere with correct installation....

We just did the empty styrofoam box or folded up old comforter on long rides & it worked well enough :)
 

Mom2nj

Member
We took a trip from Michigan to Florida last spring with our 2 kids. DD was 3 and DS was 16 months. It went a lot better than we had expected. We got up a 3 in the morning hoping the kids would go back to sleep. DD would not, because she was so excited and DS did go back to sleep after an hour or two. We had a DVD player, I got some new toys from the Dollar store and easy snacks and drinks. When we stopped we let the kids get out and stretch their legs and for dinner and/or lunch we went to a Mcdonalds that had a play area so the kids could run and play . We also stopped over night at a hotel.
 

LuvBug

New member
look Janice, someone stole your idea and are making money off it lol!!!

Ok well I dunno if the idea was originally yours, but you are the one who posted about it and its cool!

It will probably be a little cheaper and easier to get your hands on quickly if you go buy a pool noodle that has the hole in the middle, take some rope or a buckle strap and put it through there. You can make it look like this, which is the same idea as that product, but you will be able to customize it better than that thing.

footrest1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/mommy2cias/car seat pictures/footrest2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/mommy2cias/car seat pictures/footrest.jpg
(from beebear23's public carseat album)
 

Connor's Mom

New member
It will probably be a little cheaper and easier to get your hands on quickly if you go buy a pool noodle that has the hole in the middle, take some rope or a buckle strap and put it through there. You can make it look like this, which is the same idea as that product, but you will be able to customize it better than that thing.

O' that looks easy. I didn't even think about doing it myself, lol.
Did you just tape the half noodle to the whole noodle?
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
They make jumbo noodles. One of those might be enough. My husband saw the jumbo ones at Walmart recently (I refuse to shop there).
 

tech_raechel

Senior Community Member
I've been using the noodle footrest for a couple years now. Mine's slightly different from Janice's. My strap is threaded through the RF belt path.

3-footrestonFFWZ.jpg
 

LuvBug

New member
yeah my walmart has all kinds of shapes and sizes in the pool noodles.
We got this cool one that is white and comes with a quad colored marker that you decorate it with, so DS could make it his own.

Be careful about what you keep in the car, everything is a potential projectile so try to anchor and pack away the heavy things that would hurt if they fell on you or hit you.
 

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