Do you allow your kids to eat in the car?

[Mom2nj]

Yup, mainly pretzels, goldfish and the occasional fruit snack, plus the get their cup of water or juice depending on the trip. They occasionally have Nuggets and fries and chocolate milk if we are going on a longer trip and eating on the road.

 

[Niea]

I do.

We dont take many long distance trips, so we pretty much just drive around town. Ususually we're not in the car longer than 20 minutes or so. Because of this, I don't tend to eat in the car because I can wait until our destination if I'm hungry. But DD, who's only 2, often gets really cranky when she's hungry and doesn't understand "waiting". So I always have snacks available (usually cereal or crackers) to give to her in case she can't wait till we get home or are out and about.

 

[skipspin]

I'm thinking that since I have a new vehicle I'm going to ban DH from eating in it. LOL. He's SO messy and then DD wants whatever he has.

I'll feed my DD things like Nutrigrain bars, raisins, apples, carrots, celery, or sometimes milk or juice in a no-spill cup. She shares my water bottles. She eats meals in the car on trips, but that's pretty much unavoidable and usually we take DHs truck Sometimes I'll have a Kashi bar or something that DD has and we really do munch on baby carrots all the time!

My car stays pretty clean, but I also pick up things she drops right away. Amazingly, most of it stays in her seat.

 

[Morganthe]

I've always allowed dd to eat in the car. All those long road trips we take made it unavoidable. Of course there are rules

Water only -- used to be sippy cup, now she drinks out of a small water bottle. I drink mostly water too, so it's not an issue.

No sticky ucky foods or candy. (I don't eat them, why should she? )

She's always been pretty tidy. Well, I helped with that. Whenever she started flinging food around, it got taken away. She didn't like the embarassment, so she stopped being a wild child.

DD loves to munch on whole apples, craisins, raisins, & dates in snack bags, plain slices of bread, muffins (those sometimes get crumby, but oh well), other grainy foods. Sometimes we have baby carrots, but not too many veggies travel well.

 

[JOII]

Well I didn't vote because DS can eat but ONLY on long trips. We live in Chicago and drive back to Columbus Ohio once every 2 months or so. Its easy to keep him happy with special snacks and things on the road. Plus I grew up vacationing around America by driving and my dad loved making a special trip to the store to get "road food". (all the LEAST healthy food you can buy of course)

He NEVER eats in the car on a daily basis for errands and things.

 

[strollerfreak]

I do, but I try to limit what they eat...nothing that drips, stains, melts (obviously I have to re-think the fruit snacks thing!), or has too many crumbs.

I let them have fries, carrot sticks, animal crackers, etc.
And they can only have non-staining drinks ( water/lemonade/etc)

This is us exactly. The older boys also have straw cups that they are only allowed to use in the truck when we are on long trips. They think it's cool when they get to use their "special" cups.

We NEVER eat in the car on a daily basis...just on long trips.

 

[southpawboston]

Yes -- I try to limit it -- but it's unbelievable how many crumbs my 3-yo can make with a bagel!

heh, no kidding. i think i could reconstruct about a half-dozen sandwiches from all the bread crumbs i vacuum up in a month.

 

[Dragonflymama]

Yes, we all eat in the car (adults and kiddos). Every time we get a new vehile, I swear off the eating for a bit, but we fall right back into our bad habits soon enough. We are in the car a lot so we end up eating often enough. Mostly, DD eats toast and fruit in the mornings on the way to preschool (15-20 minute drive). She likes to use her time commuting with me to finish her breakfast. We both win as I get out of the house faster and she has something fun to do on the road.

We only eat fast food on road trips and the car gets punished on these trips. Last road vacation was in a brand-new rental minivan and I made everyone use lap towels and trashbags to keep the mess down. Worked out ok- no stains.

I've given up having a pristine car. For me it comes down to driving with kids or having a pristine car interior and I pick kids.

 

[Yoshi]

We do -

BUT no sticky, gooey or mushy stuff- no fast food.

Mostly things like Goldfish crackers, sliced apples, occasionally a "chex-mix" type stuff. Nothing a good vacuuming can't fix. My car is 5 yrs old but I still keep it pretty tidy. DD is also pretty tidy. If DH had his way, there would be no eating in the car, but that's 'cuz he's a Virgo, !

 

[momof2kiddos]

Oh gosh yes!!Me and Dh eat in the car all the time so do our children.I can't say tristan doesn't eat sticky stuff because he loves gummies and always eats those or bananas,fast food,shakes,apples,goldfish,sandwishes,mmmmm pretty much anything
If you are hungry you gotta eat right? ,lol.I wash his seat out about once a month or when I notice it is a bit sticky ,But I swear if you saw our car you would think we never ate in it,I am a clean freak,(meaning I LOVE to clean)

 

[lovinwaves]

We do NOT allow it.

We have a "No eating or Drinking" Rule in our vehicles (this includes Adults, DH and Me). Water is acceptable though and only in a sippy cup(for the kids).

This is a rule mainly to keep the vehicles clean and still smelling like leather. Also, since both kids are rear-facing I would worry about them choking.

BUT....there have been a handful of times the kids and I did eat in the car. Only because we were on a long road trip and I sat in the back with them to monitor them

The "No eating or drinking" rule is a great for our Budget as well. It keeps me from wanting to grab fast food or gas station snacks.

 

[Yoshi]

I just want to add that we have a light linen-colored couch (yeah, with kids and 2 cats)and we allow DD to eat snacks there, too. No permanent stains there- just like the car. Leather seats actually are EASIER to clean, IMO. My kid must take after DH, because I make more messes than she does, LOL!

 

[Jeanum]

Water and easier to clean up/vacuum foods only during longer trips. Otherwise it's usually no eating or drinking in the car.

 

[LaurieB]

I tell everyone who gets in the car that if they're hungry theres bound to be some goldfish crackers between the seat!! Yes, we eat in our car and vaccuum often!

Laurie

 

[Mom To 3 Knuckleheads]

i let them have water and dry foods , they dont eat regular fast foods and im not going to let DD have a salad in the car lol , so they dont eat meals in the car. the babies i give them crackers and things if we are out for a while.
my AC took a dump so this past wk they have had ice water , frozen drinks and such because its hot....no ac+FL= 4 miserable kids and one sweaty mama

 

[Jewels]

Yes we eat in the vehicle but only when we are out of town or on a long trip and then it is food that is easy to clean up. I have a Norwex microfibre cloth that I wipe down my seat with. It is really an amazing cloth, my dad had a pen brake and got ink on his brand new truck; after the ink being there for a few months I gave him this cloth and with a little work he got the ink stain out just using the cloth and water!

The nalgene sippy cups are AWESOME!!!!
http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/store/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=40
I would recommend them to everyone!

I saw these cups at Sport Check and fell in love with them thinking how conveniet it would be to have a spout like that. I convinced my brother to buy the pink one for me and I would trade him my other nalgene bottle for it. He did and once I was in the car and opened it up I realized that it was a sippy cup So my water bottle is really a sippy cup! I like the spout and the fact that I don't have to open up a cap just to get water I do however take the spill proof valve out for when I am using it, DS also loves using it too!

 

[Leila]

We used to let the boys eat in the car, but not since D got his new seat (which we're renting). Since it has to go back to them in good condition, both physical and cosmetic, there's no food in the car seat!

 

[Niea]

Yes we eat in the vehicle but only when we are out of town or on a long trip and then it is food that is easy to clean up. I have a Norwex microfibre cloth that I wipe down my seat with. It is really an amazing cloth, my dad had a pen brake and got ink on his brand new truck; after the ink being there for a few months I gave him this cloth and with a little work he got the ink stain out just using the cloth and water!


I saw these cups at Sport Check and fell in love with them thinking how conveniet it would be to have a spout like that. I convinced my brother to buy the pink one for me and I would trade him my other nalgene bottle for it. He did and once I was in the car and opened it up I realized that it was a sippy cup So my water bottle is really a sippy cup! I like the spout and the fact that I don't have to open up a cap just to get water I do however take the spill proof valve out for when I am using it, DS also loves using it too!

We've had the pink sippy for about a year. At first DD really liked it but now that she's on a "no sippy cup" rule (demands straws or open cup only) she won't use it. I tried using it for myself because I like the size and shape of it, unfortunately I got frustrated with how little water comes out with so much effort.

But overall, they are nice containers

 

[all together ooky]

Yup. But not stuff that can't easily be vacuumed. And water (usually from my water bottle).

 

[Judi]

I have two 14 year olds. Unfortunatelly, they do eat in the car. I think I will start making them clean the car too!