Gransnet forums

Chat

Stressful travelling with children

(25 Posts)
whenim64 Mon 05-Aug-13 12:33:54

Oh dear! My poor daughter is drivng back from Somerset....well, she's not driving at the moment because she can't get in her car! One of my grandsons felt sick, so she stopped at the first M5 servces, just as he threw up on himself. As she opened the door to get him out, twin brother hopped out, too, and slammed the door shut, locking the keys in the car. Good job she had her phone in her pocket. Got a text tellng me how stressed she is. Green Flag on the way, and it'll be alright soon. Glad it's not me! grin

gillybob Mon 05-Aug-13 12:41:21

Oh your poor daughter when. She will be demented by the time she gets to her destination. I agree that travelling long distances with young children is a nightmare. When I have my three GC they start off very good but it soon goes downhill with the little one tormenting the girls which ends up being a war in the backseat. It can be quite distracting trying to settle the various battles that occur when getting from A to B.

whenim64 Mon 05-Aug-13 12:56:52

It's getting worse! He threw up on her next. Now she says all three are sat there 'smelling of sick' waiting to be rescued, and she anticipates the car will stink for the journey home. All I could offer was 'you'll laugh about it one day!' hmm

vegasmags Mon 05-Aug-13 12:59:40

Oh when the poor girl! The man from Green Flag is going to be very welcome indeed!

gillybob Mon 05-Aug-13 13:01:51

Yuuuuuuuuk. Theres nothing worse than the smell of sick on a car journey. I do hope she hasn't got too much further to go. Taxis charge a fortune if you are sick in one of their cars (not that I have been) as they have to have the upholstery steam cleaned to get rid of the smell. Wrinkled nose emoticon.

whenim64 Mon 05-Aug-13 13:11:51

They're in Taunton, travelling up to Bolton! The car smell should be nicely mature by the time they get home! grin

moomin Mon 05-Aug-13 13:28:07

Nightmare! Hope twin brother doesn't become sick in sympathy sad Still such a long way to go as well, poor girl!

whenim64 Mon 05-Aug-13 13:33:53

Brother is having a great time describing what his twin smells like! grin The nice Green Flag man had Febreze in his van, so they sprayed it liberally and the boys have had a change of clothes. Hope they get home without any more obstacles.

moomin Mon 05-Aug-13 13:35:57

What are little boys like eh?! Good luck to them, hope the Febreze works!

Nelliemoser Mon 05-Aug-13 23:27:41

Have plenty of Bicarbonate of Soda solution ready to use to wash out and neutralise the sicky smell. It works well for sour milk as well.
It's a good idea to carry a sick bucket in reach of the back seat as a damage limitation excercise.

seasider Tue 06-Aug-13 00:45:48

Bicarb works well as I found out when I spilt a bottle of milk in my car!

Bags Tue 06-Aug-13 06:51:21

Baby wipes are pretty good at removing the smell too. I always travelled with some kitchen roll too, and plastic bags to put them and the wipes in once used.

Had to let DD2 be sick in my hat once in grandfather,s car though because there was nothing else and he couldn't stop. It was a washable one.

As you say, when. You gotta laugh grin

Bags Tue 06-Aug-13 06:52:39

The paper kitchen towels in the bag, not the sick kids!!!!

And the hat was washable.

Mind you, so was the car, I suppose.

Bags Tue 06-Aug-13 06:52:53

And the kids smile

Nelliemoser Tue 06-Aug-13 07:36:58

I had a MiL who didn't seem to believe in motion sickness and used the term "no mention no problem." I wish!
Both my kids had it when they were very young before "mentioning" was an issue.

If you are never affected you cannot imagine how dreadful it feels. I still have bad moments if someone else is not driving smoothly around bends and slowing up and down too quickly. I am still bad on boats.

FlicketyB Wed 07-Aug-13 07:18:52

I collected some sick bags when I was on the ferry and gave them to DS to keep in the seat pockets in the back of the car for just such emergencies.

LizG Wed 07-Aug-13 07:42:57

Oh your poor daughter, I hope the rest of her journey proves less fraught. I find modern cars don't help. Last week OH collected his new 'toy' and we went to try it out. Haven't suffered from car sickness for years but I did then.

LizG Wed 07-Aug-13 07:44:22

PS having Fabrese on board has sold The Green Flag to me, we'll done him.

whenim64 Wed 07-Aug-13 07:45:55

The car is sweet selling again! Thankfully, it wasn't car sickness, but two mischievous little boys who decided to start tucking into their picnic lunch a bit on the early side. After a decent breakfast and an ice cream at 11 am, they set off for home and hadn't even driven out of Somerset before the cries of 'I'm hungry, mum!' went up. The suggestion 'well, have one of your sandwiches' was taken to mean 'eat what you like!' grin

harrigran Wed 07-Aug-13 11:36:04

Stressful enough travelling with children without the sickness. I always carry a plastic bucket and a roll of bin liners with a packet of tissues because youngest GD does not travel well.

Gally Wed 07-Aug-13 12:31:14

DD and family left here at 5am yesterday and the 3 year old was sick within half an hour despite being given her 'sweetie'. It was a long 9 hour journey home especially with the 1 year old giving it laldy all the way... shock .
Some times I am so glad I'm not a mummy any more wink

gillybob Wed 07-Aug-13 13:24:07

I often wonder why insurance companies haven't risk assessed travelling with children (not giving them any ideas mind you) but I find it so hard to concentrate when they are either half killing each other squabbling or mashing food into the upholstery ! smile

glassortwo Wed 07-Aug-13 13:45:21

My DD heads to France next Wednesday with her two, I dont envy them the journey if bickering continues like it has this last week. shock
gilly I have mastered that once they start in the car I put a cd on loud and it shuts them up, or I cant hear over the music, but I am deaf by the time I get out of the car. wink

gillybob Wed 07-Aug-13 14:04:08

I don't envy them either glass ! My son and DIL took their three to Legoland last week. It took them 7 hours in the car (with 2 short stops for toilets etc) and apparenty they were "as good as gold". Maybe they just know who they can get away with murder with and who they can't !

They drove me around the bend before we had even pulled away from the house yesterday with "I am not sitting beside him, I am not sitting beside her" etc.

I will try your loud music trick next time. Trouble is they all love music so I will have to be very careful with what I choose. Pavaroti could be the way forward! grin

whenim64 Wed 07-Aug-13 14:09:24

Try playing loud music to the grandchildren of someone who works in child protection. Quote.....'MUM you can't hear us and that hurts our ears.' Older brother....'we'll phone Childline about you!' grin