Traveling on OTR with little ones/kids??

Jessica - posted on 01/20/2010

We have taken my younger children on the truck with my hubby for a week at a time. But now we have to have somthing installed in the bunk so it is legal so we have not done this in awhile.

Sabrina - posted on 01/20/2010

On this last trip I drove my own car and we talked on the cb's and each of us had a child in our car. This was b/c I wanted to get out and about if I wanted to and go sight seeing which is hard to do in the semi. But generally we have one carseat buckled in the passenger side and they rotate who gets to ride up front...they love it. Before we go on the next trip I will have my husband bolt one carseat directly to the floor b/c I am not very comfortable with them out of their seats while the truck is moving. Although we do let them out to get a break when there isn't much traffic and it's a long straight highway. I know some people will think that I'm crazy for that but it's kind of like a motorhome, you don't have to be buckled in those, right?



When we sleep in the sleeper, our son sleeps with me on the bottom bunk and my daughter sleeps up top with daddy. When our son gets bigger we'll let him sleep up there too but I'm afraid that he'll try to crawl over my husband and fall off.



Some things we keep handy are crayons and coloring books, magna-doodles are a MUST have for us, little cars, We buy some new $5 movies from Target or Walmart and they can watch those. We sing. We let them pick out a new toy when we are on the road and make sure that it's something that will keep their attention for a while too lol.



Every time my husband stops we all get out and go inside the truck stop or whatever. And we try to get them to go for a walk. If we find a park we stop at a park or there are many rest areas that have playgrounds. If it's yucky out we get online and find something to help them be able to run around.



I may have to get some homeschool tips from you! Thanks for offering :o)

Sara - posted on 01/20/2010

Sabrina thanks for posting that!! I have a couple questions to ask if you don't mind. Are their care seats bolted to the floor? My husbands company requires that they are. Where do they sleep when not moving? How do u keep them from falling out of bed? What type of activities do you do? How do they get the exercise they need? I would love to travel w/ my hubby. I drove before I got pregnant w/ our first and would like our kids to have the opportunity to see the country.

Also, I do plan to home school as we do not feel the public school system really preps our kids for real life. So if you need any online resources/curriculum info I may be able to help. I homeschool my nephew thru 5th grade as well as helped my mom homeschool my lil sis.

Sabrina - posted on 01/18/2010

I have done it with both of my children. My daughter is now 5 and she has been a little traveler since she was 4 months old! We have been checked at weigh stations and there has never been a problem with it. Now we have a 2 year old son. Both of the kids have been coast to coast and love riding in Daddy's truck. You said that the law was that they have to be buckled when the truck is moving up until they are one? I think the law varies on that state to state but we have never had any issues. It is harder on me b/c I have to take care of them the majority of the time while traveling b/c he is doing the work but he has really tried more to be a better helper for me with them. It is such a wonderful learning experience for them. They get to see the country and different places! My daughter has been pointing out some states since she was 2 years old! I have a little travel potty seat we keep in the truck for her just in case we can't stop in time b/c realistically it takes a while to get to a truck stop and they can't always wait. I think I got it at Target or Babies R Us. My kids LOVE to travel but we started them off young. We figured if this is the career my husband enjoys, then we need to take every opportunity we can to go with him even though I am not the kind that enjoys traveling in the semi.(but I don't tell him that lol) We have been able to have our family vacations like this! Sea World, Disney Land, SanFransisco, several beaches, New York City, The Empire State Building, they love riding in the subways too...like I said...they've been all over. We are even thinking about homeschooling just because it fits into our lifestyle of traveling, importance of family time when he is home and many other reasons.



While in the tractor I have nap pads that I put out on any surface that I think might hurt if they bumped into it. But they are generally only allowed out of their car seats when we are traveling on a long, straight road with little to no traffic. I always have a variety of activities to keep them busy and we pick up more along the way. We've been on at least 8-10 trips with him in 5 years.

Donna - posted on 01/15/2010

My husband's company has a rule that the kids have to be 12 and only 1 at a time for the seat belt issue. I think it would be fun for a short while but then they would get pretty antsy if they didn't have enough to keep them busy.

Sara - posted on 01/07/2010

Has no one ever done this?