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Family Road Trips With Children: Practical Q&A Podcast
Long drives with children can be memorable and connecting, but they can also test everyone’s patience. Hunger, fatigue, motion sickness, boredom and sensory overload can build quickly when a child has limited movement and little control over what happens next.
In this Q&A episode of Impressive, Dr Kimberley O’Brien responds to a family planning a long journey with an active six-year-old. The original episode asks three useful questions: how often should a family stop, how long should each break be and what makes a good stopping place?
The guidance below updates and expands the episode with current Australian safety information. It is not a rigid timetable. Children differ in age, temperament, health, sensory needs and tolerance for travel, so notice the child in front of you and adjust the plan.
Listen to the episode
Begin with driver and passenger safety
A pleasant trip starts with an alert driver. Plan around the driver’s sleep and energy, share the driving where possible and stop before fatigue becomes severe. Australian road-safety campaigns commonly recommend a break at least every two hours. That is a maximum planning interval for fatigue management, not a promise that every child will comfortably wait that long.
Each child should remain in the legally required, correctly fitted restraint whenever the vehicle is moving. Check the harness before departure and after breaks. If a child needs feeding, changing, comforting or help with a tangled strap, pull over in a safe place first. Never leave a child alone in a parked vehicle, even briefly.
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Build a flexible road-trip plan
Add realistic buffers to the route rather than trying to reproduce an adult-only travel time. Mark several safe stopping options, including toilets, shade and somewhere children can move. A planned stop might last 15 to 30 minutes, but the useful length depends on what the family needs at that moment.
Invite children into the planning at an age-appropriate level. They might choose between two stopping places, select an audiobook or help make a simple visual route with landmarks. A child does not need control of the itinerary to benefit from knowing what comes next.
Before leaving, explain the non-negotiables in plain language: seatbelts stay fastened, the driver needs quiet at certain times and the family will stop safely when someone needs help. Then identify where children do have choices. This combination of predictable limits and meaningful choice can reduce repeated negotiations.
Pack for bodies and senses
Keep water, simple snacks, wipes, spare clothes, rubbish bags and any regularly used health items within adult reach. Consider sun glare, cabin temperature, noise and strong smells. Some children travel better with headphones, a familiar comfort item or a small lap activity that does not create a projectile risk.
Motion sickness may cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating or drowsiness. Healthdirect advises looking outside towards the horizon rather than reading or looking at a screen, getting fresh air and eating lightly. Ask a pharmacist or doctor before giving travel-sickness medicine to a child because suitability and side effects vary.
Further Reading
Use activities without over-scheduling
Rotate a small number of options instead of presenting everything at once. Try music, audiobooks, collaborative storytelling, spotting games, conversation prompts or a family playlist. The Tell Me a Story cards are a particularly relevant way to turn travel time into shared imagination and conversation.
Screens can be one tool among many, but they are not comfortable for every child and may worsen motion sickness. Download content before leaving areas with weak reception and agree on screen expectations before the trip. Quiet looking-out-the-window time also has value. Children do not need constant entertainment.
If siblings share the back seat, clarify personal space, turn-taking and what to do when someone wants quiet. Separate activities into individual bags if sharing reliably causes conflict. For more low-cost ideas, see 9 School Holiday Boredom Busters for Children.
Respond to distress safely
When behaviour escalates, treat it as information before labelling it as defiance. The child might be uncomfortable, unwell, hungry, anxious or overloaded. Use a calm voice, name what you notice and offer one simple next step. For example: “Your body looks restless. We will stop at the next safe place, then you can run and stretch.”
If the driver is becoming distracted or frustrated, pull over safely. A short reset is better than pushing through while attention is divided. The Navigating Meltdowns With Confidence workshop offers further strategies for understanding triggers and supporting regulation.
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Make each stop count
A useful break gives bodies a genuine change of state. Use the toilet, drink water, move, breathe fresh air and check how everyone is feeling. A playground can help, but a shaded walk, stretching beside the car or a brief ball game can also work. Match activity to the child and the environment rather than chasing a universal number of minutes.
Before returning to the car, give a clear transition warning and complete a quick check: toilet, drink, snack, restraint and next stop. If leaving a playground is hard, agree on the final activity and let the child help start a short countdown. Predictability can prevent a rushed departure from undoing the benefit of the break.
Plan for unexpected delays
Roadworks, weather, queues and wrong turns can change the best itinerary. Carry enough water and essential supplies for a delay, but avoid promising an exact arrival time to children who find uncertainty difficult. Use a flexible phrase such as “We expect to arrive after lunch, and we will update the plan at our next stop.”
If travelling in hot weather, check conditions and plan shaded stops. If a child is unwell, unusually sleepy or showing signs that concern you, stop and seek appropriate health advice rather than treating the journey as something that must be completed on schedule.
At the final destination, allow time to decompress. A child who has managed well in the car may still need movement, food or quiet before joining a social event. Later, ask what helped and what the family would change next time. This turns the trip into a shared learning experience, not a test children either pass or fail.
Keep the advice in context
The episode transcript is preserved below as part of the original podcast record. Some timing statements reflect the discussion at the time of recording. Current decisions should be based on road conditions, driver fatigue, the child’s individual needs and up-to-date health and restraint guidance.
For related planning ideas, explore How to Plan an End-of-Year Family Fun Week and Responsive Parenting: 6 Benefits and Practical Examples.
View article references
Sources
- Healthdirect Australia: Motion sickness (reviewed September 2025)
- Child Car Seats: independent Australian child-restraint safety ratings and fitting guidance
- Transport for NSW: Fatigue and road safety
Episode transcript
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (00:08)
Hello, I'm Dr. Kimberley O'Brien, a child psychologist, entrepreneur, and mum, with a passion for problem solving and family adventures. Join me each week for practical tips and on-air consultations with the smartest, kindest parents, and their incredible kids. Find answers faster, do things differently, and take your family further. This is Impressive.
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (00:35)
This is episode 11 of Impressive, and this week, we're talking about car trips, because in Australia, it's the school holidays and a lot of families are going away and taking their kids on pretty long car journeys. So I thought it'd be helpful to talk about how to make those journeys as good as they can be for the young people in your car, for the sanity of the parents, and to make sure the family dynamic stays as positive as possible over those long car journeys. So without further ado, let's get started for episode 11 of Impressive.
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (01:10)
So step one when it comes to planning a long car trip is to think about it as a teaching and a learning opportunity for the young people in the car. So a question that came through from one of our listeners via the support quirkykid.com.au email was this. How many hours of driving per day is reasonable for an active six-year-old boy? We've committed to a family gathering eight hours drive away, and we'd like to make the journey in one day if possible.
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (01:42)
So it sounds to me like these parents are thinking about pushing through for an eight-hour journey. And when you think about it, kids age six need about, well, minimum two to three hours of active play per day. So is it possible that they will be able to stop or have breaks for two to three hours across an eight-hour journey? Probably not, unless they're planning to get there really late at night. And I feel for the driver in this case, I think they'd be best to break it into two days. So do four hours drive on one day and four hours the next. But I think for a six-year-old boy, six hours drive would be the absolute max, when it comes to expecting them to keep themselves entertained in the car and to stay restrained in a car seat.
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (02:36)
Now, if you are thinking of pushing through and you really need to get from A to B, because your days on holidays are limited, so you just need to do it as a one off, how can you make it as positive as possible? Well, thinking about what the kids will want to do on those breaks is really important. Here's Moe to give his perspective on having a break on a long car trip.
Moe (03:02)
What if your parents want you to eat a meal when you really, really want to run around?
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (03:08)
Good point, Moe. Often, parents will take the opportunity to have a meal when they stop during a long car trip, but the kids are probably more interested in running around, especially if they've been snacking throughout that journey. So make sure you start with a possibility of some active play before you ask the kids to go and sit down in a restaurant. So, yeah, going to a park, doing some tag or tip, running around, getting out as much energy as possible before you encourage them to sit down again. Climbing trees, swinging from monkey bars, using as many muscles as they can possibly use within that short space of time is essential. So when you are choosing a place to stop on a long car trip, think about what your children can interact with. If there's a park close by with a flying fox or, yeah, anything that really is as interactive as possible, choose that location, as opposed to just an open field, because they also need to be stimulated.
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (04:07)
And a petrol station or a gas station is really not a great alternative. Buying junk food as a reward for sitting still in the car for long periods of time, also not a great idea when it comes to kids then having a sugar rush and needing even more of an outlet for their physical energy. So thinking about where you stop is key, and what you asked your kids to do during that stop is also of vital importance, because you don't want your young people to feel resentment about your choice of location where you've stopped or what you insist on them doing during that stop, because that frustration will then flow over into the car trip and the hours ahead.
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (04:50)
So you've had a really great break and everyone's feeling fresh and fed and you're back in the car. So what can you do to entertain your children for a long car trip? Well, step one, try to avoid screens because often, arguments in cars are really just around screens, asking kids to turn off the screen or kids nagging parents for more screen time. And if you can possibly avoid taking screens on holidays in the first place, I would highly recommend a digital detox, because car journeys and travel are really great educational opportunities for families
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (05:27)
You can ask kids to write in a journal or draw some pictures or listen to an audio book about the area where you're going, or maybe some early explorers that have been there. Making it educational will really stimulate the whole family. You could also use music in the car to encourage kids to look out the window while listening to music or reading books, of course. But if you can avoid screens, please do so, because a family holiday is a rare opportunity for most families. So doing it different without screens is really a great way to help to encourage family communication and a little bit more connection between family members.
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (06:12)
Another tip is to really consider the snacks that you're having in the car. So if possible, go for low sugar options like nuts, things that will sustain the kids but will not give them huge rushes of energy. And another idea is to take plenty of them and quite a lot of variety, because when kids are bored, giving them a snack is definitely something that will increase their spirits or distract them, if there's some sibling rivalry. And switching seats is another great way to just change it up. If there is some struggling between siblings, then changing the order and the position of where they're seated, if you can, in your car, is also recommended just for a change of scene. And last but not least, another tip when it comes to car trips is just around the frequency of the breaks. So I would recommend definitely having a break every two hours if possible for, say, 15 to 20 minutes minimum, so that you can keep those kids as active as possible.
Dr Kimberley O'Brien (07:10)
And if you do need to stop more often, then just do it, because you may have a schedule you're trying to keep to, and I understand that, but I think it's really important to think about the family holiday from the child's point of view. And it's not about having a cranky driver or a frustrated co-pilot, it's more about trying to make it as fun for the family as possible. So taking an extra 15, 20-minute break for the greater good of the family is recommended, because in the scheme of things, you want to arrive at your destination feeling fresh and as relaxed as possible to get your holiday started. So without further ado, I'm going to wrap up this episode and wish you a really safe car trip if you're going somewhere this holiday season. And if you're not, then enjoy the comforts of your home. Happy New Year from the team at Impressive. I'm your host, Dr. Kimberley O'Brien, and this was Impressive.
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