Child in the car – safe transportation

[:el]Families love new ideas and suggestions to keep their children occupied during a long road trip. Children often become bored opening windows and doors, shout, get irritated – even more so children with ADHD. Let us share with you some of the best tips so as to what to do and take with you on a road trip.

Before the trip :

– Urge the child to fill a bag with the toys s/he chooses but you should be discretely close to him/her while picking them, for fear of including a dangerous item, thinking s/he can ‘fool’ you.

– Put in a bag his drawing colors, his markers and some paper and glue.

– For children above 5 years old you could buy a low-cost digital camera. In this way they both learn to observe, choose and focus and by looking at the photos one by one they get used to recalling things in their memory and describing them.

– Parent and child make together a map of the route you will follow. Whoever knows writes the names of cities, villages, rivers,. The children can paint the mountains and the sea.

– Prepare a lot of CDs with familiar, favourite songs.

– Buy a reliable car seat and learn how to fasten the safety belt.

– Prepare small snacks and fruit for the journey.

– Engage in positive thinking, conversation, plans and schedules all referring to your holidays.

 

While travelling :

The whole family and children should always wear their seat belts regardless of the speed of the car or the distance of the journey. Choose the right seat belt according to the weight and height of the child – These factors are known to be the causes of serious accidents.

Parents shouldn’t forget the importance of stopovers every 3 hours for some rest, walking, and individual needs. As parents of children with ADHD you ought to be more lenient. If possible stop more frequently – every 1 hour. Then play ‘Racing games’ in order to move, look for the ‘Green Parrot’ or ‘Check the car’ in case there are new scratches and dents.

When you have a child up to 4 years old, use car seats of reversed direction, having your child facing the back of the car. This kind of car seats can be up to 5 times safer in case of head-on-collision. When the child’s height reaches 1,45m and if the adult seat belts fit him/her properly then he can seat in the normal car seat.

After a serious collision, replace the child’s car seat as it may not meet the safety standards anymore.

Place all the items you have prepared for the journey – CDs toys, maps, camera- conveniently close to you so that you can easily use them. Last year, 3 out of 5 toys my son took along were put in the rear of the trunk, rendering them practically useless.

A book with animals motivates the children to read the text, imitate a voice, dramatise the moves while being seated or even make a story of their own, with your help of course.

Father, Mother, the i-paidi.team sends our wishes for a nice journey. Study this text, send us your queries and inform your friends as well – family safety is the best possible gift.[:]