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What kind of passenger is your child?
What kind of passenger is your child?
Every child seems to have their own style when travelling -some have more than one behaviour for us to enjoy on long journeys! I have listed below the different types of child passengers I have experienced, either my own children or my friend's. I am sure there are others, please feel free to add more.
I have added the most successful strategy for dealing with each one I have seen in action.
The screamer
An inhuman ability to scream for long periods of time without damaging their own vocal chords or their hearing. For those of you who have not witnessed a screamer in action, we are talking hours rather than minutes. Its unfortunate if you have to mix a screamer with any of the other child passenger styles as the screamer has the potential to infect the other passengers by osmosis and create a car of screamers.
Coping strategy - the screaming becomes strangely difficult to hear after a couple of hours, presumably like the traffic noise if you live next to a motorway. IGNORE.
The sleeper
These exist. Children that will close their eyes and fall asleep before you have left the drive. A super sleeper will even endure a screamer. If you have a child like this, cherish it.
Coping strategy - smile and offer condolences to all the other parents.
The eater
Sometimes can be disguised as a screamer, but actually this passenger type needs constant feeding. For some reason a journey for this child means the opportunity to eat whatever is available - all of the time. By the time you arrive at your destination your car will look like a McDonalds on a Saturday night.
Coping strategy - Have a big bag of snacks. Feed.
The musician
These are the budding Harry Styles and Taylor Swifts of the world. Although in the early years, get ready to endure nursery rhymes, Bob the Builder's greatest hits or the lowest of the low - the Wiggles. These children are good car passengers but have the inverse characteristics to a screamer, the longer you have to endure the same CD the more it makes you want to hurl it into the hard shoulder of the M6.
Coping strategy - Endure. Be ready to be singing endlessly the next day at work - wind the bobbin up, wind the bobbin up, pull, pull, clap clap clap. What am I doing???
The Houdini
This is heart in the mouth time. This child does not like car seats - in fact they hate car seats. No matter how securely this child is placed in their car seat they will escape. Lock your electric windows or they will be hanging out of them within 5 minutes of the journey starting.
Coping strategy - be scared, very scared. Remember, stopping on the hard shoulder is VERY DANGEROUS so should be avoided. No idea what to suggest - valium?
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