Driving with children is driving British parents round the bend

There’s no question, driving with children can cause parents some serious stress. From the moment they’re born, bringing them home from hospital, right through to the daily grind of the school run it seems parents just can’t relax with children in the back seat.

We’ve been working to uncover the most stressful car journeys, and it comes as no surprise that three of the top four involve driving with babies or children.

Top 10 most stressful car journeys

1. Driving kids on the school run
2. Driving to the airport to make a flight
3. Driving other people’s children
4. Driving your newborn home from hospital
5. Driving to a new job on the first day
6. Driving to the hospital when you or your partner is in labour
7. Driving the in-laws/ your parents
8. Driving with a date in the car
9. Driving your boss/ a colleague
10. Driving to your wedding

To help stressed out parents 1^ST CENTRAL is working with Good Egg Safety, the internationally awarded family safety brand, to provide some top tips to help keep parents calm when their children are driving them round the bend in the car.

Good Egg Safety top tips for travelling with babies and children:

1. Make sure your child car seat is the right one for your child and any vehicle that it will be fitted into
2. With babies, plan regular breaks for long journeys. It is not recommended to leave them in their car seat for over 90 minutes. With children, it is important to take 20-minute breaks from the car every two hours
3. If timings allow, try to plan your journey around your child’s regular nap time to ensure part, if not all, of the journey is restful for both of you
4. Remember to take some snacks and a drink that can be on hand during the journey.
5. Have a think about fun and easy car games that will keep them stimulated but do not distract you from driving
6. If your baby or child is distressed then pull over safely to comfort them, rather than turning around whilst driving
7. To keep your child entertained, have a few soft toys wrapped up and that can be given out during the journey to keep it new and exciting (and children well occupied!)

1^ST CENTRAL UK CEO, Andy James, commented: “It’s unsurprising that we feel stressed when carrying our most precious cargo.  Our research shows that parents are not alone in feeling fraught when travelling with their children. We’re working with Good Egg Safety to help shed some light on the subject and hope the tips will be useful to parents to help prevent stressful situations affect their driving.”

Have you got any tips that work a treat to keeping your stress level down when driving with children? We don’t want to know, we need to!