Sanity Saving Devices For Parents Behind The Wheel

Nothing is more nerve wracking for the parents of a teenager than handing over the keys for the first time -- or the 30th time.

But help is out there.  A wide variety of GPS-based car monitoring options are available to parents of teen drivers.

They range from smartphone apps that alert you when your children are driving faster than a preset speed to devices that plug into the car's onboard diagnostic computer or are hard-wired in the automobile by a professional. These high-tech tools can help lower your teenagers risky behavior behind the wheel too! Check out a list of apps HERE.

A 2009 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study found that teens in vehicles equipped with these types of monitoring devices drove differently, taking fewer risks behind the wheel than unsupervised teens.

Of course, parents of toddlers and tweens have other kinds of worries that keep them awake at night when a road trip is looming.

Here are sanity-saving device suggestions for parents of younger kids from ourfamilyworld.com:

No minivan or SUV with a built-in DVD or BluRay player? No sweat. "When the scenery out the window is getting boring, this Bracketron Universal Tablet Headrest Mount will have the kids quietly watching their own personal TV, using your tablet," per ourfamilyworld.com.

Can't listen to another round of "I love you, you love me," songs on the car radio? Let them eat cake -- or at least listen to what they want while you listen to your own songs. Use the iLuv Splitter Adapter to keep the peace. Two pair of headphones plug into the splitter and then into the tablet. "Two kids can enjoy the movie while you enjoy the quiet and each can control their own volume!" ourfamilyworld.com says.

And there's nothing worse than setting off for what you assume will be a peaceful trip with the kids happily occupied with games or movies in the backseat than suddenly finding you don't have a power source. Don't let that happen to you. Use a multi-use car charger to let the kids play non-stop without worrying about the batteries running out before the destination. The Neptor NP056K Dual Port Portable Battery Charger can charge two devices at once.

"It even comes in a variety of fun, bright colors!" according to ourfamilyworld.com.