Tuesday Talk: Enjoying Road Trips with Toddlers

Olive is a pro-road tripping toddler.
She's logged over 20,000 road trip miles in her two years of life.

She's regularly traveled 9+ hours one way and traveled like a champ.
She travels really well and doesn't complain as long as we are prepared.

I like to think my planning ahead
and her pleasant disposition make a great traveling combo.

1. Dress your child in a comfy outfit and bring a change of clothes/pjs.  

Everyone likes to be comfy when they travel.  If you are arriving late at night, change them into their pjs at your last stop so that you can get them straight to bed when you get to your destination.  Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't, but at least we don't have to change clothes when we arrive.

2. Pack extra diapers so that you don't end up having to ration them.  

Also pack wipes, paper towels and some plastic bags in case there's a mess to contain.

3. Bring along things they are used to having for comfort.

Favorite sippy cups, snack containers, blankets, paci, stuffed animals, etc.

4. Have silly kid cds ready to listen to if you child likes music or a movie.

Olive loves nursery rhymes and silly songs.  

My husband does not so we save these for emergency measures.

Olive isn't really into watching movies yet so we have used the PBS app on my phone to watch an episode or two of Daniel Tiger.

5. Pack a large variety of their favorite snacks.

Our favorites are goldfish, fruit puree packets, pretzels, crackers, apple slices, bananas, etc.

Everyone is happier when they are well fed.  I also pack a few suckers as a 911 emergency life saving treat when nothing else will calm her down.  Dum-dums always do the trick :)

This will save you money at each of your stops if you plan ahead.

6. Bring along a small backpack of your child's favorite toys.

I include Olive's current favorites for each trip: flash cards, whistle, Daniel Tiger figurines, bracelets, hand puppets, bubbles, etc. She also loves "writing" so I bring a legal pad and pens for her to color on.  I hand her her backpack and she loves digging through it to find toys.

7. Bring books to read.

I bring books Olive can flip through on her own and others we can read to her.

I try to bring favorites and a few new ones.

 8. Bring surprises!!

Stop by the Dollar Tree or Target Dollar Bins and collect a few tiny new toys, bracelets, mini flashlight, new snack, etc.  You don't have to spend much to find some new things.  You can also save happy meal toys or toys from cereal boxes for this purpose.  Starbucks straws are always a big hit :)

9. Be prepared to stop and plan to stop regularly.

We have done trips in a hurry and they weren't nearly as much fun as the leisurely, less stress ones.  I know you can't always control this, but stop regularly if you can.  We try to let Olive run around as much as possible at each stop to get the wiggles out.

10. Bring a flashlight or tiny lantern.

A small flashlight, glow worm or light up toy will work great for entertainment and help when it gets dark.  If you are traveling after dark, bring a flashlight to light up the back seat a bit so they can continue to play.  Just a small one will due so you don't distract the driver.  We have a tiny lantern for power outages.  We bring it along and set it next to Olive in the back seat.  She can still play with her toys and see in the dark.  This works great if it gets dark early and it's not bed time yet.

Last year I wrote about

Enjoying Road Trips with a ONE Year Old


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