Traveling with Kid(s): Car Style

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IMG_9290With family that lives 10 hours away, we’ve done our fair share of long distance car trips.  We’ve left all times of the day, from 8am to 1pm to 5pm and everything in between.  We’ve stopped part way and spent the night, and we’ve also driven straight through. We’ve traveled with just us and Ian; we’ve also traveled with us, Ian, a dog, and 2 cats (I know, we’re crazy).

It’s pretty safe to say we’ve done just about every type of car trip imaginable, and we like to think of ourselves as seasoned pros.  We’ve had some amazingly easy trips and some trips where I honestly didn’t think we’d all make it back alive and breathing. But along the way we’ve come up with some pretty good tips for taking long car trips with a kid (our experiences are for kids 2 and under, but it’s probably safe to say the same principles can be applied to slightly older kids, too).  Hopefully some of these will come in handy for YOUR next road trip.

If traveling in the late afternoon, evening, or night where you’ll be on the road during your child’s regular bedtime:

1) Make sure you have comfy PJs for your kid, any bedtime lovies, a pillow (if your kid takes a pillow), and a blanket (or two) set out separately from the rest of your luggage.  At the end of your dinner stop (or your last stop before “bedtime”), put your child in a fresh diaper (if still in diapers) and dress him in those comfy PJs. Then strap him back in the carseat with his lovies and pillow and cover him with his blanket. This way, when he falls asleep (and ours usually does within about an hour of “normal” bedtime), he’ll be comfortable.  And when you finally arrive at your destination, you don’t have to do an outfit change. This makes transporting from car seat to bed SO MUCH easier.

2) Remember to turn off the cabin/dome lights before opening your car door if your child has fallen asleep (or, if kid is rear facing, throw a blanket or cover over the car seat to shield the light). We neglected to do this once and Ian woke up and was NOT happy about it.

3) Add minimum of 1 hour to your estimated travel time. This will allow for your dinner stop and any other miscellaneous stops you may need to make.  Normally, we make it to our desination sooner than our revised travel time, and that makes us FEEL like we made good time, even if we didn’t.

If traveling all day (leaving in the morning, but arriving before “bedtime”):

1) Add minimum of 2 hours to your estimated travel time.  You’ll have to take more stops during the day, even if they are slightly shorter.  And this will still make you feel like you’ve made good time if you arrive more quickly than anticipated.

2) Have car-friendly snacks and drinks available and easily-accessible.  We like goldfish, fruit snacks, and applesauce pouches because they are easy to open, easy to contain, and easy for Ian to eat on the go.  We also like to have Ian’s water bottle filled up before we leave (and we refill it when we stop, as required).  Just try to limit the liquids to some degree or else you’ll have LOTS of bathroom stops (or some pretty hefty diapers).

3) Have car-friendly toys/games available.  We don’t currently do screen-time in the car, but I know a lot of people find this is a great way to occupy kids for bursts of time.  But for those of you who don’t have (or don’t want to have) screens in the car, make sure you have a significant cadre of songs/games/activities/toys at your disposal.  We like to have a stack of books for Ian to read/flip through during the trip (portable, easy, independent, and Ian loves to read- win, win, win, win).  We also are prepared to sing Wheels on the Bus or any number of other songs together in the car. We don’t really do kid-CDs, so most of this is our own singing voices and imagination…though sometimes Ian will sing along to the regular radio with us, if he’s in the mood.  We don’t do coloring in the car because crayons are easily dropped and lost, but sticker books work well.  Ian also has a stuffed Mickey and Minnie that he loves to carry with him and he’ll play with them happily independently for a while.  Bottom Line: find something easy/portable/small that your kid likes and bring it with you- make sure whatever you grab is within easy reach so you can pull it out when needed.

Regardless of when you are traveling:

1) Split the driving if possible.  Driving at any time is tiring (though driving at night is especially so).  Even a few hour break for the “main” driver is a huge help.

2) Consolidate stops whenever possible. Obviously if you have someone who needs to go to the bathroom, or you have some other emergency, don’t hesitate to make an unscheduled stop. But if everyone is happy (or sleeping), try to get gas when you get food, or get gas when you make that unscheduled bathroom stop.  Kids seem to be especially sensitive to the movement of the car and can sense when it stops.  Without fail, if we stop while Ian is sleeping, he wakes up.  He generally goes back to sleep once we start moving again, but it’s not always immediate. This is one hassle that we try to avoid.

3) Have a sunshade for the window- especially if you are traveling with the sun on your child’s side of the car.  I swear our son is a vampire and thinks that sun coming through the car window will kill him. We forgot the sunshade one trip and had to deal with whining and “IT’S HOT!  IT’S BRIGHT!” until I thought to hang a blanket from the grab bar and drape it so it shielded him. But a sunshade is SO much easier.

So there you have it…some simple tips for making your next car trip just a bit more bearable! Feel free to share and tips and tricks you have discovered in the comments section.

Good luck and safe travels!

1 COMMENT

  1. Thank you for all helpful tips, they are awesome tips. Of course travelling with kids is never an easy task. I love your tip is saying Split the driving if possible. Most of the time we always think of everything for the kids, the packing, the food, the toys etc…but tend to forget ourselves . Split the driving is a very helpful point .

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