So last weekend I had the pleasure of going on a road trip with my toddler. Quite honestly, it was way easier than I thought it was going to be. I had known a few friends take their little ones on 6-8hour road trips but never thought I could do it with such ease. Our 7 hour trip turned into a 9 hour trip – long I know, but we didn’t really feel it. I guess we were just fascinated by the whole concept. So if you wanna know how we managed this trip, here’re my top 8 tips:
- PACK appropriately
The great thing about a road trip is you can take as much stuff as you like as long as you have space. And the way you pack or arrange stuff will determine how easy you can grab stuff etc. When there’s two or more of you with the toddler, it’s easier for the other person (or people) to watch and pass on stuff to toddlers as required. However, if there’s only one of you, well, you need to ensure stuff is within reach for either you or your little one. So it’s important to ensure stuff you need during the trip (e.g drinks, tissues/paper towels, cloths etc) is within easy reach. Also if/when your toddler wants something, you can easily pass on.
- FEED right
We all know different foods affect toddlers in different ways. Some can make our toddlers hyper (e.g sugar), some can make them sleepy (e.g warm milk), and some can simply fill up their tummies, perhaps causing constipation even. It’s important to make sure the food you’re feeding doesn’t affect them in ways you’d rather not deal with while travelling. I steer away from bread items (as they can cause constipation), or chocolates (as they can make them hyper). I accidentally gave Tasha a chocolate biscuit and once I felt her kicking the passenger seat. Only to realise she had unbuckled herself and was raring to go. We stopped for coffee and a wee break – worst decision as she wouldn’t go back in the car.
Fruits, veggies, snacks etc are best!
- COMFORT – SEATS
Toddlers like to move and be active all the time. If they don’t feel comfortable in their car/booster seats, you may find they’ll try to unbuckle and get out. To ensure they stay put, make sure the seat is comfortable enough. Further, ensure stuff they need is within reach.
A travel tray is a good idea to put in front of your toddler. Arrange toys etc for them to keep busy with as you drive.
Pic Above: I turned this $2 tray turned into a travel tray. And an old chocolate container into a toy box!
- TIMING is important
Not all times work for both toddlers and parents respectively. I know a friend who used to take long road trips at night only so his toddlers could sleep as he drives. I know this wouldn’t work for everyone, me for one as evenings/nights are for MY sleep not drive. So when I took Tasha on the long road trip, I made sure we left very early in the morning. For a couple of reasons:
– I’m more productive early morning so as the driver, it’s important that I’m as fresh as can be.
– Tasha isn’t an early morning person so I only woke her up to get ready but she fell asleep as soon as we got into the car. Which meant I had a couple or so hours of quiet driving!
It worked for both!
- ENTERTAINMENT
Plan entertainment! Music, audio-books, etc are great when travelling. However, going full-on on entertainment can come back to bite coz the more you entertain the more they expect to be busy and entertained. And kids get tired of repeating things so will want something different here and there.
With Tasha quiet and sleepy at the beginning of the trip, I was able to listen to my own music which got me motivated. When she woke up, I let her listen to my music for a bit till she started getting grizzly, THEN we switched to nursery rhymes, followed by audio books. Quite honestly, by the time she wanted some form of entertainment, we were less than an hour away from our first stop. Not bad ey!
So it’s important to watch out on this part. Don’t go full-on otherwise you’ll have to do it all the way.
- Plan your STOPS/BREAKS
Depending on the length of your trip, planning your stops will help you know when to expect things like refreshing your food/drinks, or when to go to the bathroom. Making stops with toddlers isn’t as easy as hoping-on & off. If your toddler is like mine, sometimes getting out or into the car can require negotiations. So if you know when to stop, you know you can negotiate in the car IF they start to get grizzly.
We stopped after 4.5hours for 2 hours. Had a good feed, changed Tasha and stretched our legs. The rest of the trip was a breeze!
Pic Above: Time to feed the ducks while stretching those legs!
- TOYS
Like adults who take favourite items everywhere they go, toddlers also have favourite toys that might be handy to take with. Those teddy bears? Musical toys we sometimes hate hearing especially when watching our TV programmes? Yeah – they do come in handy during travel! And on a road trip where you’re not really restricted by weight, I’d say take those favourite toys with you.
- CHANGE of CLOTHES
Kids can be messy right? They spill things or when they eat hands can get dirty. So you want to make sure you have spare clothes handy in case you need to change. OR cloths and paper towels to wipe off stuff.
When we stopped I realised Tasha had spilt some water on her car seat. One of the muslin cloths I had packed came to the rescue.
SO, if you’ve ever hesitated taking long trips with your little one, I hope these tips can encourage and help you. This was my first long distance trip (driving myself) AND I truly enjoyed it.
Have you ever taken a roadtrip with your little one? If so, what was your experience? Would love to hear your feedback/thoughts/comments even if you haven’t been on a roadtrip with a toddler.
These are some great tips, our youngest is 5 now, and we make a two and a half hour trip at least once a month to go see my parents and depending on her mood, sometimes I still feel like I am packing half the house for that short trip! I am visiting you today from The Blog Boss Tribe, God bless you!
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Thanks for stopping by Jenn! Totally understand re packing lots of stuff. Our car was full to the brim – no room to move even though it was just the 2 of us, lol. As soon as the trip exceeds an hour I think it turns into a long trip for these little ones, lol!
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I don’t have kids yet but I’ve always been curious on how people make traveling work! Thanks for sharing the secrets!
Juliette | https://namastaytraveling.com
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Thanks for stopping by namastay! x
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This post covers it all! Building in some breaks or pit stops is so important 🙂
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Agree HappilyEverHauser! Thanks for reading x
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Great tips! I don’t have any kids yet, but it’s always good to see how it’s done and learn a little bit before hand. Thanks for sharing!
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That’s right Court. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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Great lunchbox!!
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lol.
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We have done a four hour road trip and a 5 hour flight. I definitely agree about timing. Thankfully our son is a car sleeper, so we try to plan trips around naptime. It gives us at least a small window of time without kid songs and/or screaming.
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lol, I so know what you’re talking about. You can get tired of kid songs ey!
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As much as I hate it, I pretty much train my kids when their young to watch tv in the car. They don’t a ton at home, but we take 8 hour trips about twice a year, and without the movies, it would be a nitemare for us!
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Oh, I’m not surprised at all! It’s not easy to travel with young ones so I can understand why any parent would do what they have to!
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Those are some great tips! Cute pictures of the food and containers.
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Thanks Charlene x
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Thanks fors sharing. My youngest is not a fan of the car and we’re always looking for tips to make the ride more enjoyable.
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It’s funny some love car rides some don’t. Mine used to hate it but now she’s OK!
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My oldest could ride for days so it’s definitely a curveball having one who does not enjoy it v
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hehehe! x
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Love this. We travel a lot. We have been traveling before our daughters were born. And when they came along. We packed them up as babies and had many many adventures.
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oooh, I love that Amanda! A lot of people lessen their travel coz they have kids but I think unless they’re terrible travellers, give it a go! I took my little one overseas when she was only 2 months old. By the time she turned 2 (years) i realised she had flown about 10 times, and taken a few road trips. I love travelling so I never stopped coz she came along – in fact it’s fun being with her on these trips. x
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Yes, our children are seasoned travelers. I blog as well about our family trips so its nice to see others talk about their trips with their families.
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My sister is always trying to plan her travels while her toddler is sleeping! It can be a real challenge.
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Totally get it! Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much! lol
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I can only imagine how tough it is to travel with a toddler! I don’t have kids, but I know even traveling with my dog can be tough.
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hahaha. Yeah it can be tough but if you plan it well, it can be easy!
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I have lots of summer travel planned with my little one, so these tips are greatly appreciated and couldn’t come at a better time!
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Glad to hear Trisha! Enjoy the trips 🙂
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Great tips for traveling with a toddler. I wish I would have had tips like these when our kids were little.
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Thanks x
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Thank you so much for these tips! We are just going into toddlerhood now, and my husband’s family lives about 5 hours away, so I’m for sure writing these tips down! Those snacks look amazing!
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Lots of different snacks always come in handy! x
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Fantastic tips for travel! Planning your stops is especially wonderful. You don’t want to be in a place without access to what you need. Adorable pictures too!
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Thanks Bethany! x
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These are great tips! We haven’t ventured too far with our two boys, 3 and 1. I will be pinning this for when we finally build up enough courage to take them somewhere more than 2 hours away!
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Hope it goes well when you finally go far!
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great tips! We did our first road trip in March, from Ohio to N Caroline with our 15 month old. It went surprisingly well!
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Glad to hear Ryan! Yeah sometimes they surprise us those little ones.
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yes to appropriate snacks! the last thing you want on the road is an oversugared toddler!
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hahaha, totally agree Jasmine!
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This list is on point!! Seriously, every single one of these should be on a check list before anyone decides to just hop in their car and head out.
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thanks so much milkwithdaddy
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These tips were great. I don’t have any kids but I can only imagine how tough it is!
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Thanks Tiffany. And, oh yeah, it’s not a straight forward process. Even going out and about for a bit means packing all essentials otherwise we get asked for things we may not have at the time, lol.
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Oof these are all so true. Especially the food and entertainment part. And timing! We took our kids on a 5 hour flight recently and one flight was timed while they were sleeping…they had to be awake til we boarded the plane but then they just passed out and it was lovely. On the way back we went a couple hours before bedtime, and while they did eventually pass out, it was a couple hours of horror as they kicked people’s seats and begged for stuff they couldn’t have!
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Awww I can totally relate to this. It’s a juggling act – timing is crucial ey! WIth flying I’ve noticed some people aren’t very forgiving with children, and some are. But yeah if I’m flying with my little one and the time isn’t a nap time I wear her out during the day so that when she gets on the plane and is asked to sit still she doesn’t have a choice but to sleep, lol. It doesn’t always work 🙂
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Thanks for your share !! Perfect timing!! We are going for road trip i love the way you pack the food !! Very nice and a tips you share
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No worries. All the best with the trip!
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Thanks for all the tips! I’m sure they’ll be very useful.
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It’s so important to eat healthy when on trips! Our family starts feeling it quickly when we only eat junk food. Also extra clothes are essential! Great tips
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Oh yeah! When you eat junk you find yourself getting hungry quickly coz you’re not getting the right nutrients. Thanks for reading ktmommyscene.
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big road trip planned for this summer so these are great tips! Can you tell me more about how you made the travel tray stay in place? looks like something is keeping it attached to the car seat?
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You forgot this one – tip # 9 – AVOID IF AT ALL POSSIBLE! 😉
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hahaha. I loooove this one MoJo! xx
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And I loved the rest of your tips, too! 😉
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Well written blog. I recently had a road trip with my young toddler (18months) and yes it was fun indeed.
You can check out my blog, written about travel essentials for babies and toddlers.
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Thanks for stopping by Ritika. Checking out your blog 🙂
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