If you are about to go on your first toddler road trip and feel completely lost on prepping, then you are in the right place. We typically take at least one road trip per year, and this will be our second third (I’m losing track) road trip with this particular child, but our first with him as a toddler (and now we have a baby, too)!
For context, the last time my oldest was on a road trip, he was probably about seven or eight months old… now he’s a year and a half and has a five month old brother.
I’ll be the first to warn you that toddler road trips are unlikely to be as smooth as ones with just adults, or with a young baby (although last road trip we had a HUGE blow out in the car seat and ran out of wipes…) but there are definitely things you can do to make them go smoother.
Considerations for a Toddler Road Trip
The first thing I like to do way in advance (at least a few weeks out) for a road trip is to consider the needs of my children (and what might or might not be available where we are going).
For instance, our first road trip this year is a cabin in the mountains. The cabin will not be child proofed until we get there and do so, and the family we are staying in the cabin with are not crazy about young kids.
So we are planning for activities to keep my toddler occupied in the car AND in the cabin (please note that my toddler screams when he’s in the car too long). He is also VERY active, and LOVES to climb… usually on surfaces that you don’t really want anyone to climb on (think table and so forth).
Questions to Help Plan Your (Road) Trip
With the facts and your toddler’s particular needs in mind, ask yourself some questions when planning for your trip and stay (please note that these lists are not exhaustive, although I did try to cover some major bullet points)…
Questions for the Car Portion of your Toddler Road Trip:
- What is there for my toddler to do in the car?
- How long is the road trip expected to be?
- How long will the activities I packed keep my toddler occupied for?
- Is my toddler likely to sleep in the car?
- Are we able to take longer to reach our destination in order to give my toddler a break from riding in the car?
- If we can take a break, what will that break look like? (Play in grass at rest stop? Walking around a store? Getting a hotel room for the night?)
- Is there a time that it is better to leave on our trip? (we have traveled at night before, to encourage my son to sleep and are considering the same again. On the same token, right after a nap might NOT be a good time, because that is when toddlers usually want to PLAY and be alert/awake. Before a nap might be better, to encourage sleep.)
Questions for the Vacation Portion:
Just as important as the car questions are questions about your vacation itself…
- What can my toddler do when we reach our destination?
- How long is the stay expected to be?
- How long will the activities I planned/packed keep my toddler occupied for?
- Are there other young kids who would play with my toddler there?
- What is the weather like where we are going? (great to know if planning on being outside much)
- If we are staying with someone else, how do they feel about young children?
- Is the location kid friendly?
Buying in Advance
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Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to inventory your child’s needs and order or purchase the items you don’t have yet. I took inventory of both of my son’s clothes, jackets, shoes, hats, and so forth… and we had to make some purchases based on what no longer fit or we didn’t have at all.
We also ordered a small DVD player that goes on the headrest for this toddler road trip, because again, my son is a screamer when he’s in the car too long… and we are keeping our fingers crossed that since he doesn’t usually get to watch television at home, it will be special enough to keep him occupied for a little bit.
Something else we are packing is foam activity dice… the thought behind that being that at our destination or even at a rest stop, we can pull them out and do the activities (things like stomping, which he loves) with my toddler. I purchased mine at the Target “dollar spot”, but they appear to no longer be available… these foam dice look similar (although definitely more expensive). It will get him moving, burn some energy, and be fun in the process.
Restoring Sanity from Overwhelm was originally written as a way to keep the sanity with life after a newborn, but I feel it applies to life after a road trip too… because coming back from a road trip always tends to be a bit… much. Especially with kids. So if you need some sanity (and normalcy) back after the *hopefully* restful vacation you are about to enjoy, come back and visit Restoring Sanity from Overwhelm (or bookmark it so you can find it again).
Have you ever experienced a toddler road trip? How did you prepare? Let me know in the comments below!
Christian, wife, “hybrid” mama, I run the site All Behind A Smile to help others like me.
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