Tips for Traveling with a Child on a Long Road Trip

Whenever we are planning to go somewhere in the car with the children this is what I do to prepare.

1. Hide toys weeks before the trip. The rationale behind the hiding items weeks before we leave is so that the toys seem new to them, or at least they didn’t play with them the day before and not want to play with them in the car. No matter what the age, it is nice to have something “new” in the car. Plus, it is cost friendly to hide toys you already own rather than buy all new toys. Remember, a child’s attention span is as long as they are old. A three year old has a three minute attention span so if you are traveling further than 3 minutes down the road you need a lot of attention grabbers.

2. Bring toys that are car friendly. For example, don’t let young children bring silly putty or non washable markers into the car. I prefer to bring the color wonder markers and coloring pads that won’t ruin the seats. My children also like the Leap Frog pads with interchangeable books. Ashton and Lilly each have their own and they share the ziplock that has the books and cartidges. I also bring hardback books as opposed to the softback ones as they are easier to put into a bag and they don’t ruin as quickly when tossed around the car.

3. Shop the sales during the year. I tend to shop the 75% off sales at Target and stock up on car friendly items when they go on sale. I have bought view finders, color wonder pen sets, key chain toys, books, pig flashlights (the children have to continue to press a lever in and out to get the small blue LED light to glow), and DVD’s for next to nothing. If you are planning to ever travel, stock up when the sales begin, usually after Christmas and again in August.

4. Let the children pick out their own toys and books weeks in advance to bring in their own special bag. This works well for the older children who know what they want. It also gives them a sense of ownership of their items so they don’t have as many reasons to complain that they are bored.

5. Pack a secret special bag of things you know, or think, they would like and hide it in the car. Pull out the items during the tenth round of “Are we there yet?” I like to put a pack of pencils, a sharpener with case for shavings, and a dozen of the Highlights Puzzle books. They have a lot of great activities from drawing step-by-step to matching stickers on the hidden picture pages. Each book is good for at least a half hour of quiet time if they complete all the pages.

6. Limit the movie watching in the car until your trip. I have a portable DVD player so it is easy for us to bring it into the house unless we are traveling. If your child watches movies in the car most of the time it won’t be so special on a long road trip. It is a great activity for our children because they don’t get to watch many movies at home.

7. Stock up on a couple new movies for the road, or have some that they can only watch while you are traveling. If you don’t want to purchase new ones, borrow a few from a friend and return them when you return. If you won’t be gone long, the library usually has a good selection to borrow as well.

8. When traveling with an infant, be prepared with lots and lots of toys. I set one of those 14 inch collapsible boxes within my arms reach and the baby’s car seat so I am able to continuously reach into the box and hand back a new toy. During our last trip, I think I had 20 different toys in the box that we kept cycling through. Every time we would stop and open the van door all the toys would fall out and I would replace them in the box for the next leg. Don’t bring toys that have parts that can be lost as you are guaranteed to lose them. Remember, a 1 year olds attention span is only 1 minute so the more toys the better.

9. I brought 6 pacifiers in a baggy during our last road trip. I didn’t think I would run out but by the end of the second day we were down to one unhidden pacifier. Needless to say I bought two more while on vacation so we would have 8 on the return trip.

10. Pack fun snacks. We put a cooler in the van to hold a fun collection of goodies for the trip. The children love to stop on our potty breaks and pick out a snack from the cooler. Our children do much better when they munch in the car, it keeps the complaining down. I usually pack granola bars, fruit strips, juice boxes, water bottles, pretzel sticks, sliced apples and pears, orange wedges, carrot sticks, and red bell peppers. I also pack sandwiches so we can eat when we are hungry, not necessarily when we find a place to eat.

11. Bring a portable potty with liners. We have the On the Go Potty seat and love it. It is very easy to set up and packs so small I can put it in the pocket on the back of the driver’s seat. I make sure and bring at least 20 liners in case we need to use it multiple times. We actually don’t use the public restrooms with the children as they tend to be dirty and it adds at least 20 minutes per stop to take both the children into the restroom to potty. Another advantage of the portable seat is when you passed the exit with the gas station and they all need to go. Just pull off at the following exit, open up the potty seat and let them go. Also, the On the Go Potty Seat liners tie close tightly and we have not had a leaking bag in the 3 years we have had our seat.

12. Pack a single hotel bag if you plan on staying in a hotel before arriving at your final destination. I pack one smaller bag for the 5 of us that has all of our swimsuits, just in case we decide to swim at the hotel, PJ’s, a comfy travel outfit for the next day’s travel, all our toiletries, a bottle and pacifier for the baby, and snacks for before bed. We also bring a pack-n-play with a sheet and blanket for the baby. It is nicer to bring one bag into the hotel instead of 5. Plus, you don’t have to unload the whole trunk for one night’s stay, a bonus for those who don’t like to pack and repack the trunk.