Road Trip with Babies and Toddlers
Tips and Tactics for Travel Survival on the Road
Road trips with babies and toddlers can be a lot of fun for everyone, or they can be downright painful and insane. Which version of the road trip do you want to plan?
The key to surviving and actually enjoying a road trip with babies and toddlers breaks down, quite simply, into planning and proper preparation. It also involves some common sense, and parents need to make their peace with one simple fact: the road trip will never be the same again. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, either.
Plan a Road Trip with a Baby
If you will be traveling on a road trip with a baby, especially a newborn, much more planning is needed than even with older babies and toddlers. You should also plan for a much longer travel time. Here are key tips for a road trip with a baby:
- Make plans to stop, and stop often. Also, don't shortchange things when you do stop in a rush to get back on the road, or you'll get burned by needing to stop again within the hour. Get a lot of bang for the buck, and allow a good 20 minutes at each stop to change diapers, feed, cuddle, stretch, and generally do anything you might conceivably need to do at a stop.
- Be ready for anything. On the road, babies have a way of doing the unexpected. You could have a blow-out in the car seat, or a spit-up incident during a diaper change. Be ready with first-aid kits, extra cloths to cover wiped-down but still wet spots, trash bags, spare clothes and any sort of cleaning supply you might need on the go.
- Drive around naptimes. Babies love to sleep in the car. For parents, this is an advantage in the road trip realm as long as you plan properly. Leave before dawn or right before naptimes to get the maximum benefits.
Plan a Road Trip with a Toddler
Toddlers are just as portable as babies, but they have the added challenge of being mobile. This is good in some ways (you don't have to pull out a stroller or carry baby every time you stop), but that means you also need to be more vigilant. Here are tips for a road trip with a toddler:
- Give them a chance to move. Toddlers can move, and they want to. In fact, they will get downright nasty if you don't let them. They also need to move more often than adults. Plan to stop every couple of hours to let you toddler walk (holding hands carefully, of course, especially in high traffic areas). Even a quick run into a rest area is a nice break.
- Keep them entertained. A great way to avoid tantrums on the road with a toddler is to splurge on a portable DVD player an da few Dora and Backyardigans DVDs (or whatever cartoon is their personal favorite). Alternately, music CDs go a long way. You should also bring along some fun activities for toddlers such as drawing or playing with stickers and paper.
