Ideas for your Road Trip with a Toddler
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Okay, if you’re a mama of a toddler, a long road trip sounds like the last thing you want to do with said toddler. I was nervous about our 7-8 hour drive to San Diego with our one and a half year old BUT he did really well! I want to share some tips and things that we did to make our road trip with a toddler run as smooth as possible!
Bring Favorite Snacks
This was crucial! I brought an entire bag of snacks! Also, I filled up a lunch box (the one the freezes and keeps things cold).
Some of the things we brought:
– fruit: strawberries, banana, cuties
– string cheese
– cheddar bunnies
– crackers
– Zbars (these are a current favorite)
– Sunflower seeds
– Yogurt pretzels
– PB&J (we knew we’d stop for food somewhere but I wanted a back up in case he didn’t eat whatever we ended up getting)
*ALWAYS overpack on the snacks! You never know what will be a hit!
Toys
Someone mentioned to hide some favorite toys before you go on the trip so when you take them out on the trip they’re like new again (love this tip!) I didn’t have time to do this because I asked for advice the day before we left but I will definitely do this next time.
I brought a variety of toys for Beckham to play with in the car. Some were toys that make noise and some were small cars or figurines he could play with. I even brought some books for him to look at. My idea when packing toys was just anything that he could hold in the carseat and can work himself.
When he started getting fussy, I’d just pull out a toy, hand it to him. It seemed to do the trick for 5 – 15 minutes depending on how into it he was but it definitely helped with the fussiness!
Here are some of our favorites!
Find Somewhere to Stop
I have to thank my husband for this one! He picked this super cool western pitstop about halfway on our trip. We used this to stretch our legs, Beck ran around and we got food. (We actually ended up stopping here on the way back too because they had such a perfect outdoor place for Beck to run!)
My best tip to finding somewhere to stop is just to google “pitstop on __” (whatever freeway you’re traveling on) or “places to stop near __”. Do this before your trip so you’re not flustered trying to find something as your kiddo is having a meltdown.
No Mom Guilt Here
And my last and probably most important tip.. bring the iPad or the phone or the computer or the DVD player. Do not be above it and do not have any mom guilt about it. We have Disney+ so I downloaded a few of Beck’s favorite movies straight to the iPad (so we wouldn’t need wifi). I knew when it came to it, I’d pull it out.
The day before our trip, I thought it would be brilliant to get a car mount for the iPad but of course everywhere was out. Thanks to handy dandy Amazon, I ordered one to our destination that came a day later and had it for the road trip home. Love this mount and totally recommend!
Are you going on a road trip with a toddler soon? Or have you in the past? What are your favorite tips and tricks for a road trip with a toddler?
If you enjoyed this, you may like some other posts on my Mama page!