There’s no getting around it—road tripping with a baby is hard! A long trip can be tough on a car full of adults, and when you add a little one to the mix, you’re introducing a whole lot of potential problems. From uncontrollable crying to diaper blowouts in the car seats, road tripping with a baby isn’t something that should be taken lightly. The good news is that there are some pretty simple things you can do to make the trip easier on you and your little one. In this article, we’ll share 10 tips for making road tripping with your baby a breeze.
It doesn’t matter if you have an infant or a toddler who’s a bit more cultured in their food preferences, keeping snacks handy during your road trip is one of the smartest things you can do when hitting the road with your little ones. If your baby isn’t yet feeding himself, you’ll obviously need to sit in the backseat to help feed him (more on that later). Keep standards like pureed fruits and veggies and rice cereal on hand. If your baby is still nursing, you’ll need to plan frequent breaks for feedings.
If your child is a little older and is perfectly capable of feeding herself, bring along baggies of healthy snacks like bite-size cheese and fruit. It might be tempting to stock up on sweets and salty snacks at a gas station, but you’ll obviously want to keep these to a minimum. Still, keeping one little “cheat” snack on hand can provide a much-needed treat when everyone’s patience has worn thin after hours in the car.
Chances are, you use music quite a bit around your house to distract your kids when you’re doing chores. Let’s face it, putting “Baby Shark” on a loop for an hour might grate on your nerves a bit, but there’s no better way to keep your kiddos entertained while you get dinner started. As it turns out, music can work those same wonders while in the car on a road trip, too!
Take the time before your scheduled trip to create some playlists for you and your kiddos. You’ll obviously want to stock up on as many “greatest hits” for the kids as you can, but don’t be afraid to build a few playlists for yourself, too. You’d be surprised how many “big people songs” kids actually enjoy. To help with your own lists, check out this collection of the best road trip songs.
If music can work wonders in keeping your kids occupied on a long road trip, then watching movies is an absolute act of wizardry! Even just 4 movies can keep your kids occupied for an entire day’s worth of driving. But which movies should you choose for your trip? You can’t go wrong with a big Disney collection or countless other cartoons, but we suggest throwing a few educational movies into the mix, too. You can find all sorts of educational videos that cover everything from counting to learning the alphabet.
If your vehicle is equipped with a DVD player and screens, you’re ahead of the game, and watching movies on the road is a piece of cake. If your car, truck, or SUV doesn’t have a built-in DVD player, you’ll need to bring along a device or two to get the job done. While portable DVD players are still around, they’re becoming more and more obsolete. Now, you can watch movies on your tablet or smartphone. You can either download films onto your devices ahead of time, or you can stream them provided you have a mobile WIFI connection while on the road.
If you have more than one adult in the car, take turns riding in the backseat with your baby. You’ll both enjoy the bonding time, as opposed to your kiddo spending the entire road trip on their own. Listen to all of those songs you downloaded together, or watch some movies.
You should also bring along some of their favorite toys and books. Together, you can create your own little adventures right there in the backseat. You’d be surprised how easy it is to turn a boring backseat into a mystical landscape of enchanted mountains and dangerous, bottomless valleys! If you’re looking for more great road trip ideas, check out this list of awesome things to do to keep you occupied on the road.
One of the most important things you can do to make your road trip with a baby go smoothly starts before you ever hit the road. Safety should be your number one concern, and chances are you’ve already invested in one of the safest car seats that money can buy. But you should also take steps to ensure your vehicle itself is as safe as it can be before hitting the road.
If your vehicle is due for an oil change, make sure to get it taken care of before you go on a long trip. Also, inspect your tires and if they’re worn, get them replaced. The same “inspection/replace” theory applies to your brakes. Also, make sure you don’t have a lot of loose items in your passenger areas, as they can become flying projectiles in the event of a crash.
Finally, keep a well-stocked emergency kit in your trunk or cargo area. This should obviously include first aid items, but you should also keep jumper cables, a flashlight, a rain jacket, and some type of device to warn other drivers should you need to pull over (like a reflective caution triangle). Here’s a look at 72 other things you can do to stay safe while driving.
No matter how many countermeasures you put in place or planning you do prior to your trip, your kids are going to reach a point where they’ve simply had enough. So, one of the most important things you can do in taking a long road trip with your baby is to keep the distance of your trip reasonable. A few hours at a time is normally the max that a baby or toddler can handle. So, if you’re taking a trip that’s 1,000 miles or more, you may need to plan for an additional day or so on the road to accommodate those frequent stops.
Another bit of advice is to use your kid’s napping schedule to your advantage. If they normally take an afternoon nap, make sure you’re on the road during that time. You can really rack up some miles if your toddler is snoozing in the backseat and not requiring any of your attention at that time.
There are countless issues that can come up on a road trip, especially when you’ve got little ones in the car. The best thing you can do is to simply accept that they’re going to happen and take them in stride. You’re going to face diaper blowouts, flat tires, and miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic while your baby screams bloody murder in the backseat. If you can learn to laugh it off, you’ll be ahead of a LOT of other parents out there on the road!
Try your best to have a plan for any fiasco that arises, but never forget that you won’t be able to prepare for every scenario.
As we’ve mentioned, trying to get your infant or toddler to participate in a 6-hour stretch of driving with no breaks is not a good idea. Depending on the age and temperament of your child, you might need to stop every 1 to 3 hours. This will give you a chance to change your baby’s diaper or let older kids run around a bit. You’ll appreciate a chance to stretch your own legs, too.
When it comes to taking breaks, it’s important to stick to a routine. Try to accomplish the same tasks every time you stop. Change diapers, refill drinks, stretch your legs, etc. Doing this will ensure that you don’t “miss” something, which could result in making another, unnecessary stop that will only add time to your trip.
Remember when we said your life on the road will be much easier if you can rack up some miles while your kids are napping? Well, it’s even better if you can drive at night while they’re sleeping for long stretches. Sure, you might not be used to pulling the night shift, but you’ll likely find that it’s easier to stay up than dealing with a screaming child for hundreds of miles at a time.
If you go this route, it’s imperative that you stay safe while driving. That means you should take precautions to keep from getting too tired. If you have a second driver available, make sure you’re swapping time behind the wheel frequently. Eat and drink what you need to in order to stay awake, and if you really find you’re having trouble staying alert, do the right thing and pull over for the night.
We’ve already mentioned that you can’t expect to be able to handle every situation that comes up, but we certainly won’t stop you from preparing for as many of them as you can.
Enter the baby bag.
Even if you have older kids, keeping a well-stocked bag in the car with you can be the difference between a miserable road trip and smooth sailing. Depending on the age of your child, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of diapers, wipes, and a changing pad. Food is an obvious concern. If you’re still nursing your child, you obviously won’t be stocking any food in your bag. If not, having an additional cooler in the bag with formula or solid foods is probably a good idea.
Finally, you’ll want to have plenty of toys stashed in the bag to keep your little ones occupied, as well as a few medicinal items to ward off any bugs your child might pick up on the road. A simple, digital thermometer and baby aspirin can be the difference between an uncomfortable night on the road and a stressful trip to urgent care.
Road tripping with your toddler isn’t an easy undertaking, but with a little planning and open mind, it’s nothing you can’t handle. A couple of well-stocked bags and a sense of humor are all you need to turn a potentially stressful trip on the road into one that you and your children will remember for a lifetime!
