10 Tips for Traveling With Kids

This past weekend my family and I had to opportunity to visit Paso Robles for the wedding of one of my best friends! It was amazing, the venue was beautiful, the event went just as planned and all of the guests raved about what a great time they had. This was the first road trip that my family has taken, we never spend more than an hour in the car otherwise we are traveling by plane so I was a little nervous. My kids are young and they don’t exactly excel in patience. I tried to prepare as much as possible by thinking of every situation that might occur during our 4 hour car ride. Here are the tips that I brought back from our travels….

Bring easy to eat snacks: Kids at any age make a mess when given food. Add that to a bumpy car ride and you have a recipe for disaster. Bring snacks that can be eaten right after opening the package with no assembly required, for example if you decide to bring sandwiches make them before you leave. Don’t think for a second that you will be able to put them together while in the car. We brought fruit, fruit snacks that I poured into snack cups, applesauce packets, cheese crackers, and pretzels. Do not bring food that can melt (candy, chocolate, yogurt covered pretzels) or anything that will go bad after accidentally being dropped down the side of the seat not to be found until you come back from vacation. So, from personal experience – string cheese is out.

Make sure to have a ridiculous amount of wet wipes: Not only do you need these for your little ones in diapers, but you also need them for hands and feet (yes, feet) and your car interior. Even if you follow the tips above and avoid bringing anything that melts, you know that your kids will find a way to get food stuck to your seats. These are also very helpful to “refresh” yourself if you are driving during the hot months and are sweating like it’s in style.

Pack toys and books that are new to your kids: Your kids have seen the same toys day in and day out. The last thing you want is for them to be bored and ask “Are we there yet?” a billion times. If you pack a small bag for each child with a few favorite items as well as some new ones, you should be able to keep the boredom at bay. Most stores have a dollar section and you can find a lot of great items there.

Prepare car games ahead of time: If you’re like me, the last thing you want to do it get stuck playing I Spy with your 6 year old who guess “It is me?” every single time. So try and think up a variety of games for everyone to play. Count how many red cars you see. How many animals can they name? Play Is it a Fruit or Is is a Vegetable. Make a list of items you might see on your way there and then cross them off as you spot them. If your children are older, have them play the car alphabet game. They have to find cars on the highway in alphabetical order (A-Acura, B-BMW, C-Chevy).

Download games/videos to your electronic devices before you leave: If you have a Kindle, Ipad or other game/tablet device that you allow your child to use be sure that you have downloaded all of the games or videos they like before you leave. Even if the device has wifi, you may not have a signal everywhere so it’s best to be prepared and already have what they need downloaded.

Don’t move around from the front to the back seat: I made this mistake on the ride up. I thought that if I sat in the back for a hour then the kids would be happier, but all they wanted was to get out of their car seats and sit with me! It was a disaster.

Plan ahead for bathroom breaks: When you’re mapping out your travel route, be sure to take note of where rest stops are so that you can make a bathroom stop before you have miles and miles of open roads ahead of you. If you have a potty training toddler, you may want to bring a portable bottle and plastic bags “just in case”.

Bring a clean up station: Having all of your clean up items in one container will save time and reduce the stress that comes along with the mess. Fill a box or bag with a roll of paper towels, doggy poop bags for dirty diapers or soiled clothes, trash bags, hand sanitizer, seat cleaner, a rag, and anything you might need to clean up. Keep this box/bag in a handy place such as right behind your seat.

If you have a baby, bring a soothing baby cd:  We have the Fisher Price Baby No More Cries cd in our car at all times. If our little one is having a hard time getting to sleep, we can pop that cd in and the soothing sounds help him fall asleep.

Keep a change of clothes handy for each kid: If your kids do end up making a mess or spilling their snacks/juice, keep a spare outfit handy somewhere in the car. The last thing you want to do is take out your huge suitcase while pulled over on the side of the road and try to find new clothes for them to wear!

What are your tips for easy travel? Comment below, I’d love to hear from you!