Traveling for the Holidays: Road Trip Edition

How is it already the holiday season? Where has the time gone!? My family, like many others around the world, will be joining the crush and traveling this year. We headed North to spend some time with family for Thanksgiving. Since we don’t feel comfortable traveling with Ro by plane yet- we drove there. And oh, my was it a long one. If you find yourself in similar shoes, I’ve compiled some helpful hacks to get you through:

1) Plan Your Stops. Also Plan for Unplanned Stops.

Does this make sense? No… but yes. You see, we try and stop every two to three hours when traveling by car. Many car seat manufacturers recommend a two hour time limit. As always, do what feels right for your family and follow guidance from your Pediatrician. For us, if Ro is finally sleeping (he doesn’t typically nap well in the car), we will let him sleep. Which is where the ‘plan for unplanned stops’ comes into play.

Before hitting the road we map out our route and where we are going to stop (roughly every two hours). We try and find tourist spots, parks, and/or children’s play areas along the way. When we stop, our goal is to have Ro get some energy out, eat, and get a diaper change. Since we have been cautious in this pandemic, we have not brought Ro inside anywhere (hence why you won’t see us stopping at a restaurant any time soon). In this planning process, it’s good to leave some wiggle room for the unexpected. For example, Ro may become restless, hungry, or need a diaper change sooner. It’s good to get a general sense of what else is around your route for these spontaneous stops. Something important to keep in mind: check the safety ratings of the towns you’ll be stopping in. You’ll want to feel comfortable while changing a diaper out of your car and letting your little one get out the energy they need.

2) Plan Around Naps and Mealtimes

This was a little easier to do this when Ro was napping twice a day. On travel day, I recommend keeping the morning routine as familiar as possible. LO gets up at 6a usually? 6a wake-up it is. Ro wakes up at 7a every morning, so that’s when he gets up on departure day. Now, I have found that we can have success when Ro is woken up a little earlier. However, the maximum amount of time I have varied from his usual routine on departure day is one hour (earlier). We follow the same morning routine and eat breakfast. Before leaving, we make sure Ro has had his morning snack and his tummy is full and happy. Always remember to check that diaper too!

As a side note, I have always found it beneficial (even when Ro was a baby) to describe what is going to be happening for the day. We all know younger children thrive on routine and knowing what to expect. Therefore, I frequently review the schedule for the day, what the trip is about, and why we are doing it. And yes, I start this several days before we even depart.

Now, when Ro was napping twice a day, his first nap was around 10/10:30a, so it was nice to depart by 9a with the hopes that he would fall asleep shortly into the ride (and not get behind on naps… because let’s face it, kids get downright cranky when they are tired. So do adults for that matter). When he woke up we would be close to stopping at our first stop. Now that Ro isn’t napping in the morning- it takes patience and distraction. Here is where you get to decide what distractions work best for your family. Do you allow screen time? Light-up toys? Do you like listening to music? The choice is totally yours. Whatever works for your family is best. We’ll talk more on distraction options next. Please note that Ro may very well fall asleep and that’s okay. Is it his usual schedule? Nope. But we aren’t exactly following his normal schedule that day anyway. It’s okay to deviate slightly from the routine you establish at home. Control what you can… and roll with what you can’t. As soon as you get back home- jump right back into the normal routine. It may take a bit to get back into the swing of things, but you will!

We plan our first stop right around lunch time. On the first stop, we change diaper(s), run around, and have lunch. If the situation allows (it’s not too cold, wet, and there’s a good spot) then I recommend having a picnic. The time outside in the sunshine can do wonders for all. Pro tip: keep a picnic blanket in the trunk of your car. You never know when a nice opportunity to bask in the sunshine at a park may arise (both on a trip and driving around town at home).

After lunch, we pack up and head out on to the next leg of our journey. We typically get Ro ready for his second nap before we head out. In other words we try to do some familiar routines before heading out. So, for us, we read a book to Ro after getting him into his car set, set him up with his lovey (only use if age appropriate), and turn on his portable sound machine. We’ll usually keep the car quiet and calm to also help encourage Ro to fall asleep. We then travel as far as we can on this nap (which usually lasts for 2-2.5 hours). If/when Ro wakes up- it’s back to distraction time.

Our next stop will happen around his afternoon snack time. We try and keep this stop a little shorter- so diaper change(s), some run around time, and a quick bite. The last trek of the trip is always the hardest. We’ve had our naps, snacks, and are usually over being in the car at this point. My recommendation is to save a special and new toy for this time. Distraction, distraction, distraction. I’ve also had to hop in the backseat on a few trips at this point in the drive. Ro likes the company and he loves when we read to him- which is such an easy thing for me to do.

The final stop of the day should be next. We typically only drive a max of 6 hours (of specifically ‘drive time’). Because we stop, our total trip time is usually around 8 hours. Once we get to our destination, we let Ro run around for a bit. It’s important to let kids explore safely and get all that cooped up energy out. Watch for fast burnout though- it’s been a long day for all. If you have to continue traveling the next day (and even if you’re not tbh) try and go through your usual evening routine when you arrive at your destination. Have dinner, go for a walk, start bedtime routine, bath time routine… whatever it is you normally do at home. We want to help reduce stress and exhaustion and prepare kiddo(s) for the festivities that will happen tomorrow (whether that’s playing with family or driving another leg of the journey).

3) Distractions

For fear of sounding older than I am… back in my day we didn’t have access to screens in the car and we turned out just fine. At Ro’s age, we don’t necessary want him focusing on screens at this age. So what do we use for distractions? Snacks, books, and toys. Here is my list of successful car distractions:

• Light-up toys. Ro is obsessed with this radio. We even use it for dirty diaper changes (hello always-running-around-toddler-stage). He doesn’t use this toy outside of #2’s and the car, so it stays really novel for him.

• New toys. Before we leave, we always buy a couple new toys for Ro to enjoy while traveling. We present them to him in the car and it has been really helpful in keeping Ro engaged as he figures out how to play with a new item.

• Toniebox. I can’t even tell you how much I love our new Toniebox. I heard of these through one of my favorite podcasts (The Mom Hour). And then I happened to make a new mom friend this fall that has one for her children. She couldn’t say enough good things about it. So, what’s a Toniebox? It’s literally a padded speaker cube that plays music, educational programs, and stories by connecting “tonies” or these little handmade figurines (attached via a magnet) to the top of the cube. These tonies play whatever is recorded on them. You can even buy ‘blank’ tonies and (using the really easy app) record your own songs, stories, etc. Since Ro LOVES us singing to him (especially in the car) we recorded about 30-40 minutes of us singing all our favorite jams. And Ro WAS HERE FOR IT. It saved our voices (since we didn’t have to be constantly singing for 6 straight hours) and it kept Ro calm when he was starting to get fussy. Please note that I don’t allow Ro to play with the Toniebox himself. I think the recommended age range for this item is 3+. Since the tonies attach via a magnet, the magnet can pose a choking hazard. We therefore kept the Toniebox and tonies up front with us. We continue to use the Toniebox at home and I’ve found it to be super helpful to put on while I’m cooking dinner!

• Snacks. All the snacks. I was really hesitant to feed Ro while he was in the car seat and waited until I felt truly comfortable with his eating skills. I still have certain hang-up’s. For one, I don’t let him feed himself (unless it’s a yogurt or applesauce pack) while we are driving. I also make sure to offer really small bite-sized pieces of whatever he is eating (again, while I feed it to him either from the backseat or up front). The small bite-sized pieces put my mind at ease about safety… but they also honestly help with keeping the snack going longer (which is never a bad thing while on a road trip).

So there you have it! My ‘long road-trip survival guide.’ I hope this helps you with all your future travels! If you have any advice that you found has worked for road trips with littles, please feel free to leave a comment, below. Happy holidays and safe travels to all!