If you’re hitting the road with kids this weekend for a Labor Day getaway, it’s essential to be prepared.
After doing two road trips with our toddlers (3 years old and 18 months) in August, my family has tips to share!
(For starters – if you think you’ve packed enough snacks, add more!)
- Snacks, snacks, and more snacks: Let’s be honest – the best part about road trips is the snacks! If you’re like my family, you probably have a snack bag (or two) that you keep in the car loaded with your kids’ (and mom’s) go-to munchies. We packed all of the staples, from Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, Cheez-its, Earth’s Best Sunny Days Snack Bars, Cheerios, and many more.
- Portable Potty: We’re in the final stages of potty training our 3-year-old, so we knew we’d have issues trying to quickly find a bathroom when he declared he needed to go potty. To solve our issue, we bought this bottle off of Amazon. This has been a lifesaver (and is a completely unsolicited recommendation). We actually bought another one and now we keep a bottle in each of our cars just for running errands. With this, we could just pull over and he could go potty and we didn’t have to stress about finding a convenient, clean restroom on the road.
- Pack Entertainment: With two toddlers in the backseat for more than 4 hours, we needed to get creative to entertain them. While our 18-month-old was entertained just watching for cows (and there were a lot – thankfully), our 3-year-old needed more organized entertainment. My mom found him these road-trip Bingo games – very similar to the ones we used when we were kids.
- Plan Stops: We made a crucial mistake on our road trip. We didn’t have a plan for lunch. We figured we would just stop somewhere around lunchtime. Of course, there was nothing around us when we were ready to eat. Instead of our “we’ll find something” plan, I’d recommend planning a lunch spot on your route.
- Make the Best of it: Once you hit the road and the kids start arguing and you hit traffic, and encounter all the other issues that come with road trips, it’s essential to also keep perspective and make it fun. These are quality hours with your family in the car (yes, even when they’ve asked “how much longer” 100 times!). Try to enjoy it, find interesting places to stop on the route, and remember to take a bunch of photos!
