We just got back from our Thanksgiving road trip and we survived!  I thought I’d take a quick break from my airplane tips and write about the dreaded “road trip with a baby” while everything was still fresh in my mind!  This was not Mack’s first road trip but for some reason I was more nervous about this one then the past ones.  He’s 15 months old and there’s more to him now than just eat, sleep and poop (in no particular order).  Pre baby road trips for me consisted of driving gas tank to gas tank with quick stops to pee, gas up and grab more coffee or ice tea.  I took a lot of pride in how long I could go without peeing especially once I got a car with a bigger gas tank!  Now all that has changed!

First off, I am the worst road trip packer!  I do such a great job packing and then when it comes time to load up the car, I start grabbing everything in sight just in case.  However, there are a few things I think my husband and I got got figured out.  The most important thing in my mind was to have an open seat next Mack so we could sit next to him and entertain him once he started losing his mind.  This turned out to be the best idea we had!  Below are a few other key things for our road trip:

Mirror to see little one who is rear facing

Easy snacks – Food packets are awesome for road trips!  String cheese was another hit with Mack

Cups with straws – Mack loves drinking out of straws.  This made drinking in the car seat much easier for him.

Sun shade – nobody likes having sun in their eyes, especially when you’re trying to nap.  If you forget your sunshade in another car like we did, blankets work great!  We also had fun making tents over the car seat and playing games in the “tent”

Toys?  We packed a few and questioned whether or not we should have packed more. The answer was no because Mack got the most entertainment out of blankets, water bottles, daddy’s hats, and cups that he could echo into.

Changing Pad – more than once we found ourselves at a gas station that didn’t have a changing table.  Make sure to have a changing pad in your easily accessible diaper bag!

When all else fails, Baby Einstein videos and YouTube – Don’t feel guilty if you resort to this.  When you are into your 10th hour of driving and your little one starts losing their mind but you don’t want to stop because you’re so close to your destination, videos can be your savior!

14 Hour trips in the past were a no brainer, drive all the way through thing to me. Now we have another human to think about.  We made a point to plan stops where Mack could safely run around and get some energy out.  We tried to time the stops between nap times so he could eat and then get back in the car and sleep.  My husband did a great job of planning our overnight stop in a place that we could spend the morning exploring.  It was also important that we picked a hotel that we knew provided cribs or pack-n-plays.  Starting a day of driving out after a morning of adventures and fresh air was much more pleasant.

My last bit of advice for road trips would be to plan for lots of extra time.  This is a big adjustment that I had to make.  If you plan a trip to the minute you will undoubtedly have a diaper blowout the instant you get back on the road from your 3rd stop.  Speaking of diaper blowouts, make sure you pack an extra outfit in your diaper bag so you don’t have to dig out your buried suitcase to find extra clothes.