In just two weeks, I went on two long distance car trips with my almost two-year-old daughter. The first trip was 5.5 hours one way, the second around 7 hours (with border crossing). Having long trips in such a small span of time I learned a few tips on how to travel with a toddler by car.
Table of Contents
How To Travel With a Toddler By Car: Road Trips and Long Distances
Have different activities
Having a few different activities we could pass back to Baby Girl (BG) helped curb any boredom meltdowns.
These activities do not need to be fancy.
BG loved ‘reading’ magazines and would flip through the pages and rip them up.
We also gave her a sand bucket and large fish toys and she would shake them around and put them in the bucket and then on her lap.
BG flipping through a magazine in the car. Originally posted on twitter.
Healthy snacks
Snacks are a must.
We made sure we had her favourites on hand – strawberries, crackers and chocolate milk – so she would eat and drink lots.
Just be careful you give a balanced assortment with snacks and food on the road.
Road trip food is notoriously unhealthy and you do not want any bowel issues.
We learned this the hard way when BG got constipated on our second trip.
Rest and Run Breaks
Kids need to run around so make sure you stop every few hours to change diapers, have potty breaks and let your kids run.
Most rest stops now have grassy areas.
Bring a small inflatable ball and you can play soccer or pass the ball around for 15 minutes.
Just make sure the area is clean before you play.
Drive at night
If you can swing it drive after dinner.
Not only will there be less traffic but there is more of a chance your little one will sleep through the whole trip.
If you are going to drive at night make sure you are well rested and there is someone that can share the driving with you if needed.
Practice
We live in a rural farming community and to go into the city we need to drive almost an hour.
BG is used to being in the car for longer periods at a time.
As they say ‘practice makes perfect’.
Please share your long distance driving tips below.
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I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately–we’re leaving on a 48 hour drive with our 4 year old and two year old in a few weeks. Yikes.
We live 3.5 hours away from family so our travelling had increaed a lot over the last couple years. Sometime we needs to go there and back in one day. Yuck!. With a 6 year old, 3 year old, and 6 month old, we have made use of all of your tips. We have also made use of stories on tape (or rather, I put them on my tablet and we feed it through our car stereo) and each of the bigger goys gets a special bin with books, coloring, cars, fruit, water, and goldfish. For longer trips we have bought a few new books and toys from a thrift store. That way it isnt a big deal if we lose them along the way. My favorite is to travel while they sleep. Though it doesn’t happen often that all 3 are out at the same time and I usually spend most of the trip in the back entertaining the baby and answering questions from my 6 year old. Travelling with littles is a full time job!