Road Trips with Toddlers
Hey Y'all!
We have been home for a week now from our wonderful week in Arizona visiting my sister, my brother-in-law and my beautiful nieces. Why is it that the week after a vacation always feels so hectic?! It's nice to be home but I definitely miss my family and our time together. We drove to AZ, got to stay for 6 days and then made the drive back. We love road trips and my husband always prefers to drive but 15-16 hours in the car with toddlers is not for the faint of heart! My girls did AMAZING and I am so proud of them but they obviously had their moments when they were completely over it and ready to be done. I have compiled a list of some of the recommendations I have for traveling with toddlers to make it a bit easier. Also to note - any products mentioned in this post are just personal recommendations, there are no ads in this post, just want to share what worked (or didn't work) for me and my family in case it helps any one else in their family adventures.
Snacks
This is an obvious necessity for any length road trip, or really even just a car ride for that matter, my girls are ALWAYS wanting snacks! You will want snacks you know they will eat but also snacks that work in the car.
- Fruit snacks - my oldest loves Welch's and that's the brand we usually go for, we also got her some character fruit snacks this time to make them more fun like minions or Disney Princess. For my youngest, who is 15 months, we found these amazing fruit snacks that are softer for the younger ones and taste AMAZING, I even enjoy these!
- Granola bars or something similar - my kids love Nutri Grain bars but we found they can make a mess so we kept those in the bag for when we arrived to AZ to be eaten at the table. The ones we found work best in the car, that both my girls love, are CLIF Kid Zbars for my oldest and my youngest is now obsessed with Earth's Best Snack Bars. I get the CLIF bars at our local grocery store and I usually find the Earth's Best at Target.
- Pringles - I know not healthy, but healthier than some chips, or so I tell myself, and they don't get the kids fingers as greasy and because they are softer my 15 month old can chew off little pieces as well.
- My oldest also loves Slim Jims, they do cause some greasy hands but that's what wipes are for and it's a nice protein addition for her, my youngest obviously didn't eat these. We get the mild snack size ones, they aren't spicy and it's just a nice little snack.
- Bananas are always a good healthy option since they don't make a mess but we didn't bring much else in the way of fruit because I didn't want my youngest choking on anything in her car seat so we saved that for when we arrived.
- iPad - I know they aren't supposed to have too much screen time but when it comes to this long of a road trip, movies save everyone! We had movies downloaded to the iPad so that they could be watched without internet and it was perfect.
- Books - my daughter loves flipping through her books and she will try to read them to us too.
- Stuffed animal to cuddle with, I always let her pick her stuffed animals before we leave for a trip.
- Blanket - she loves to cuddle up on long drives and it helps her nap.
- Lap tray - my mom got this tray for my oldest to use on the trip and it was perfect for her to be able to color or lay out her books on.
- Coloring books, crayons, definitely no markers, stickers and a note pad for her to doodle in or put her stickers in.
- Stuffed animals
- Small toys
- Pretty much anything that will keep them occupied! The 15 month old was much harder to keep entertained since she doesn't get to watch movies with big sis yet. She is still facing backwards and I think she might have some motion sensitivity and didn't want to try and have her watch movies also.
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