Back in late July, we took our first big roadtrip with Levi to Kansas City. Kansas City is about 10 hours from our house and the minute I Google Map’ed it, my anxiety when through the roof. Levi is a very busy, nonstop, all boy. He does. not. sit. still, ever. Unless he’s asleep, he’s moving. I could not even imagine making it 10 hours in the car with him in his carseat.
Much to my surprise, he did A LOT better than I ever imagined. We didn’t listen to him scream for hours on end like I had envisioned in my mind and we actually had a lot of fun all together on the road. There were a lot of things that helped us make the road trip successful – here’s my list of the top five things for a successful road trip with baby.
1. BRING SOMEONE ALONG
If your spouse isn’t traveling with you or you’re a single parent, if you can, I highly suggest traveling with someone else. I don’t think our trip would have gone as smoothly without my hubby driving and me sitting in the back with Levi entertaining, handing snacks, feeding bottles, etc. We joked the entire time that the hubs was “driving Miss Daisy”, but it helped alleviate a lot of stress on me trying to both navigate where we were going AND manage to pacify a baby in the backseat. We did have some moments where I was trying to help him navigate and keep tabs on Levi at the same time which resulted in having to turn around, even with Google Maps going on my phone. It happens and the most important part, we made it – eventually.
2. SNACKS
Pack all the snacks. And if you think you have enough, pack more! Seriously, snacks were the great equalizer on our trip. Both for me AND for Levi. I could stretch giving snacks to keep him busy for 10-20 minutes at times by feeding him one by one or playing games around snacks. I poured all of the snacks in bulk we were going to take either into a large ziploc or a big mason jar for easy access and storage without having an open bag to spill everywhere. I used an open top thirty-one style tote bag to store all of the snacks, waters, and bottle necessities which made it easy to grab and store without having to open a zipper, dig through another bag like the diaper bag, etc. and kept the bag on the floor on the car in between the two bucket seats in our Suburban for easy access. When we got to our destination, it also made it easy to carry the bag in and utilize while in our hotel room too.
3. STOP EVERY 2-3 HOURS & BREAK IT UP, IF POSSIBLE
We scheduled in stops in our travels to stop every 2-3 hours, physically get out of the car (Levi included), and let him crawl around/walk around and blow off some steam. We brought a large blanket to lay on the ground, most of the time at rest stops. We could enjoy snacks and Levi could crawl around off the grass (he HATES grass). We didn’t really set a firm plan on how far to drive each day, but we did allow some time for us to break up the travel into two days if possible. Turns out, we could only make it 5-6 hours a day max before Levi was DONE for the day. Some people suggest to leave at night or super early morning and drive while they sleep. I have heard mixed reviews on this, either they sleep or they are awake and screaming the whole time. We decided not to chance it and would rather travel with two well rested parents versus overnight. Both days of travel we left right after breakfast and honestly, Levi slept a lot of the trips because we were driving when it was naturally his normal naptime(s).
4. PACK A SURVIVAL BASKET
My survival “basket” has a permanent home in my Suburban in between the bucket seats in back. I got one of those plastic milk crate type baskets, it fits perfectly! Inside I keep a whole list of things:
Toys (only given one or two at a time)
Diapers & Wipes (easy to grab)
Blankets (both for Levi & any passenger)
Phone Chargers
Soft Sided Baby Carrier (typically my Tula)
Travel Lobster Chair (This one is amazing!)
5. SET LOW EXPECTATIONS
So the last thing I have to say is don’t go into it with super high expectations, any time you are dealing with a baby specifically, so much is out of your control. Even if your baby is an angel baby most of the time, be mentally prepared for an all out disaster at some times. I went into this trip expecting it to be a hot mess, but knowing eventually it would end. And much to my surprise, it went way better than I ever anticipated. I think a huge part of it was my mindset. Not setting super high expectations on myself, Levi, or Mark but instead just going along with what was currently happening and reacting accordingly.
What are your best tips for road trips with a baby??
