I bet you’re wondering why LifeSoldier Living has a blog post about how to travel with kids. Fair question. Actually it’s an easy answer: We have a digital business that allows us to work form anywhere that has Internet, so we do a lot of traveling. So, let me give you some tricks of the trade that I’ve learned along the way. These tips are geared toward road trips, since that is how we have been traveling as of late. I’m no expert, but through trial and error I think I have just about mastered how to travel with kids.
1) Pre-portion snacks into child-sized containers/baggies. You might think this is a no-brainer, but when the time comes you probably just grab the bag of goldfish and throw it in the car only later to realize that both of your kiddos want to eat goldfish at precisely the same moment. I like to use sandwich baggies…not snack sized. If you want to save the planet, try these re-usable snack bags!
- Prepare snacks prior to the day of travel…trust me, one less thing to do on the day you depart is always helpful.
- Have 2 kids? Bring double of each snack. 3 kids? Bring triple. Get the point here? Your oldest may always decline veggie straws at lunch time, but everything changes when they are strapped into a car seat and antsy to get loose.
2) Electronics. Yes, I said it. Times, they are a changing and these days keeping little ones entertained in the car is most easily accomplished by letting them look at a screen. If this is something that seems likes its down your alley when you have to travel with kids, here’s what you need to know about traveling with electronics:
- Pre-load games that don’t require wifi and download videos the day before you leave (Prime, Disney+ and Netflix all offer the download option, which is nice!).
- Charge devices the night before so they are good to go for the day of the trip.
- Keep all electronics (cords, outlet plugs, headphones) together in some sort of small bag. I often use a make-up sized zipper pouch, or one of these. I like this one because I can fit 3 charging cords, 3 outlet adapters and 3 sets of earphones/pods.
- On the morning of your departure day, compile all electronics and keep them in the same bag…I usually carry all iPads/phones/handheld video games and accessories in one carry-on or backpack.
3) Bring a travel potty. Now, if your kids are older, you can probably skip this tip. However, this is essential for toddlers who are potty training or those kids who just can’t seem to hold it. We always keep a travel potty in the trunk. It seems that my youngest always has to go number two when we are nowhere near a rest stop or gas station.
- Have a few grocery bags to use as liners…easy clean-up!
- Keep wipes in your car with the potty and those bags…again, easy clean-up;).
- If you have a shy child, keep a beach towel in the car to use as a portable wall.
4) Travel sickness prevention/remedies. My oldest gets carsick almost every time we are in the car longer than 15 minutes. The method we use to prevent this from happening is using Bonine at least a half hour before we leave, wearing acupuncture wrist bands and making sure her belly is full enough of food so that she doesn’t confuse the empty/hungry feeling for car sickness. I know, I know…rookie move, but when you’re 8 and in the car, an uneasy feeling in your tummy is an uneasy feeling in your tummy.
- Get the chewable Bonine tablets. They work like Dramamine without the drowsiness. If you’re planning to be in the car for a while and you’re okay with a quiet sleeping child in your backseat, (SWEET!) go for Children’s Dramamine.
- It also helps to encourage your motion-sickness-inclined offspring to take sips of water and breath at random intervals, kind of like Lamaze style. This puts a different rhythm into the body and can sometimes trick the mind into telling the tummy to chill out.
- Have barf bags just in case. Gross, I know, but you don’t want to be caught without one when you need it! We had an episode in Ireland a couple years back…rental car, Irish countryside, pub for lunch and….yeah, no barf bags OR napkins of any kind. Never again!
5) Pre-pack the car. This is especially important for longer road-trips. You don’t want to scramble the day of departure and suddenly realize that the roller blades you promised your daughter she could bring just don’t fit anywhere. This is also important so you can plan where certain items, such as snacks, will go.
- Keep the electronics bag in the back with the kids. Let them fend for themselves in that department (if they’re old enough, of course). One less thing for you to worry about while driving or nagivating…I mean NAVigating. My bad.
- Put the snacks in the front. Here’s why: some kids will eat all day if you let them. Then, what happens if those kiddos fall asleep and you’re starving up there in the front? It’s better to have the snacks within an arm’s reach.
6) Always have garbage bags and wipes. This is a habit now that I travel with kids so often. I tend to grab a healthy supply of grocery bags and stuff them in the side compartment of my car door so they are readily available. They’re useful for things such as: barf bags (as mentioned above), garbage bags (easy to throw away when you stop for gas), or liners for your travel potty (as stated before).
- Keep a grocery bag hanging somewhere in the car for easy trash collection.
- Keep one small package of wipes in the front and one in the back for your able children to help themselves when needed.
7) Don’t forget blankets, pillows and stuffies. I always let my kids choose a blanket and a stuffed animal of some sort to bring in the car with them. They also each have neck pillows for a more comfortable napping posture. We have the ones that turn into animals when turned inside out, which can even count as the stuffy if you want!
- Kids are picky when it comes to temperature…or at least mine are. I like it cool in the front seat, so blankets are a must for our family road trips.
- Stuffies are a great way to comfort kids if they are feeling worried about anything while traveling and letting your child pick which one to bring is always exciting for them!
Ready for some quality travel time with your kids?
So, do you think you’re ready for a road trip with your kids? We have tackled many a mile in the car as a family and I like to think that my kids are pros at road trips. We recently completed a drive from Maryland to Florida and back and it went quite smoothly, besides some weather on the way back to Maryland. Oh, and might I add, almost all of our trips are just me and the kids, in case you’re a single parent who thinks traveling with your kids impossible.
You can tackle a road trip with you kids!
I also want to throw in the fact that I know that some kids just hate being in the car. My son despised being in his car seat until he was 1 ½ or so. Did that stop us from taking trips? Heck no! My opinion is that you have to just do the things you want to do as a family and try to be as patient as you can along the way. Did my son once cry the whole way from New York to Illinois? Yep, he sure did! Did we turn around and go home? Nope. We were all driven a little crazy (Hehe, see what I did there?), but we persevered. It’s only crying, right? You can travel with kids and while it may be frustrating at times, it will be worth it when you reach your destination!
