As a mother of 2 toddlers, parenting is the main thing I do.  It takes up more time than anything else, and is my most important job. Because of that, I always feel like I should share more about parenting, and motherhood, here, but I always struggle because I feel like I am just beginning. Like there is so much I do wrong, or could do better.  Like I’m a novice. But the truth is, I have been a mother now for a little more than 4 years (and nearly 5 if you could the 9 months I carried E1), and that is a good chunk of life with which one can certainly learn something to share!

So today, I am tackling a few tips about road trips with kids! We recently did our first longer road trip with 2 toddlers and no help. Typically, we bring a niece or nephew with in the car to help manage the back seat, but this time it was just us.  The drive was 6.5 hours (but as any parent knows, with kids that means 8 hours if you are lucky, and 9 in most circumstances)! That is definitely a one day drive for us, but it is a long day, and all things considered, we thought it went quite well!  We are by no means pros at really ANYTHING regarding parenting…but we did learn a few things to help others as they prep for road trips with young kids! So here they are:

Our top 5 tips for road tripping with toddlers

1). Stock up on car friendly toys! For us, most of those are the annoying battery operated ones that sing and blink and buzz because our kids love them.  We try to keep them turned down 😉 The kids rotate through the, each using them and then trading.  Bonus: remember to replace all batteries before leaving! Just before they lose all power, they become even more annoying battery-dying robots that been endlessly and make your head hurt! We do have luck with books and other easy car toys. These make AMAZING car activities- you can’t spill them and I have to share them because we just found them and LOVE them!!

2). But before you whip out the toys…try to get a bit of the road trip in with just chatting and music. We do a lot of kids music in our car (you can find some that aren’t quite so obnoxious!), spending the first hour engaging the kids a bit that way helps pass the time very well for us!

3). Snacks!! When we do short trips we pack just an individual container for each, but for this long trip, I had a bag that just had lots of boxes/packages of snacks that I could put in individual plastic baggies (I had a full box in that bag too) so that I could easily mix up snacks for them whenever needed. We also carry extra large cups of water in front so we can refill theirs if needed- but remember more water equals more bathroom stops, so we try to regulate quite a bit!

4). When it’s time to stop, try to stop somewhere they can run a bit! A McDonald’s play place for lunch, or if you pack lunches then a rest stop where they can eat and play on a playground for a while. It is a great way for them to work out just a bit of energy, and maybe enough enough for a quick nap in the car.

5). We don’t really do a lot of electronics time (but our kids are still pretty young), but we have bought them cheap kids tablets for long car trips. So usually after lunch, and after we try to keep quiet for a nap for our youngest, we usually relent the last 1.5 or 2 hours of a long drive like this and let them play games or watch a few videos on their tablets.  We don’t use them at restaurants or really at home, and that makes them extra special and exciting when they get them on road trips like this.  2 was necessary for us- they don’t do well sharing 1!

I hope these are helpful! They may be no brainers for some, but they have developed for us over time and have turned into a decently well oiled machine!  That being said…next time we travel, if we can bring a niece or nephew to help…we’ll still take them! 😉

(And for fun, a photo I loved from the trip. Sorry, Michael!! :))