My mother-in-law and I, around christmas time, had this bright idea to take a road trip first to North Carolina, to visit my parents, then up to Vermont to visit her eldest son and his family. With a two year old. and a elderly relative. and a ten year old boy. and a six month pregnant me.
mmmmmkkkk.
So! 3,659 miles later, here I am, Rachel Flores, reporting back on my thoughts on traveling with a toddler. I think I get to have some say.
What Worked:
First, best toy award.
I got this sucker for ten bucks around black friday, saved it all the way to her birthday, she didn't play with it after her birthday, brought it on road trip, Gold! She liked to draw, she liked me to draw, review the alphabet, whatever. It was a definite time consumer.
2. Movies. Apps.
I'm not a big TV person, but lets get real, the poor kid is strapped on her bum for 15 hours, you gotta let her watch some Franklin and veggie tales. This was a another life saver. If you don't want to invest in new movies, (and on road trips, new is always good) use Red box, you can rent and return wherever you are in the country. Apps wise, I found some free applications on my IPOD for her, the most popular one was a kids radio that played kids songs ( twinkle twinkle, etc.) and you just listened to it, but she could press the buttons to choose her song. Helped her wind down.
3. The Tray
We used a kitchen serving tray to put over her car-seat, but they have nifty devices you can buy for their car seats that are lighter and probably safer too, but I didn't have time to order one. This way, she could color in new coloring books, hold the DVD player without it getting hot, even play play dough.
4. What was in my "bag"
I had a bag of just her toys kept at her feet. it held: markers, new coloring books, stickers, a few books, play dough, her leapfrog lap top, and any other little toys she got. Slow introducing was a huge factor. The stickers, the coloring book, the play dough, all was new, but I did'nt whip it all out at once. I saved new activities for when I could tell something new was needed, or it was a new day.
5. Drive thru toys
Maybe your want to picnic all the way, but come on. I know you stop for coffee. So take 20 extra seconds, swing by Burger King and pay 99 cent for that little toy. Ariella Held on to the two we got her the whole trip and it added just that extra "interest" factor that she needed to motivate her to get back in the car seat.
In Hindsight:
1. Make bedtime like normal bedtime.
The first night we tried to travel after dark, she cried for like a hour. off and on. So if you can stop, do. But the second time I knew we had to make it, so we stopped around seven, I had her brush her teeth and put on jammies and then we got in the car, read a book, and I tucked her in. I was also right next to her this time instead of front seat. She actually calmed down and slept and I think the slight "routine" Feel really helped.
2. Have a ball at rest stops
We where blessed to find one rest stop with a playground, but having a ball the last few times was handy to get her to start running around. And realize you gotta take those hour breaks for meals, for sakes. You can shift positions and move around in the car. the poor little things are strapped down pretty tight, so have grace.
3. Baby wipes and protein
Have baby wipes handy. for all things, they are gold. and I let Ariella snack throughout the whole day, because there was nothing else to do, it occupies her, and she would rather run at rest stops than eat. make sure you balance protein snacks with the occasional treats. But if you have gotten this far in this post, your a mom, you deal with this struggle on a daily basis. no need to preach to choir.
Overall we had tons of fun and Ariella did amazing, I was very proud of her. The night she kept crying she would cry for a little bit, the say "all done crying" while sniffiling and trying to stop, and the she would stop. She was trying to be a big brave girl! and she was.
now, to convince her that we are just going to the store, two miles away, not 2,000......
