Road Trip Ruminations

I just ran across this half-finished post, taken from a letter I wrote to an online friend asking about road trips with a toddler. It's a little old, but I thought I'd put it on here anyway, for my own reference as much as anyone else's! Any other good toddler car trip tips?

I just got back from my first cross-country road trip, 25 weeks pregnant, withmy 2 year old Jed. I traveled with my mother in law, 16 hours the first day and8 the second on the way there, a similar schedule on the way back.

I did pretty much everything mentioned thus far except we don't have a DVD player. I was really surprised how much time we could use through the flat, boring midwest looking out the window for cows and trains and trucks. We sang "wheels on the bus" and "abcs" like ten thousand times and he loved it (usually he doesn't get into songs much yet, but in a quiet, enclosed place it was surprisingly fun.)

I bought a five dollar "preschool" kids activity book full of pictures of farms and animals and such at Walmart. He'd never had anything like that before. I didn't let him see it until the trip and he LOVED scribbling on the pages and looking at all of the animals. That book alone occupied several hours. I saved it until later in the day when he was more cranky. Ditto the sticker idea (dollar store animal stickers, or even just the colored dots for garage sales) We also did a lot of drawing on his little whiteboard (washable markers, clean with wet wipes or a damp washcloth), which is usually a church-only special toy so that made it exciting. Also, pipe cleaners are fun to make animals, shapes, jewelry, hoops, etc. out of.

I brought a little handmade flannel "treasure bag" (about 5"x5" square with a handle)that occasionally I would fill up with various little toys (small animals, cars, coins, stuffed toys, snacks, whatever). Nothing fancy or new, but just the idea of fresh toys and pulling them out of the bag was novel enough. I would also pick up plastic spoons, straws, tourist pamphlets, etc. at stops along the way to put in as treasures.

I brought an extra large cookie sheet that fit across his car seat that he could use as a desk, drawing board, sorting tray, or snack tray. It was a HUGE lifesaver and I would never travel without it again! He loved sorting his treasures on it. Next time I'm investing in some cheap magnets and bolts and such to play with on it, too. Having a little desk made him much more self sufficient and saved my pregnant back from bending down and around the seats to pick up things every three minutes.

I did buy some packaged "junk" food that was special and exciting for him for later in the day. 100% fruit juice in a juice box with a straw was like the most thrilling thing ever for him. I froze them and admit I ate a few myself, so cool and tasty after hours and hours of travel! Corn nuts, vegetable chips, raisins, nuts, homemade muffins, whole wheat bagels with cream cheese, even afew Gogurts (SUCH a hit) etc. Snacking took up a large amount of time and he loved sorting the food on his tray.

I brought a little ball to throw around at rest stops along the way. He loved that. Also, small pillows and blankets for everyone. Lots of hide and peek going on across Kansas.

I second the disposable diapers. We use cloth at home but a long trip is a whole different game.

We did have a real problem when he refused the sleep the whole first day, then took a short nap, then stayed up ALL NIGHT hyper from all the change and exhaustion. The way home, I tried a different tack. We woke up early, did alot of running around at stops, and then after an early afternoon stop we had a little talk about "quiet time" and how everyone was going to be quiet and rest and not talk and he should take a nap. We got in, I gave him a little snack, a blanket, and a stuffed kitty. His grandma and I went in the front seat and plugged in our ipods and didn't talk to each other or him for a little while. Turned the blower on high for white noise. And, much to my shock, he actually went right to sleep. So that might be helpful.

I pack an "overnight bag" that had just the things we would need at the hotel -- pajamas, toothbrush, books, etc. If you could afford it, I would totally pay extra for a hotel with an indoor pool to go unwind in. Especially since you're taking a couple days to make the trip. The first night of our trip I didn't factor in how important decompression would be. The second time, we did the whole at-home wind down, including exploring the room, hot bath, warm milk, favorite books, snuggling, stuffed animals go night night, etc. and our night was immeasurably better.

Wow, this ended up being really long, but I've been wanting to get this all written down for my own benefit, anyway. I've done a lot of flying with my toddler in the past, and feel like Jed and I have an awesome flying routine down. Now that we can't afford it, though, learning how to car trip was a whole new experience. Good luck and I hope hope hope you have so much fun!