These top 5 tips for surviving a long road trip with kids will help keep you and your family sane on your next fun road trip!
This summer has been full of fun memories for our family. From days at the beach, to drives up to Disneyland and Great Wolf Lodge, to a road trip to Washington State, we’ve seen quite a bit of excitement. But being prepared for traveling with kids in the car has been something we’ve worked on. And surviving a long road trip with kids takes a bit of planning.
Since my daughter is newly potty trained the one thing we worried about when on the road with her is that she’d have to go #2 and not be able to tell us until we were too late and she got out of the car. Also, with the long 2 day ride to Washington State, we worried about how many stops we really needed to make and how many stops were just “fun” stops.
In preparation of our trip we decided to bit of research to make sure that we had a successful journey with three kids in the back seats. Since we’ve made this trek once before with our two older kid,s we kind of had an idea about what to expect. In an effort to make our next trip successful we wrote down a few things that helped us along the way.
Top 5 Tips for Surviving a Long Road Trip with Kids
Here are a few ways to keep your road trip fun and successful with young children:
1. Make sure to pack a potty –
We simply placed our Joovy Loo in the back of the car. That way if we needed to stop and there wasn’t a place to do so, we could just use the back of the van. This helped us a lot when my son was working on things and just needed to sit on something other than his car seat to help him along when he was little and it worked perfectly for our daughter as well.
It also gave us peace of mind when on long stretches of road. We didn’t have to worry about not being able to find a sanitary place to stop (my husband isn’t as adventurous as I am and doesn’t approve of a 2 year old relieving themselves on the side of the road unless it’s an absolute emergency… just wait till we go camping!).
Potty Kit Necessities to Bring:
- small portable potty
- potty covers
- disinfectant spray or wipes
- baby wipes
- accessible change of clothes/undies
2. Plan out frequent stops –
This won’t just give your child a chance to “try” to go potty but it will also give them a chance to stretch their legs and get a little energy out. By planning out where your next stop will be you might be able to quickly answer your children when they ask how long it will be until you arrive at your next stop. That’s much easier for them to handle then to say, “Oh, about 12 hours!”
You can also use pre-planned stops as points for conversation. By letting your children know what the next stop is, or giving hints to where your heading, you might be able to create a sense of excitement and adventure as you make your way through the trip.
We had fun picking out where we stopped and made sure to mix restaurants in with quick pit stops at gas stations. I also allowed the kids to pick out one “surprise” at each stop to make it more interesting to them as well. They sure did love the huge gas stations we found along the way filled with everything from fidget spinners to snacks to souvenir t-shirts.
Pit Stop Checklist:
- Did everyone try to go potty?
- Do we need to re-load on snacks or water?
- Did we take all of our trash out?
- Do we need to change clothes?
3. Create a fun pack filled with games and activities –
By creating a fun pack filled with new-to-you toys, activities focused on the age level of your child, and games the children can play in the car you can create distractions and, hopefully, reduce the amount of, “Are we there yet?” questions from the back seat. Surviving a long car trip with kids is no fun when they don’t have anything to do IN the car.
Figure out some fun games you want to play with your child on the road. Consider simple ideas like finding an object of a certain color, finding a certain letter of the alphabet, or, depending on where your driving, looking out for different animals! By making the ride fun and entertaining itself, your child will be less likely to complain about being in the car and more excited.
We brought our fun activity backpack and filled it with the following:
- Crayola Color Wonder note pads with marker
- mini magna doodle
- magnifying glass
- cars, dinosaurs, and planes
- a stuffed animal for each child
- books about where we were traveling to
Another great distraction for the older kids is a portable DVD player or tablet that already has their favorite games and movies downloaded. We grabbed a copy of The Lion King and Disney’s Star Wars Rebels: Season 3 (both out on Blu-ray August 29th) to keep our kids entertained on the trip. it helped to have both a movie and a tv series because we could switch from the longer movie for longer stretches of travel and the shorter episodes of Disney’s Star Wars Rebels while we went through smaller stretches or in between playing other games in the car.
Pro Tip: Finding fun crafts to go along with the movies you select are also fun! Check out these awesome Lion King crafts by clicking the button below:
4. Find a great local attraction to visit –
Take a look at a map and find a great middle point between your home and your destination. Are there any fun, quirky activities you can stop and do in between? Maybe a museum or a historical monument. By maping out a spot or two on the way to your destination you can talk with your children about what you might see, what they would like to do, and how you will spend your time at the next spot.
You can also use these stops as teaching opportunities. By learning a bit about the spot beforehand you can tell your child about the history behind the attraction as well as why it’s such an interesting stop on your journey. Surviving a long road trip with kids takes a bit of planning when it comes to local attractions but there are sure to be some gems along your route!
Local Attractions Do’s and Dont’s:
- Do – take the time to explore and learn about where you’re stopping
- Don’t – spend all day unless already scheduled
- Do – consider free or in-expensive pit stops that take an hour tops
- Don’t – forget that delicious bakeries and restaurants can be considered local attractions too!
5. Make Sure The Kids Are Safe And Comfortable
When traveling with young kids, it’s important to remember that while we want our kids to be comfortable, we also need them to be safe too. I have 3 kids in 3 different types of car seats right now. My 2 year old is in a 5 point harness, my 6 year old just transitioned out of her 5 point harness into a high back booster, and our 8 year old has now transitioned into a regular booster seat.
To make things easier on us and allow all of these car seats to fit, we brought along the new mifold we received so that our son could easily transition from our van to my family’s car up in Washington State when we arrived. mifold is more than 10 times smaller than a regular booster seat and is just as safe. The foam padding technology provides extra comfort and stays cool, even on hot days. And since it was averaging about 80-90 degrees our whole trip, this was a huge relief for my son.
The mifold is convenient for parents for travel and road trips but it’s also great for carpooling, taxis/ubers, etc because it can literally fit in my son’s back pack. how awesome is that?
In addition to car seats, check out our Road Trip Safety Kit:
- first aid – includes bandages, first aid ointment, tweezers, scissors, and an ice pack
- every day medication – includes indigestion medicine, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and allergy medicine
- flash light
- jumper cables
- roadside assistance kit
- 1 gallon water
What are your best travel tips for surviving a long road trip with kids?
Love what you read? Find more great travel articles here:
- Road Trip Tips: Traveling with Baby
- Top 10 Essentials when Traveling with Dogs
- Road Trip with Kids Survival Tips
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Hey Danielle,
Great tips you have here. My kids are 6 months and 27 months old, and we are a little bit hesitant to travel but I know we just have to get out there and do it. We’re looking to plan a trip in December and this list will be very useful. I love the idea of stopping somewhere on the way to see a local attraction, and you have a lot of great ideas for keeping kids busy in the car. I will be trying these out!
Definitely some great ideas. Very important to keep them entertained!
We are traveling now and I think it would be perfect to have now!
Great tips. We have to travel on occasion to visit family out of state. We’re looking at a 16 hour drive in November for my brother-in-law’s wedding. Believe me, we will be packing a potty!
What great tips. We are doing a road trip soon so this will be very useful!
I agree, great tips. A potty is a must for long car rides with little kids. Some kids (and adults) can’t go at the side of the road, even if they want to.
Great Tips..I also bring the Wet Wipes!
Great tips! As mom to two toddlers, being prepared for road trips makes such a huge difference!
I would not have even thought of bringing the potty! What great tips!
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these are some really great tips! thank you for sharing. I hope to do another road trip to chicago sometime and i will have to keep these handy because the last time we went he wasn’t potty training.