Travelling Tips: Long Road Trip With Small Kids
Last month we took our first long road trip with our four young children. Some suggested we were a bit crazy others gave us applause. Now that it is all said a done I am happy our family of six took the leap and shared 5000 KM together in a 7 seater SUV. Our destination was Prince Edward Island in Canada, coming from Toronto Ontario it is approx 17 hr drive.
How do you break up a 17 hour trip and still get there with a smile? Wake up at 12 am to start the adventure. The night before we snuggled the kids in bed in comfy clothes that passed for morning stops. Once the alarm rang it was easy enough to snag each one from their warm beds and buckled them into the warm truck, complete with blanket’s and pillows. Water bottles were already filled and waiting for them and to-go bags of Cheerios were ready to share when they woke up. It wasn’t long before all four kiddies were back to sleep and I was one eyeing it trying to keep my hubby company (which didn’t last long before I too was out cold.) A few gas stops here and there before the sun even rose and we were already half way to PEI.
Besides the typical car games ( I spy ) and songs ( 99 of juice-boxes ) how do you keep sane on a long winding road trips? Here are a few tips I tweeted well on the road.
Being well prepared is so important for any trip with little ones. I always have enough snacks on hands to keep them satisfied. These are the times I break out the lollipops. Which brings me to remind you to stock up on baby wipes for those long trips. They are not only great for wiping sticky fingers and dirty faces they are great for quick messes and keep the kids busy polishing up their window sill. Why not play a game of shoe shine well on the road, with those baby wipes? Don’t forget the kids music or stories on CD, which even I love to listen too. But don’t forget to pack a little treat for you to mom, Chocolate anyone?
Spill it…What keeps you sane on long road trip with small kids?
Safe Travels!
Thanks for reading In R Dream!
We wake up extra early and put the kids in the van in their pj’s. This allows them to sleep for the first 3 – 4 hours of the drive. By the time they wake up, we’re ready for breakfast. We got to be seasoned pros with 3 under 5 and family visits (1600km) 3 – 4 times a year.
Those are great tips! WOW your house sounds as busy as ours 🙂
What a great experience !
Great tips,thank you.
These are very helpful. My son is still little and we have less than trustworthy vehicle so we haven’t done a long road trip yet. However, we travel it is useful to have a sippy cup, snack, book, wipes, diapers and a toy to keep him entertained,
Yes those are prefect for LO and travel! Thanks for swinging by.
Great tips Tammy! Having a cooler close by where the kids can reach it because my boys always always always get thirsty or hungry while we are driving. It cuts down on costs, too so you don’t have to stop and spend money you don’t have. 🙂
We’ve done tons of road trips with my girls. (They’re 6 and almost 5 now) They’re pretty good. We do have a DVD player that keeps them entertained, I also fill up their backpacks with new (usually dollar store) toys to keep them entertained and then tons of snacks. We usually have to stop a bunch of times since my oldest daughter has a teeny tiny bladder!
Filling a personalized backpack is a great tip!
We’ve done a lot of road trips with our girls (now ages 5, 3, and 5 months) because we live about 17 hours away from our families. We’ve already done it twice this year. Like you, I keep lots of snacks ready (though we didn’t do that as much this year). Music is great – we listen to a lot of songs or stories on CD in the truck. Our girls also had handheld Leapsters (video games) that they played a lot this year. In past years, they’ve also slept lots. We usually leave around 6 am. Oh, and when we stop, we stop for everything – gas, coffee, potty, snacks, and go again – so we only try to stop every three hours or so. 🙂
You are braver than I am. I have yet to venture furthur than 2 hours away with mine. The are we there yets drive me CRAZY.
kids can really surprise you sometimes, our boys love a good road trip and seem to act better the longer the ride lol great tips! chocolate is must!
I loved reading your tweets for travelling tip suggestions with your kids!
We play Travel Bingo – I print off sheets ahead of time and give each kid a clipboard.
My kids also love to play eye – spy, and despite my best efforts to explain that it is almost impossible to play when in a moving vehicle when you use outside items, it keeps them happy and occupied 🙂
Thanks for tweeting with me along the way. It was really fun!
I love that idea. Free printable and a clip board will be something I add to our road trips next time. Thanks!
You are very brave with 4 kids! We did 2500 km last year with 2! What kept us sane were the movies, and some toys. Great tips for wipes!!
Brave! Coffee and earplugs!!! 😉
Wow 12am! You are good to do this with 4 kids. I am not a night or early morning person maybe that’s why the longest we have driven is 8 hours lol! We usually prepare the day before so there is just the last minute items to put in the suitcases and we go! Thanks for the tips:)
Sounds like you guys had a fun and successful trip!! Those are great tips for keeping kids entertained and the same tips that we usually follow 🙂 Our built in DVD player is a must….always keeps the kids entertained. And like you mention, we also always let our kids explore at rest stops 🙂 They love it!
My little guy is little so I don’t have any tips yet. That being said, for us we like to listen to comedy CDs 🙂 Jeff Foxworthy is hilarious.