Toddler Traveling Advice: How to Take Really Long Road Trips with Small Children

Advice from a Mom Who Traveled Over 1600 Miles with a 2 Year Old

My husband and I recently completed a long road trip with our 2 year old toddler and survived! We spent about 8 days traveling with the longest single drive lasting close to 12 hours.

How did we stay sane? How did our toddler make it?

Toddler Traveling Tips

1. Have patience! The most important thing for the adults in the car is to remember to have patience when traveling with small children. Yes, they may scream, cry and plead for your attention, but this article will give you tips for handling those outbursts.

2. Plan your trip in advance and try to keep any single day's worth of driving to less than 8 hours, if possible. If you're going on a family vacation and can afford to take an extra day or two, break up your drive into smaller pieces.

3. Try doing your longest drive at night when your small child can sleep in the car seat.

4. Schedule extra stops, especially at points of interest. Your toddler will need to get out of the car seat often to stretch his or her legs. Stopping at rest areas is definitely needed, but see if there are interesting state parks or other local attractions where you can stop for an hour or two. For example, plan on having lunch at a natural attraction like a waterfall or historic site along the way. These stops will provide a much needed break for everyone in the car.

5. Pack plenty of food and drinks. We like to keep a smaller cooler within reach of the adult riding shotgun. This small cooler should have drinks and snacks such as milk, water, cut-up fruits and veggies. Make sure you have snacks with protein for your toddler in an easy to reach location. Pre-make some sandwiches and have crackers or raisins readily available. In a larger cooler in the trunk you can store extra food and water for longer excursions.

6. Bring a portable DVD player and a variety of children's movies and cartoons. The DVD player will save your sanity! Be warned: toddlers love to watch the same movie over and over.