I just got back from a week-long stay at my in-law’s house down near the central coast. I knew a 5-hour road trip with a toddler and an infant was going to be tough, and that’s exactly what it was. We hit the road at 9:00 am. Things were going fairly well aside from our Jack Russell Terrier annoying the crap out of me by nervously panting nonstop. Then things really fell apart. Our 2-1/2-year-old was sound asleep but then suddenly woke up and started throwing up everywhere. I was not prepared for that at all! We pulled over onto a gravel road and tried to clean the car out as best as possible, tore apart our pristinely packed clothes to find another outfit to change our daughter into, and then hit the road once again. By this time our 4-month-old was screaming his head off, our dog was really worked up, and there was a lovely smell of sour milk (vomit) in the air as well as a couple flies flying around that had hitched a ride while we were stopped. Stressful! We drove another hour and a half to Carmel, CA to stop at the beach. We spent at least a half-hour looking for a parking space while our daughter whined about having to pee. We eventually were able to empty our bladders, fill up our tummies with the picnic lunch I had packed, and de-stress by digging our toes into the beautiful white sand while listening to the crashing of the waves on the beach. Fast forward to 5:00 pm, we finally made it to our destination. I learned a lot during our road trip down the coast and made sure I was prepared for anything and everything during our drive home.
The Barefoot Brunette’s Road Trip Packing Essentials For Young Children:
– A change of clothes for each child that is easily accessible
– Lots of baby wipes
– Travel potty for when there is no bathroom near
– A snack bag (trail mix, pretzels, popcorn, fruit, juice pouches, water, and even candy for those really desperate situations)
– Travel-friendly entertainment like this, this, and these
– A bag for trash
As for our nervous dog, on our drive back we gave her 25 mg of Benadryl to calm her down, which worked like a charm. We had previously given her Benadryl under the direction of our vet to help with her terrible allergies (as opposed to steroid creams/sprays/pills) so we knew she would be okay.
We have another road trip coming up just 2 months from now in October. We will be stopping at the in-law’s once again for a few days and then travel a couple more hours south for a 4-day stay at Disneyland! I will definitely be applying my travel tips during our next trip to help it go more smoothly.
Do you have any other travel tips that may be helpful for a fairly new mom like myself? Comment below!
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