Packing for a Road Trip with Babies and Toddlers

Summer is here and that means the season for road trips! (insert slow applause here) Everyone loves road trips, but sometimes packing for road trips with toddlers can get a little overwhelming and hectic. This past Mother’s Day weekend, the family and I traveled to Stanford University for the 44th Annual Stanford Powwow and Art Market. Palo Alto, CA is roughly a 6 hour drive from Reno. With that being said, this would be our first family road trip traveling more than a couple hours in the car. I knew that I had to be more than prepared for the trip with snacks, games, toys and patience – lots of patience (keeping in mind that she will more than likely sleep in the car more than half the time).

ROAD TRIP SNACKS

-fruit ( anything manageable in a moving vehicle we had grapes, strawberries and oranges )

– squeezables( homemade or store bought bring at least 6)

– milk/ formula , water, juice

– hard boiled eggs – her absolute favorite protein

-Cheerios, teddy grahams, goldfish, cheese-its etc

* a cooler for everything to chill in **

GAMES/TOYS FOR THE ROAD

– Her favorite doll is her Mowgli, but since we weren’t going to bring that on the trip in the chances it could get lost, we brought her Daddy and Mama dolls ( I got them from here.)

– Sensory play accessories (beads, necklaces, taggies blankets and oball rattles and etc. )

– Tablet with musical games /songs

– My iphone fully charged with her fisher price apps (she loves the animal sounds the best)

DIAPER BAG/TRAVELING BAG ESSENTIALS

-wipes ( lots of wipes, don’t skimp on this! )

-plastic grocery bags for trash

-blankets

-diapers (tons and tons)

-several changes in clothes (over emphasize the meaning several, anything can happen)

-2 different types of shoes (sandals and sneakers)

-changing mat/towel

The trip was a breeze thanks to everything we packed. Even though I thought I was being a little dramatic that usual when packing for our short trip I’m glad that I was. I was completely prepared for her every curve ball she threw at me during the trip. Best of all we survived. I don’t know if we will be able to do a longer trip that 6 hours anytime soon, but I will make sure that I repack everything on this list. I hope this list helps you all pack for your future/upcoming summer mini vacays! Let me know what you packed in for your road trip and what worked best.

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