Road Trip Traveling Hacks with Little Kids

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Before having kids, the open road was all about freedom and the anticipation of discovering new places, pulsing with the promise of creating unforgettable memories.

My husband and I went on a lot of road trips before kids. It was a good trip as long as we had snacks, some good music, and each other.

After having kids, road trips became much more complex than I imagined. Our first kid has always been a decent traveler, but we had to be very strategic even with a good traveler.

Now that we have a toddler and a baby, I knew I had to step up my game.

We recently went on a 4.5-hour road trip to stay at a seaside cottage with my husband’s parents, sisters, and their families. That’s a long time for a 3.5-year-old and a 9-month-old to spend in the car.

But we had a genuinely good time on the road trip. I had to do some extra prep before going, but it was worth it. The best part is that many of these things can also work with older children, so we’ll continue to do them as they grow.

But young children unquestionably come with a unique set of challenges.

The Challenges of Traveling with Small Children

There are challenges when traveling with kids of all ages, but small children have a particular set of challenges.

Keeping them entertained can be tricky, especially if you have a high-energy kid like me.

If we can’t keep him entertained, he’ll eventually wake the baby if he’s sleeping. That means a lot of crying and a miserable time for everyone.

This past summer, though, we’ve come across a new challenge. My oldest son stopped napping at 2.5 years old—right at the beginning of my pregnancy with baby #2.

Last summer, because I was at the end of the second trimester of a high-risk pregnancy, we didn’t do much traveling—a couple of short drives here and there, but nothing significant. So we didn’t notice this new issue.

This spring and summer, we went on a few trips, and the biggest challenge with Mr. 3.5 was that he was falling asleep in the car. For a lot of people, this sounds great.

But if you’re the parent of a low-sleep needs child, you know this is a disaster.

He’d nap the whole way, and no matter what we did, he’d be awake until 10 or 11 at night. And even then, getting him to sleep would be a struggle.

So far, the baby does well if sleeping in the car. But like I said, if he isn’t, it is a miserable drive. So, we needed to be strategic with how we planned the trip.

Planning Your Trip

It took a few trips with our oldest before we figured out how to plan a trip. The first thing we do is time our departure with the baby’s first nap.

Depending on the length of your trip, you may get away with one stretch while they sleep. We’ve done this many times, and it works well for us.

If you’ve got more than a couple hours of driving ahead of you, you’ve got to plan for some stops. So, on our 4.5-hour trip, stops were non-negotiable.

About 2.5 hours into the trip, we stopped for lunch at a nature center beside the ocean. It had a small café, a museum, a tall lookout, walking trails, and beach access.

It was the perfect place to get out and stretch our legs and help get my toddler’s energy out. There was lots to do, and my toddler had a great time.

For the trip’s second leg, we timed it with the baby’s second nap so he’d sleep the rest of the way.

Now, this makes for a long day of travel, but it was honestly such a pleasant trip that we didn’t mind.

Having the Right Music

Driving in a silent car can make a road trip feel twice as long. Having some music while on the road can make the trip much more enjoyable.

Making a kid-friendly road trip playlist can help reduce boredom on the road.

But if that seems like a lot of effort, I get it. I don’t have that kind of energy a lot of the time, either.

If you can take the time to get a playlist all set well ahead of time, you won’t need to worry about future trips.

But if you’re like me and your planning is a little more last minute, a subscription to SiriusXM radio can be a lifesaver!

Right now, you can get 3 months of in-car satellite radio for FREE. No credit card required. See Offer Details .

My son loves to sing, so having songs he already knows makes the road trip much more fun.

Surprise Bags

Goody bags were our saving grace on this trip. Like I said earlier, my son hasn’t napped in almost a year and a half.

So when he’s falling asleep during even short trips, it’s a real problem. 10-11 pm bedtimes are not how we want to start a trip.

I was looking for a way to keep my son engaged and AWAKE on this drive.

While looking for ideas on Pinterest, I found a blog post about making surprise bags for her kids. Her kids were older, but as I read, I realized how easy it would be to adapt it for my toddler.

The idea is that you give your kids a surprise bag every so often while driving. What you put in there will depend on what your kids like and what will keep them entertained.

I did a toy or activity for my son and a small snack in each bag.

(Not everyone is comfortable giving snacks to small children in the car. That’s fair—there is an increased risk of choking. You may want to keep an anti-choking device, like LifeVac, handy to minimize anxiety.)

The surprise bags worked better than I expected! He was so excited and engaged he stayed awake the whole drive there.

His eyelids started looking heavy a couple of times, but when that happened, we moved the next bag up, and he perked right up.

Here’s what I put in the surprise bags to give you some ideas:

Snacks: We have no problem allowing treats—however, I looked for things that he’s rarely had or never had for the excitement factor.

• Fruit snacks-We don’t typically buy these, but he’s had them here and there. So I knew he’d like them and be excited.
• Peanut Butter Cups-He’s never had these, but he’s a chocolate and peanut butter fan. He loved them, of course.
• Oreos-This is something we don’t typically buy, so he was excited.
• Chips-I got one kind that I knew he liked, and one he’d never tried. Both were a hit.

Toys and Activities: I tried to find some things I knew he’d like and some things that were a little different.

• Conversation starter cards-This was by far the favorite. My son is at an age where he wants to have conversations, but he hasn’t quite figured out how to start a conversation or keep it going. I just looked up questions to ask a preschooler and found 20 that looked good. I did this in two bags, one on the way there and one on the way back. It was such a hit he asked to go through the questions several times!
• Small monster trucks-These were inexpensive and an easy win—he loves anything with a motor (even if it’s pretend).
• Fidget toy-This gave his hands something to do when he couldn’t move much else. He thought it was really fun.
• Squishy ball-This provided endless entertainment—in the car, and at the cottage! He played with this thing all week.
• Playdough-This one wasn’t as well received as I expected. He likes playing with Playdough at home but didn’t even want to get it out! I wasn’t too sad about this one, though. I didn’t think about the mess until after I’d bought it, probably for the best that he didn’t care about it.
• Notepad and pencil crayons-He likes drawing at home, and he used this a little bit, but I don’t think it was exciting enough.
• Slap bracelet-He loved this one but struggled to get it straightened out again, so I had to do it every time. If you’re looking for a toy or activity that will give you a bit of downtime, this isn’t it.
• Kids binoculars-He thought this was pretty cool, but they quickly lost their allure in the car.

This looks like an expensive list, but I got everything from our local Dollar Store. In total, it came to about $30. It was well worth the money!

Having Enough of the Right Snacks

Snacks were in all the surprise bags, but nothing in them would keep my son full. And I had no interest in dealing with a hangry toddler.

This is what we packed for him to keep him from getting too hungry between the treats:

• String cheese
• Cereal bars
• Fruit bars
• Granola bars

I wasn’t sure if he would eat anything but the junk, but he did.

And we needed stuff for us, too. This is what we had for us for easy snacks:

• Beef jerky
• Trail mix
• Granola bars

This was enough to keep us going between meals.

Having a Map

We haven’t tried this one yet, but I’m excited to! This was my husband’s idea, and we didn’t do it because we ran out of time before leaving.

But I think it’s a great idea, especially for a little kid who’s just learning about different places.

My husband will show him the way to where we’re going on Google Maps ahead of the trip, but having a map with our route highlighted where he can see it is such a great idea.

I can’t wait to do this one, and I was really sad we ran out of time!

Meals at your destination

Ok, so snacks are covered. But you can’t forget what you’ll eat when you reach your destination. Trying to figure something out or cook a big meal is stressful when traveling.

We were lucky that my lovely mother-in-law had supper ready for us when we got to the cottage, but we were on our own when we got home.

We’ve placed the standard pizza order before, but I never seem to have ordered it at the right time. It’s always later than we want, and we’re left waiting and hungry.

This time, I had a couple of frozen pizzas in the freezer. This was ok, but we’d had a lot of junk foods we don’t typically have on the trip, so we weren’t so excited about it.

Next time, I think having something like a HelloFresh subscription box would be helpful. If we’re already waiting for pizza to be made/arrive, then why not take the time to make a healthy meal? All the ingredients are pre-portioned, so you don’t have to use any brain power to make it.

But whatever you do, make sure you plan for something!

What I’d Do Differently Next Time

Besides the map and a HelloFresh meal, I’d do only one thing differently.

We weren’t bombarded on this trip with the typical “Are we there yet?” every five minutes. Instead, it was a constant chorus of “Is it time to open another bag?”

Apparently, they were such a big hit he couldn’t wait for the next one.

For this trip we told him how many more minutes until he could have the next bag. This helped but didn’t eliminate the questions.

I think next time, I will try to find a clock of some sort that I can put somewhere he can see. I’ll put little sticky tabs at the time of the next bag so he has a visual.

I have no idea if this will help the volume of questions, but it’s worth a shot!

Road Trip Traveling Hacks for the Win!

Road trips with little kids can be a daunting endeavor. It’s chaotic, to say the least.

But making memories is worth a little chaos. And if you can do a little planning beforehand, it doesn’t have to be so hard.

With kid-friendly road trip music, surprise bags, filling snacks, and a great place to stop, we made this road trip one of the best ones we’ve had since having kids!