Aren’t holidays the best thing ever?
When you go on road trips with babies and toddlers things tend to get a bit more complicated and unpredictable. The last thing you want is a car full of fussing toddlers or unsettled babies.
How can you prepare for a tension-free road trip with your babies and toddlers?
Mothercraft nurse Chris Minogue talks about managing an upcoming holiday so everyone can have a great time in the car.
When is the best time to leave?
A mother with a baby and toddler asks, “We’re travelling for three hours this Easter in the car,” she says. “We have a three-year-old and a six-month-old baby. When is the best time to leave for the happiest trip?”
The best time for families to leave for a road trip is during the afternoon, when your baby is close to their regular afternoon nap/sleep.
Chris states, “I would go within the sleep time phase, a six-month-old usually has their sleep around 1 pm. I would put them in the car then.”
This is a win-win solution: your baby gets their needed sleep while you can enjoy a little break and a quiet trip.
How to keep your baby calm after they wake up?
This is another question Chris gets asked by a lot of parents. She offers distraction as a potential solution – “it’s easy to distract your toddler with different activities.”
A few great tricks you can try are:
- Bring their favourite toy on the road. It should keep them busy and properly entertained for a while.
- Play engaging and entertaining songs. You can sing them together and have a blast!
- Be creative with packing your road trip snacks. For example, you can easily turn the trip into a treasure hunt with healthy snacks as prizes for identifying the correct destinations.
- For slightly older children, you can also try some fun road trip games. You can create an easy-to-follow map for them ahead of time. They can follow it and try to guess your next destinations. Be as creative as possible!
When planning for your road trip let your creative juices flow. Parents, you know your children better than anyone else, so besides all these tips and tricks, you ultimately know what would work best with your child.
Get creative, plan ahead and hit the road!
