The Travelling with Kids Survival Guide

Our kids—we love them with all our hearts, but they can certainly get on our nerves sometimes. Their combination of curiousness, energy, and unpredictability can be charming, but it can also be a disaster waiting to happen under the right (or should we say wrong?) circumstances. Take a long road trip, for example. Kids are naturally impatient, and them feeling like their trapped for hours in a car can certainly lead to outbursts and other extreme behavior that can drive you crazy. So before you face endless “Are we there yet?” questions, know that a fun and stress-free road trip with your little ones is very much possible. All it takes is a few precautions and the right preparations. Here is our travelling with kids survival guide:

Have an itinerary

Map out your route and identify the best places to take a stop. Your kids to ask for a bathroom break often, so you need to prepare for one every 45 to 60 minutes. It’s important to give yourself plenty of time for stops—expect to turn a four-hour ride into a six-hour one, or maybe more. Though it may take longer, it can be more helpful for your sanity. You can alternate between short stops and long stops to give everyone a good leg-stretch and take the necessary personal timeout.

Talk to your kids

At least 24 hours before the trip, talk to your kids about the trip to let them know what’s going to happen and what to expect. Tell them how long the trip is going to last, that they need to behave themselves during the entire trip, and that you are not going to tolerate any bad attitude from them. Even if talking to them ends up not making much of a difference, it’s still worth a shot.

Check the car and the weather

It’s best not to have any unwanted surprises during the trip, such as car troubles or bad weather making the trip impossible. Have the car checked out at your favorite auto shop and let them know that you’re going on a lengthy trip so they’ll know what to check. On the day of your travel, listen to weather forecasts before you embark, and if extremely bad weather is announced, you may want to cancel the trip altogether. You don’t really need that much added stress in your trip when you’re traveling with young, impatient kids.

Safety first

Before you put the car in gear, make sure your kids are wearing their seatbelts properly. Pack basic car safety equipment, such as an early warning device, tire wrench, spare tire, jumper cables, and flashlight. Have a first aid kit as well in case of injury. Pack a potty in the unfortunate event that your little one can’t hold it in until the next stop. And don’t forget your phone charger. Make sure you’ve slept well before you travel, so you won’t suffer from drowsiness at some point. It can help if your children are well-rested before the trip too, as they won’t be as irritable as when they don’t.

Bring snacks

As a parent, you know that eating can be a great tool for distraction. You should keep sweets minimal though, as getting your kids sugared up can make them hyper, which is something you do not want. Pack healthy foods such as fruits, pretzels, granola bars, toast, cheese and crackers, and rice pudding. Pack plenty of water, too.

Have a bagful of entertainment tricks

Put together a bag of small toys before your trip. Choose those that your kids haven’t used in a while so they may seem ‘new’ and they’ll enjoy playing with them longer. And don’t forget their favorite toy. If your car has a DVD system, or if you have a portable DVD player, you can use it to play their favorite TV show or movie. Entertainment system not that advanced? Then perhaps you can make do with their favorite songs. Make a playlist of their favorite tunes and prepare yourself to hear them over and over again until your ears bleed.

Don’t feel the need to entertain them the entire trip

You don’t want to put all your focus into keeping your kids occupied, otherwise you could end up drained of energy at the end of the day or worse, drive distracted. Don’t start out the trip entertaining them, as they might expect that same level attention for the entire ride. Use your entertainment tricks for when you really need it, and once you’ve given them something to entertain themselves, leave them alone and concentrate on your driving. Don’t give it to them all at once though—give them a toy at first, and switch it up with an hour of music, then an hour of TV after that, and back again. Let the kids have their quiet time if needed.

Practice utmost patience

Avoid stressing yourself too much. You’ll most likely have a moment (or a dozen) where you’ll want to freak out and scream, but you must dig deep and find that extra gallon of patience inside you to keep your cool. Take a deep breath, regain your sense of humor, and know that this too, shall pass.