One of the best experiences that your children can remember is those trips that you do in their childhood. Even if they are young, they can still appreciate these instances where they see you have fun outside of home. And if we’re talking about travels, the most doable one would be road trips.
It can either be a short duration trip when you’re visiting family or a longer one with a specific destination in mind. Regardless, the time being inside the car is a perfect opportunity to build a stronger bond with your kids. However, because they are kids, you have to do some extra preparations and other tasks for your rv trip.
Below are three steps that have to do before any road trip. Trust us, even if they seem simple, they can save you from the stress that’s bound to happen with younger kids. Kids are cute, but they are also a combination of energy and mood swings compressed in a tiny body. So other than getting them strapped in the best 3 in 1 car seat, we also wrote some hacks that will make the car ride easier and safer for everyone inside.
Pack Smartly
Pack smartly and ahead of time. But in order to do this efficiently, you have to consider a lot of things. These include the age of your children, the duration of the trip, and the activities for the trip. The age of your children matters because different age groups have different necessities.
For example, if you have a baby, you may want to start shopping for combo models of car seats. During the road trip itself, your baby will need the proper rear-facing seat. Babies are generally easier to travel with compared to older children. They can’t really throw temper tantrums and sing a cartoon theme song for hours. However, they are very dependent, and they need help in basic things such as sitting and walking.
The second factor would be the duration of the trip, and this is where you can apply the “pack smartly” tip. What we mean by this is you have to only pack things correlated to how long you’d be gone. No more and no less, you should also bring everything that will make the car ride bearable for children. Children have a lot of energy that needs to be utilized, or else everyone in the car has to keep them stimulated.
Lastly, where is your intended destination? This can include your final stop and even the roads that you will drive through. If the area that you’ll be driving through for a long time has no gas stops, make sure you’ll bring everything that you’ll need for this duration.
Bring Distractions
As we have mentioned earlier, different kids are bound to have different requests. This is something that you must expect and should be prepared for before getting everyone buckled in. It might sound like a bad advice, but if you are on a car with understimulated energy balls, you have to get them distracted.
You can pack snacks and toys to keep your children from realizing the duration of the trip. Remember that keeping young children sitting still in a confined space is just asking for tantrums and frustrations. However, this is easily manageable if they get to have things to do.
For snacks, opt for those that would not trigger motion sickness or diarrhea. You should also keep the sugar content at the right amount. Otherwise, you’re just fueling your children instead of getting them tired.
Simple toys or any form of entertainment can also easily banish boredom. You can even make activity bags or wrap each toy to keep your children engaged. Each bag can have a specific theme, and you can give the toy gifts as a reward for small events throughout the ride.
Plan in Advance
Other than packing what you’re bringing, you should also plan the road trip in advance. This means checking the weather and doing your research about the places and roads that you’ll drive through. This way, you can schedule snack and bathroom breaks. Maybe you can also find places to add in your itinerary for the children to use their crammed energy in.
– Road Trip Hacks –
Travel at Night or Early in the Morning
It might seem redundant to keep saying this, but children need something to put their energy into. If it is impossible for you to have stops during the road trip, you can “hack” your way to a peaceful car ride using your child’s body clock.
You can set your drive during night time or even early in the morning. During these times, children are less active and are more likely to fall asleep. Traveling this early can also be beneficial for the trip itself since you’re avoiding the rush hours and traffic. However, just make sure that whoever is driving also gets his/her rest. And of course, don’t forget to check your children’s seats like the ones in this article about car seats for 4-year-olds.
Dodge the Are We There Yet Question
Remember our tip earlier about distractions? Well, another way of surviving fussy children is dodging the “Are we there yet?” question. It might not seem like the logical thing to do, but if you think about it, it’ll work. You see, the more you interact with kids, the more that they’d want to continue interacting with you.
You can give your children tasks and rewards throughout the trip to keep them occupied. When they asked that question, you can try asking them to guess. However, this keeps the children engaged, so some parents create simple penalties every time their kids act up.
Let Your Kids Indulge Just This Once
Another nice hack is to give your children things that they otherwise wouldn’t get as easily on other days. For example, you can give your kids higher servings of their favorite candy. But of course, be mindful of their sugar content. You can also increase their screen time with gadgets during the trip. The fact that they are allowed to some things that they’re usually very limited to can keep them blissful during the drive.
Have Someone in the Backseat with the Kids
If you’re the driver, you can also make the trip a tad more comfortable and safer if an adult supervises in the back seat. Sure, your kid might be in the perfect car seat for 6-year-old, but having extra guidance with them will keep them safer. Not to mention, it will also prevent you from getting distracted and looking at the rearview mirror instead of the road. Other than age-appropriate car seats, adult supervision also works best for safety.
