Roadtrip With A Toddler!

01/14/2013

This weekend we went to the big town light of Wynyard Saskatchewan. We traveled with our 22 month old, in potty training toddler. I have to admit I was feeling very anxious before we left. You hear some serious nightmares about kids being brats on road trips. I actually think I remember being about 7 and taking a road trip across the country with my parents and my 3 siblings and I being irritating. My mom has the patience of a Saint I believe.

When I’m anxious, I prepare and prepare for the worst. This I believe paid off more then the satisfaction of just being over prepared. The trip out wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We spent about 8 hours on the road if you start from when we initially left the house and not when we had to go back for my glasses or my husband’s shoes. Here is what I prepared:

Snacks

Portioned into little ziploc containers so they are easy to give in a hurry. I got a variety of snacks because we know toddlers. I did bring apples, bananas and pears, but was the only one that ate them. That’s okay. They were available at least. 2 sippy cups. One with milk of course and the other one empty. We were at about hour 7 and all she wanted was some of my iced tea. So, instead of a mess, into the spill proof sippy cup it went and smiles! Fruit snacks and raisins are a big favorite so they came along too.

Activities

Books, coloring book with crayons, wet draw pad, iPad with downloaded shows and games, stickers, pipe cleaners and for when it started getting dark, glow sticks. These were a pretty big hit. I also found these little felt boards with shapes, and cut some additional ones. I put it in a folder to keep the pieces together.

I caved and bought some pull-ups for the road trip and I have to say I am thankful for that. It was already a long trip and when we hit traffic on the Yellowhead in Edmonton (shocker!), she had an accident but its wasn’t a huge deal. She did know she peed but it wasn’t a huge ordeal to change her. I am happy to report she only had one more accident in her pull up, again in traffic otherwise she peed in gas stations and the Mc’Donalds in Llyodminister! Hooray!

When we did stop I made sure to let her run around as much as possible and when we reached our destination let hr play until she nearly fell over, even if it meant being up until 10 p.m

On the way back she was a little grumpier, but that could also be because she was up late at the wedding the night before. I do however suggest some different toys/activities and snacks for the way back. She did seem to get bored faster, most likely from playing everything to death on the way out.

Overall I”m glad we traveled with her, because she had a lot of fun at the wedding and so did we. I even got this great family picture out of it. 🙂