Travel Made Easy
My family and I do a lot of traveling in our day to day. We do more traveling in our daily trips and events on the weekend than we do actually traveling out to a new place. We are a busy family of four, and we try to make our trips as easy and (tear-free) as possible.
Anytime we travel in the car, I make sure I have essentials packed and ready to be used at any time - diapers, wipes, burp cloths, bottles, extra formula, etc. These are the basics that we need whether we are going to the grocery store or going to be out of town.
Now, let's talk about some other things we use to make our traveling more smooth with a 2 year old and 3 month old. First, my toddler is currently potty "learning", and to help her in that process, we try to set her up for success no matter where we are. For this reason, I keep a small backpack in the car which holds extra clothes, shoes (I use Crocs/Natives) because they are easy to clean!
I also like to keep some potty items in the car too - you can read about that here
I try to pack my own snacks to keep everyone happy, but getting snacks/meals comfortably to my kiddo in the back is a challenge. I ended up getting this car seat tray, and it's one of the best inventions ever
I can fill it up and sit it in her car seat for her to eat off of, and it still allows you to use the cup holder portion.
I always keep jackets, blankets, an extra "lovey", so that naps aren't hard to accomplish. I also us the Baby Shusher a lot in our lives, but mostly in the car.
I keep a stroller in the back, and I use a baby changing mat in the back of the car for quick changes.
We prefer to use cups that are Spill Proof, and for the age and development of my daughter, we really like the Owala cups - Owala Straw, Owala Water Bottle with Straw
I keep a basket in the backseat for my toddler to use books, small toys or busy books. This works great, but we do also use tablet time when we are in the car. I don't expect my toddler to ride for long periods of time without something to watch or interact with. We actually really like the Amazon Fire Table for Kids, but I know people have mixed reviews. I will say it is not the MOST user friendly, but any person into tech can easily figure it out. I also purchased an extra long charging cable for the tablet so I could plug it in while it was running. This prevents the need for me to have to stop the car and fix the tablet when it suddenly dies and a full meltdown ensues. Hey, you do what you have to do, right!
These are a few things that help us immensely when we are on the road, and we save many tantrums because of these practices. Hope this helps organize your space, too!
Here is a comprehensive list of everything I talked about in this post
