Your best “packing for a road trip” tips

[Anonymous]

I gave my kids separate snack bags with healthy and not healthy snacks, a juice box and a boxed chocolate milk. Told them they could eat it whenever they wanted, but they weren’t getting more. Allowed me to keep some level of control over what they are and gave them control over when they are.

Also, packing cubes dedicated to driving outfits and toiletries so you don’t have to lug in everything at hotels. Just keeps the kids driving stuff in their backpacks.

[Anonymous]

I would drive through the night. We did that to Massachusetts last year with 2 kids (3 and 7). All of us went to bed at 9. Got up at 12 and put them into the car. They slept until 7. We stopped for breakfast and play and then another couple hours to our destination. Dh and i traded off, one of us dozes while the other drives and we did one bathroom/gas stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep a roll of paper towels and some baby wipes in the car. I wouldn’t drive through the night. YOU be miserable. In this scenario. I’m assuming your spouse will be driving? You will get poor, broken sleep. Kids may or not sleep consistently. You’ll get there, kids will be ride awake ready for fun (but tired enough to be cranky and easily irritated). Spouse will crash into nearest bed, and you will be stuck exhausted and trying to entertain the kids. Oh, and it makes the car stink.

We will not drive through the night.
We’ll either split it into 2 days (but unloading for a night is not easy.) or we will leave at 4 AM… A respectable time… And drive through the day and arrive around 10 PM.

If your destination is only 12 hours away, it should not take you that long to drive. That's an additional 6 hours for gas/food/bathroom breaks!
And whoever is driving will be exhausted to the point of it being unsafe.

We stop 3x for 2 hours each to run, run, run so they’re completely tired when we drive again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep a roll of paper towels and some baby wipes in the car. I wouldn’t drive through the night. YOU be miserable. In this scenario. I’m assuming your spouse will be driving? You will get poor, broken sleep. Kids may or not sleep consistently. You’ll get there, kids will be ride awake ready for fun (but tired enough to be cranky and easily irritated). Spouse will crash into nearest bed, and you will be stuck exhausted and trying to entertain the kids. Oh, and it makes the car stink.

We will not drive through the night.
We’ll either split it into 2 days (but unloading for a night is not easy.) or we will leave at 4 AM… A respectable time… And drive through the day and arrive around 10 PM.

If your destination is only 12 hours away, it should not take you that long to drive. That's an additional 6 hours for gas/food/bathroom breaks!
And whoever is driving will be exhausted to the point of it being unsafe.

We stop 3x for 2 hours each to run, run, run so they’re completely tired when we drive again.

That's absurd, unnecessary, and dangerous. I hope no innocent person dies when your driver falls asleep at the wheel.

[Anonymous]

Wear earplugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep a roll of paper towels and some baby wipes in the car. I wouldn’t drive through the night. YOU be miserable. In this scenario. I’m assuming your spouse will be driving? You will get poor, broken sleep. Kids may or not sleep consistently. You’ll get there, kids will be ride awake ready for fun (but tired enough to be cranky and easily irritated). Spouse will crash into nearest bed, and you will be stuck exhausted and trying to entertain the kids. Oh, and it makes the car stink.

We will not drive through the night.
We’ll either split it into 2 days (but unloading for a night is not easy.) or we will leave at 4 AM… A respectable time… And drive through the day and arrive around 10 PM.

If your destination is only 12 hours away, it should not take you that long to drive. That's an additional 6 hours for gas/food/bathroom breaks!
And whoever is driving will be exhausted to the point of it being unsafe.

Huh? This is good for the driver also, because we stretch and take a break. How is this unsafe?

We stop 3x for 2 hours each to run, run, run so they’re completely tired when we drive again.

That's absurd, unnecessary, and dangerous. I hope no innocent person dies when your driver falls asleep at the wheel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep a roll of paper towels and some baby wipes in the car. I wouldn’t drive through the night. YOU be miserable. In this scenario. I’m assuming your spouse will be driving? You will get poor, broken sleep. Kids may or not sleep consistently. You’ll get there, kids will be ride awake ready for fun (but tired enough to be cranky and easily irritated). Spouse will crash into nearest bed, and you will be stuck exhausted and trying to entertain the kids. Oh, and it makes the car stink.

We will not drive through the night.
We’ll either split it into 2 days (but unloading for a night is not easy.) or we will leave at 4 AM… A respectable time… And drive through the day and arrive around 10 PM.

If your destination is only 12 hours away, it should not take you that long to drive. That's an additional 6 hours for gas/food/bathroom breaks!
And whoever is driving will be exhausted to the point of it being unsafe.

We stop 3x for 2 hours each to run, run, run so they’re completely tired when we drive again.

That's absurd, unnecessary, and dangerous. I hope no innocent person dies when your driver falls asleep at the wheel.

Huh? This is good for the driver also, because we stretch and take a break. How is this unsafe?

We stop 3x for 2 hours each to run, run, run so they’re completely tired when we drive again.

[Anonymous]

I don't see this being an issue. We drive 15 hours straight to south florida several times a year. We actually leave at like 7am because we aren't morning people. We only stop for bathroom breaks. I have sandwiches all made up, cut vegetables to snack (note- cut peppers stain! My kids ruined their clothes once on mini bell peppers). Tons of drinks and snacks. Our 1 year old is a bit more trouble and needs more entertainment. The older 2 get ipads and we don't hear from them the entire ride.

DH and I switch off about every 4 hours and we love to listen to books on tape. It's a pretty enjoyable drive. Nothing hellish like flying with 3 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep a roll of paper towels and some baby wipes in the car. I wouldn’t drive through the night. YOU be miserable. In this scenario. I’m assuming your spouse will be driving? You will get poor, broken sleep. Kids may or not sleep consistently. You’ll get there, kids will be ride awake ready for fun (but tired enough to be cranky and easily irritated). Spouse will crash into nearest bed, and you will be stuck exhausted and trying to entertain the kids. Oh, and it makes the car stink.

We will not drive through the night.
We’ll either split it into 2 days (but unloading for a night is not easy.) or we will leave at 4 AM… A respectable time… And drive through the day and arrive around 10 PM.

If your destination is only 12 hours away, it should not take you that long to drive. That's an additional 6 hours for gas/food/bathroom breaks!
And whoever is driving will be exhausted to the point of it being unsafe.

We stop 3x for 2 hours each to run, run, run so they’re completely tired when we drive again.

That's absurd, unnecessary, and dangerous. I hope no innocent person dies when your driver falls asleep at the wheel.

Huh? This is good for the driver also, because we stretch and take a break. How is this unsafe?

We stop 3x for 2 hours each to run, run, run so they’re completely tired when we drive again.

It's not the stretch and break that's unsafe. it's the fact that you draw out your trip to 18 hours in one day. Staying awake and behind the wheel from 4 am to 10 pm is unsafe.

If you really need to get there in one day, the breaks should be shortened. Three 1 hour breaks is plenty.

[Anonymous]

We packed smaller bags with toiletries and one day's change of clothes for an overnight stay near Savannah. It made the drive more bearable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep a roll of paper towels and some baby wipes in the car. I wouldn’t drive through the night. YOU be miserable. In this scenario. I’m assuming your spouse will be driving? You will get poor, broken sleep. Kids may or not sleep consistently. You’ll get there, kids will be ride awake ready for fun (but tired enough to be cranky and easily irritated). Spouse will crash into nearest bed, and you will be stuck exhausted and trying to entertain the kids. Oh, and it makes the car stink.

We will not drive through the night.
We’ll either split it into 2 days (but unloading for a night is not easy.) or we will leave at 4 AM… A respectable time… And drive through the day and arrive around 10 PM.

If your destination is only 12 hours away, it should not take you that long to drive. That's an additional 6 hours for gas/food/bathroom breaks!
And whoever is driving will be exhausted to the point of it being unsafe.

we always switch every 3 hours- that is before the driver gets tired and so no-one gets so tired out from driving that they just crash.

- we stop off at B& N when we see them b/c they usually have coffee and clean restrooms and bookstores in general make us happy. Pack a lot of fruit and hydrating snacks but maybe also something fun? When I was a kid MCdonalds was only for road trips, I've kept that tradition- we only eat potato chips and fast food on road trips and it makes teh kids pretty happy- so maybe pick a special road trip only treat b/c if grandparents are there you'll probably be doing this a lot. . Also- for a 2 year old something like a Tonie box is amazing- my toddler both listens to the stories/songs with her little headphones on (she is oddly proud of them) and plays with the figurines. We also listen to a few audiobooks that everyone will like or wow in the world type podcast that will keep us and the kids entertained.

[Anonymous]

Emesis bags (order on Amazon) - perfect for car barfs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep a roll of paper towels and some baby wipes in the car. I wouldn’t drive through the night. YOU be miserable. In this scenario. I’m assuming your spouse will be driving? You will get poor, broken sleep. Kids may or not sleep consistently. You’ll get there, kids will be ride awake ready for fun (but tired enough to be cranky and easily irritated). Spouse will crash into nearest bed, and you will be stuck exhausted and trying to entertain the kids. Oh, and it makes the car stink.

We will not drive through the night.
We’ll either split it into 2 days (but unloading for a night is not easy.) or we will leave at 4 AM… A respectable time… And drive through the day and arrive around 10 PM.

If your destination is only 12 hours away, it should not take you that long to drive. That's an additional 6 hours for gas/food/bathroom breaks!
And whoever is driving will be exhausted to the point of it being unsafe.

we always switch every 3 hours- that is before the driver gets tired and so no-one gets so tired out from driving that they just crash.

- we stop off at B& N when we see them b/c they usually have coffee and clean restrooms and bookstores in general make us happy. Pack a lot of fruit and hydrating snacks but maybe also something fun? When I was a kid MCdonalds was only for road trips, I've kept that tradition- we only eat potato chips and fast food on road trips and it makes teh kids pretty happy- so maybe pick a special road trip only treat b/c if grandparents are there you'll probably be doing this a lot. . Also- for a 2 year old something like a Tonie box is amazing- my toddler both listens to the stories/songs with her little headphones on (she is oddly proud of them) and plays with the figurines. We also listen to a few audiobooks that everyone will like or wow in the world type podcast that will keep us and the kids entertained.

Unless your vehicle has an actual bed in the back where the non driver can get legit sleep, the "rest" sitting in the passenger seat is not adequate. It is unsafe.

And you let your kids "run run run" for 2 hours inside a Barnes and Noble?

[Anonymous]

Stopping for two hours at a time? Good lord, just get there!

[Anonymous]

We’ve done driving to Orlando before, we left around 4:30pm (after school kids back from home), stay at NC beach area overnight, then arrived the next evening at Orlando. We didn’t want to take risk driving midnight, usually those cars still on the road at that time all drive so fast, and the one drives would get so tired, it’s just not safe especially you have 3 kids with you.

To save time we pre ordered groceries (fruit, pastries/bread/croissants, yogurt, string cheese, boxed single packed snacks, waters, zip bags to pack bread/pastries for kids to snack in between meal, milk, disposable cups/utensils/plates) for curbside pick up using Instacart. It saved a lot of time as we were so tired but was able to pick up groceries and got dinner then went back to hotel to rest.

We packed snacks, chips, lollipops/chocolates, board games, clipboard with coloring paper and markers, craft pipe cleaner, small toys for kids. I also brought a lot of baby wipes, adult and kids Tylenol/advil (for adult headache and kids fever just in case), anti-diarrheal tablets in case, kids antiseptic cleansing foam spray, polysporin ointment, bandaid, cotton swab, liquid bandage spray, sanitizer, allergy medicine, eye drop, sunblock, care free pads, diapers for baby, couple more extra set of clothes for kids to change in case, disposable raincoat, waterproof/wind proof jacket, hats, sunglasses and extra pairs of shoes for everyone.

Have a good trip.