ILs live in FL, and we always drive-through the night. We arrive and the kids are up and playing with grandparents, we are sleeping.

Agree with all the other previous suggestions, although we always stopped at hotels for bathrooms, not gas stations or Home Depot. There's always a Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn or Marriott right off the highway with a bathroom in their lobby. Always clean.

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.

Get one or two backseat organizers. We have the one that goes between seats on the floor, but there are ones that drape over the chair backs. Fill those with kids books, toys, water bottles, and any snacks you don’t mind them self-serving. You can also get kid travel trays so they can have essentially a desk/table on their laps for food and activities.

Keep a small trash bag open and have them periodically pass up trash so the car’s not a total disaster. And obviously avoid any particularly messy snacks or activities like Cheetos or play doh.

If you do decide to drive a few hours then stay in a hotel, pack “go bags.” These are small bags with only the things you’ll need for the hotel, so everything else big and bulky can stay in the car. It makes it so much easier to grab these smaller bags and get inside, and there’s less to deal with the next morning.

I also let our kids pack one small backpack (like that classic bug backpack) with some coloring books, small toys, stuffed animals, etc. They tend to want to pack everything, so giving them their special bag to pack with what they want helps.

Don’t overpack since you’ll have laundry available at your destination but pack some books and small toys to entertain the kids.

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.

Lollipops for when things get really desperate. And agree, do stops at a playground or park.

Thanks all, good tip so far. I’m undecided on driving part of the way on Friday night and then the rest on Saturday from where we are, it’s a 12 Hour Dr. we have done it before but our two year old was littler and slept more but un packing and staying a night in a hotel isn’t necessarily easy either.

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.

What part of Florida?
Jacksonville is easily do-able in one day with kids Miami is not.

When my kids were around that age, we'd bring (or buy) sandwiches and fruit and find public parks/playgrounds to stop at, instead of fast food. I'd suggest bringing a table cloth because sometimes park picnic tables aren't clean.

IME stores like Lowe's and Home Depot will have cleaner and bigger restrooms than fast food places and gas stations, but I guess that can vary.

Have a change of clothes easily accessible for each member of the family in case anyone spills or throws up.

Anonymous wrote:Food/snacks, entertainment and OTC meds for minor issues (headaches, stomach ache).

Maybe audiobook/podcast whole (most members?) family can enjoy.

Food/snacks, entertainment and OTC meds for minor issues (headaches, stomach ache).

Do you have a small car? Seems like packing is not a problem when driving. Bring snacks? I assume you knew that.

Hopefully you have a mini van. Florida is aggressive for one day. Leave at 4 am and hope they sleep at least 2 hours. Don’t get stuck too long as chick FIL a play places. Lots of iPads and charging cables and pillows for a lap desk.

Driving to Florida next Friday.
We have laundry available while we’re there and obviously Target, Publix, etc.
Kids are 7, 6, 2.

We’ve done plenty of road trips with them…but share your best packing tips!

I think we’ll drive through one whole day, so no stops at night…I don’t think?