Tips for Traveling in the Car with Young Children

As the holidays fast approach chances are you are making travel plans. Traveling can be stressful even without young children, and by adding them in to the mix things can get pretty interesting. Many will be making long trips in the car with young children this holiday season to visit family and friends. Keep from asking, "Why are we doing this?" Use these tips to help make traveling by car with young children go as smoothly as possible.

Be Prepared
Take the boy scouts motto to heart and be prepared for common problems that go along with young children. Keep a basic first aid kit in an easily accessible spot. Make sure you include a children's pain reliever, a thermometer, Benedryl and children's Pepto Bismol. These items along with a basic first aid kit should keep you covered for the basic illness you may encounter. Of course, any prescription medications are must. Keep a smaller bag in an easily accessible spot with a change of clothing for everyone in case of potty accidents, vomiting or other events.

A change of clothes for everyone is important as it is likely that your child will manage to share their mess with you. An easily accessible spot is key to making things easier on you. You don't want to be digging through a trunkful of presents and luggage trying to find the one thing you need. Nor do you want to be left trying to find needed medicine at a gas station store. Young children are wiggly and have fairly short attention spans. You'll want to be prepared to keep them happy, which brings me to my next point.

Fight Boredom and Avoid Meltdowns
No one wants to listen to a screaming or whining child in a car. You don't want the driver to be distracted by one either. Try these ideas and be prepared to keep the tears at bay.

Make a trip to your local library before your trip. Check out lots of new books that your child has never seen. Board books are your best bet for very young children. This will provide you with books to read to your child in the car, and your children will enjoy leafing through the pages looking at the pictures. Audio books and music are available from libraries as well. New stories and sounds will keep your child entertained longer than a book read a hundred times already. Throwing in a few tired and true favorites doesn't hurt though.

Crayons and markers are not the best idea for the car. Crayons and markers can get dropped, thrown, and use to mark up your car interior. Add paper and coloring books on top of this and you'll have a mess and more stress. Magna Doodles and Etch a Sketches are wonderful alternatives. They cannot be dropped one by one all over the floorboard of your car and when a child can start a new creation easily. If you want to spring for the markers and crayons anyways, try the Color Wonder products by Crayola.

Plan good spots for lunch and breaks. Understandably, you don't want to stop more than you must, so maximize stops. Hit fast food restaurants with play places or plan picnics at nicer rest stops. Let your children stretch their legs and get some exercise. You may even want to use this time just for the adults to eat while the children play. Then let your children eat in the car once your back on the road.

Wrap up a few little presents. Your child will be surprised and distracted. Time will be spent unwrapping and then playing with the new object. Wrapping with many layers is great as it take more time. Save money by wrapping up small toys that haven't been played with in a while.

Talk about where your going, who you'll see, and what you'll be doing. This will get your child's mind off the traveling a little and on to other things. Get them excited about why your spending hours in a car traveling.

Remember comfort items. Your child will be happier and cozier with a favorite blanket and stuffed animal by their side. Such security objects will help ease stress your child may be feeling because of traveling in the car.

Bring snacks. Young children need to eat more often than adults, and snacks provide great distractions. Avoid candy and other sugary items. Too much sugar will not make your travel easier. Choose healthy, low sugar snacks. Bring old favorites and some surprises too.

Although, I am not normally a fan of sticking your child in front of a screen for long periods a DVD player in the car can be a sanity saver on long car trips. Try to limit it and not play one movie after the other or it will lose its effect of entertaining your child. A new movie is a plus in this situation.