Travel Tips With A Toddler: Road-Trip Edition

hellosurvivingmoth
May 18, 2023
4 min read

We recently took our first family road trip to Edmonton. It was a 5.5 hour drive and the longest we had travelled with our Bub. He is currently in the busy-explorer-wants-to-do-all-the-things stage. Lord help us!

I have to admit, I was a little nervous, mostly for the drive, and for the idea of eating out and possible FPIS reactions, so I prepped. And prepped, and prepped, and prepped! Here's some of my best toddler travel tips!

The Most Important of My Toddler Travel Tips: Preparation

I started by planning some activities we wanted to make sure we fit in while we were there. On our list: Telus World of Science, swimming, Edmonton Valley Zoo, West Edmonton Mall, outlet malls, and IKEA (lol). I also found an indoor playground in case we ended up wanting to fit that in somewhere.

I mapped out all the stops, and determined the best area to stay so it was in a central-ish location in relation to the stops on our list. I know, I am a little crazy.

We made sure to find a hotel that had suites with a separate bedroom, continental breakfast, and a pool. Hubs and I aren't really breakfast people, but Bubs usually eats very shortly after he wakes up. Having the ability to just pop down to breakfast was very handy. We also wanted to take the kids swimming (my brother and SIL joined us!), but we weren't paying $65+ per person to go to the Waterpark at WEM for the toddlers to scream and we leave within half an hour. Sorry, not sorry. Having the pool meant we could go for a swim in the morning, and after supper before going to bed. It was convenient and simple.

Travel

In the past, we've always tried to travel during naptimes. Due to both Hubs and I having to work Thursday, we couldn't leave until later in the afternoon. We decided we'd leave late afternoon, stop halfway for a stretch and bite to eat, and then Bubs could sleep the rest of the way.

This works great in theory. Many things contributed to the struggles we had on the drive. He was screaming before we even hit the highway. Fun times. I moved to the backseat eventually and we played with a few of the items I brought, but nothing seemed to make him happy. He hadn't actually seen me since the morning prior (36 hours earlier) and being so close to mom, but not close enough, just wasn't helping anything.

But if it's any consolation, I was hella prepared for car playing and snacks! We took:

a cookie sheet with magna-tiles
Water-Wow colouring books
This water drawing board
An interactive book like this one
A bubble gun
Stickers & paper
This word game
Board books with music/sound buttons
LOTS of snacks!

In addition, we got a handheld vacuum for Christmas (#adulting) and stowed that under the passenger seat to keep any sandy, crumby messes under control!

Travel Stops

We stopped halfway to Edmonton for supper and a stretch, and that was exactly what we needed! He was much happier and more settled after that.

On the way home, we stopped in the same town for a park picnic and play break. It was absolutely perfect and was an excellent pit-stop to break up the long drive!

We ended up putting the iPad on The Magic School Bus on the drive home as Bubs was SO overtired that he just could not settle. He doesn't get it all the time, so we caved!

Schedule

If you know me, I'm pretty type-A, and love a good list and itinerary, haha.

Young kiddos are also so reliant on a routine and get thrown off when things are off-schedule. We decided to take advantage of this, and keep things as "normal" as possible. We made sure to try our best to nap at naptimes, go to bed at a semi-regular time, etc.

We nap 1-3pm currently. This meant our typical day followed this schedule:

Wake up, hang out & play
Breakfast
Get ready to go
One main activity (Science Centre)
Lunch
Back to hotel for a nap
Another main activity (Mall)
Supper
Swim
Bed

We had low expectations and really just tried to lean into the moment and follow the kiddos' cues.

What We Learned

Overall we had the most wonderful trip. My anxiety was quickly alleviated and we thoroughly enjoyed our time.

My biggest pieces of advice:

Prepare as much as possible. We kept a bag of things in the car that stayed there, rather than having to lug it everywhere and pack a bag each morning. It had extra clothes, shoes, socks, hats, diapers, wipes, snacks, meds, etc.
Try not to stress too much! Follow their cues, and remember that they will not remember that something didn't go according to plan. They'll remember the fun times you shared with them!
Think "what's the worst that could happen" if someone isn't napping, isn't eating, needs a cool-down in the parking lot before going back to see the tigers (lol). Take each day moment by moment and remember that it'll all work out!!

So go out and adventure, mama! You've got this!!