1. Stop often. We stop about every 3 hours because that's what we have trained him to handle. Its far enough that we have made progress, but short enough that no one gets pushed to delirium.
2. Make quality stops. A quick stop at a fast food joint will not cut it. We have found that all Chick-fil-a's (as far as we know) have play places, this is a phenomenal option. We carve out 30-60 mins for this eat and play stop, it goes a really long way. We also make stops at places like train museums, parks, or just places that look interesting. They key is getting the kid tired, if you can start your morning running your kid up and down a hill, it will make those first couple hours so much more pleasant.
3. Potty Chairs go great in the car.
If your two year old is potty trained you know how crucial it is to get to a bathroom when they have to go. Sometimes when you road trip bathrooms are not readily available. Having the potty chair in the car is a life saver. All you have to do is pull over on the shoulder or pull off on a random exit, unstrap the kid, and sit them on the potty!
-I used Clorox wipes to clean the potty out after each use.
-I put a plastic grocery bag in the potty bowl if he had to go #2.
-The potty chair also works great as a vomit receptacle if anyone in the car gets car sick or has a tummy bug.
4. A box of new toys goes a long way. We purchased a smaller and inexpensive magna doodle, some hot wheels cars, fun slippers, a new coloring book, and some interactive books for the trip.
5. Use a box to organize toys. You don't need to bring a ton, especially if you have an iPad or Leap Pad with new apps or a DVD player. Choose a small box to keep the toys in and don't bring anything else, it just junks up the car.
6. Eating/Play Trays are great for your toddler and yourself.
It keeps the mess to a minimum and provides a surface to color on. It also makes car eating a lot easier for any passengers.
7. Stay at an Embassy Suites. Its so nice to have a bedroom that has a door so you can put the kid to bed and not have to lay there in darkness for the rest of the night. Embassy Suites has a nice living area that is separated from the bedroom by a door. This makes putting my child to bed infinitely easier. They also have a free happy hour and a military discount...you can't go wrong!
8. Bring any medicine you can think of. If your kid is going to get sick it will be on a road trip. Its one of those laws of nature. If you have nausea meds, bring them. Fever reducers, bring them. Cold medicine, bring them. Bring it all, its worth it.
9. Change the angle of the car seat at each stop. When we sit in the car for long periods we can adjust so that our butts don't get sore. Kids restrained by a 5 point harness don't have that luxury. They are actually allowed very little movement which makes them all the more miserable. If your car seat reclines change the angle at each stop so that the pressure on their little bums shifts too. It will make for a much happier toddler.
10. Use Take-N-Toss sippy cups.
They are inexpensive and stack nicely. When we have road tripped in the past the sippy gets kind of gross by the last day, even with thorough rinsing. Using take-n-toss eliminates the necessity of bringing multiple cups that don't stack and can be tossed at the end of the day without any feelings of guilt. It is also very easy to see if they have any funk in them. I'm a big fan of these!
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