10 Tips for Road Trips with a Toddler (Without Screen Time!)
Last Updated on April 23, 2024 by Kelly
We recently went on a long road trip with a toddler, and I was feeling nervous about the prospect of so much driving time. At the same time, I was excited to get out of the house and create new family memories. We spent over 50 hours in the car on our recent road trip. We drove 3,590 miles, and we did it all without using screen time. In this post, we’ll share our best tips for going on a road trip with a toddler.
Disclaimer: These tips are for informational purposes. We do not provide medical advice and we cannot advise you on how to parent your child specifically. We simply share the tips that worked for us.
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(We’ve linked our daughter’s sun hat if you’re interested!)
Why Did We Avoid Screen Time in the Car?
We certainly understand that children like screen time, and that it can be helpful for adults too. We were planning to drive over 50 hours in total, and we didn’t want our toddler to watch cartoons the whole time. We also didn’t want to deal with a tantrum anytime we told her “no more screen time.” It was easier for us to make the rule “no screen time in the car”, than to sometimes allow it and sometimes not. (And we figured it would be less confusing for her too if it was just a clear rule.)
Our Best Tips for a Road Trip With a Toddler
- Break up long drives into several days
- Have the Adults Switch Seats Often
- Bring Out the New Toys
- Make Frequent Stops
- Get Lots of Physical Activity Each Day
- Listen to Music
- Plan Ahead for Nap Time
- Be Flexible
- Remain Calm
- Prioritize Car Safety
1. Break Up Long Drives into Several Days
The first thing we did was outline our stops and drive times for each day. We purposely “traveled slow” so we wouldn’t have to spend too many hours in the car on any given day. Although we were gone for three weeks, many of our driving days were just 3-hour stretches (instead of 8+ hours in the car). By breaking down the drive into smaller chunks, we figured our toddler would have an easier time. We know this might not be feasible for everyone, but we were able to do it and it helped us a lot. For us it meant less days in the national parks and more days on the journey. Turns out we found some pretty incredible stops along the way!
It was way easier for our daughter to spend 2-3 hours in the car than it was to spend 6 hours in the car. Although every toddler is different, we found that our daughter “hit her max” at around 5 hours of drive time during a single day.
A silver lining of taking your time to get to your destination is that you will stop at more places off the beaten path. You might be surprised that some of your favorite road trip memories are from places that you didn’t know anything about! (And with less crowds!)
2. Have the Adults Switch Seats Often
After several days on the road, we found that switching up the seating arrangement throughout the day helped a lot. During the first hour, my husband and I would sit up front while our daughter would play in her car seat. Her stamina for driving was highest at the beginning of the day, so she did a good job of entertaining herself for the first hour each day. (This is when my husband and I would chat, listen to an audio book, or listen to music.) After that, one of us would sit in the backseat with her and play. We would play with toys, books, and make up goofy little games to play with her. Then, we would switch it up again. The person driving would switch to the backseat and play for awhile. This variation helped to pass the time pretty quickly, and I think it kept things interesting for our toddler!
3. Bust Out the New Toys
Before the road trip, we bought a handful of new toys that our toddler had never seen before. Most of them were from the dollar store. (They don’t have to be expensive, just anything new that hasn’t been played with before.) Each new toy would go a long way. We would typically give her a new toy right when she started to get a little bit restless. Our daughter especially liked a steering wheel toy like this one, so that she could pretend to drive along with us!
4. Make Frequent Stops
One of the best things we did was make frequent stops. Some experts recommend that infants and toddlers shouldn’t be in the car seat for more than two hours at a time. It’s hard for a young child to stay seated for a long period of time, so being able to stop often and stretch out their legs can make a big difference! We stopped frequently at rest stops, scenic viewpoints, gas stations, and restaurants. Even if we only had 3 hours of total drive time, it would often take us much longer because we stopped frequently. (For us it was helpful to set the expectation for ourselves that we would just be taking our time and not to be in a rush.)
5. Get Lots of Physical Activity
Because we were spending so much time in the car, we really needed to make sure that we were physically active when we weren’t in the car. We tried to get our toddler to run around as much as possible during our rest stops. We brought a soccer ball like this one to kick around. We chased her around and tried to keep her moving. She also loved running after bubbles, so a bubble wand was a great toy to pack as well!
At the hotel, we would often go to the pool and swim in the late afternoon. We also spent a lot of time going up and down the hotel stairs. She loved it and it helped her to burn some energy!
6. Listen to Their Favorite Music
I’m not gonna lie, we spent a lot of time listening to Cocomelon. (If you know, you know.) Our daughter would get so calm and peaceful whenever we played her favorite music. We tried to save this for later in the day when she needed it more. (And partially because we didn’t want to spend 3 hours listening to Cocomelon each day!)
7. Plan Ahead for Nap Time
If your toddler will be taking a nap in the car, be prepared to help them fall asleep easier. Our daughter tended to take shorter naps in the car than she would if she was in a crib, so we really wanted to try our best to make sure she got enough rest. We found that by bringing a portable sound machine, she had better sleep. (She has the same one at home, so it made sense to take it in the car with us and re-create her normal sleep routine.) The white noise was a strong cue for her that it was time to fall asleep. And although she didn’t need to sleep in a sleep sack in the car seat, she really liked to hold onto her sleep sack like a blankie while she slept. I think it felt familiar to her as part of her routine and helped her to sleep.
8. Be Flexible
Traveling with toddlers is all about flexibility. Try to leave earlier in the day so you can give yourself plenty of time to take it slow if you need to stop for awhile. (Nothing is worse than having a fussy toddler and needing to push through a drive to make it somewhere on time!) You might not see everything you want to see, and that’s okay. It always gives you a reason to come back a second time.
9. Remain Calm
One of the most powerful things we did was to remain calm to help our toddler self-regulate. If she was feeling fussy, we really made an effort to remain calm. It’s easy to be frazzled while traveling, but that can rub off on your little one. We tried to remain calm and stress-free. Toddlers have big emotions and they don’t always know how to cope with them yet.
10. Prioritize Car Safety
And most important of all, we prioritized car safety. We made sure our car seat was properly installed. We made sure that there were no projectiles near the car seat that could cause injury if we stopped suddenly. We saved the snack breaks for rest stops. We never left her alone in the car. We traveled with a first aid kit just in case. We didn’t drive when we were tired. We made sure to bring enough water in our vehicle for everyone in case we were stranded on a hot day. We made sure that we had enough gas in our tank between long stretches of driving. We also talked with our daughter’s pediatrician in advance about our travel plans to hear their recommendations.
We wrote an entire post on our favorite baby and toddler travel products, so be sure to check it out!
Summary
We hope you found our road trip tips helpful! We are so grateful that we were able to build precious memories with our daughter as explored the southwest. Traveling with a baby or a toddler can be hard, but it is definitely worth it. We hope you have a great trip!
Disclaimer: We always strive for content accuracy. Since the time of publishing, travel-related information regarding pricing, schedules, and hours may have changed. Please look up such information directly from each vendor or institution for the most current information.
