Road Trip with Baby – Tips for Sanity

Bonjour!

Well, dear reader, it finally happened! After three years of pandemic-era lockdown, L’Husband and I took our first trip. We rented a house and spent two whole nights in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, just a pleasant three-and-a-half hour trip north by car from our home in central Illinois.

This post shares some tips for traveling with a tiny human. L’Husband and I are pretty organized, but one can only plan and prepare so much – we still learned a lot once the trip was actually happening! Check out my baby packing list here.

🚗 A Trip at Last

I was both exited and nervous to travel, since I had just started venturing out certain places sans face mask. And since I still have major Trust Issues around all the mouth-breathers and germ-hatches (le sigh). Three years of wearing a mask was more than enough even for moi, ever cautious and vigilant.

And so as spring awakened a freshness in the air, the fields, the gardens, I found myself with a fresh new attitude and a genuine desire to venture forth. And hand sanitizer.

👶 Tips for Traveling with Baby

This trip was different not only because we live in a COVID world (it’s still out there, people) but because our family has grown by one bébé. We learned a lot about driving anywhere more than thirty minutes away with an eleven-month-old.

• Car Time: Have extra toys and pacifiers ready for any drops, flings, or flails in the car. Better yet, tether toys to the car seat with these amazing toy links and use a pacifier clip to keep things corralled.
• Feeding: Keep bebe on as much the same feeding schedule as possible. Fed baby = happy baby = more relaxed caregiver(s).
• Sleeping: Ditto for sleep. Keep bébé on as much the same nap and nighttime schedule as possible. Time zones seem tricky, so I’m never going anywhere out of Central Standard Time ever again. And even though we packed the same pajamas, blanket, lovey, and sound machine, Le Bébé did not like being out down to bed in a different place. He Knew We Were Not at Home. And he Let Us Know in No Uncertain Terms.
• Toys: Take familiar toys for baby to play with in the car, when out and about (check out my favorite table-top toy here for the curious teether), and at your crash pad. A new toy won’t hurt, either – the novelty may help entertain and adjust.

Overall, I love to travel and enjoy planning trips, organizing what I need to take, and sharing what I’ve learned about the process over the years. Check out my top two travel tips and my Ultimate Packing List!

Where would you like to travel?

Merci for reading and please subscribe and share!

À votre santé,

Katie