Hey there y’all and welcome back! Keenan, Andee and I have gone on a few weekend road trips lately, and I wanted to share with you what all I packed for Andee.
I have taken her on a plane from Calgary, Alberta to Asheville, North Carolina, so an entire days worth of travel, when she was just shy of 4 months old. I was nervous about flying, but fairly confident that we would do fine. But for some reason taking her on a road trip at 11 months old seemed much more nerve racking. I think it’s because I know how active Andee is, and I was worried about her having to sit still for so long in the car ride. I was also worried about baby proofing and how well she would sleep and eat and blah, blah, blah. Of course as a mom you worry about all these things, but I am always surprised at how resilient Andee is with change. I am no expert, but I do think it might be helpful to share a bit of what I packed and a few tips on what made our road trips doable.
I should start by saying that traveling with a baby requires SO MUCH STUFF so keeping things organized really helped me. I packed a bag and cooler with ice packs for food that I had easily accessible in the car as well as the items listed under the car section below. I packed all the other things in one single bag, but made sure to have a smaller toiletries bag inside so I could leave it in the bathroom to make life easier. Also, I found it INCREDIBLY helpful to ride in the back with Andee and let Keenan drive. That way I could distract her or comfort her whenever she needed. But without further ado – the list(s)!
Sleep and Bedtime
- pack n’ play
- sound machine
- baby monitor
- sleep sack
- soothers
- books
- lovey
Toiletries
- diapers
- wipes
- lotion
- baby tooth brush
- diaper cream
- hair brush or comb
- hair ties
- wash clothes – I packed some extras with her food as well
- sunscreen
- towel for pool and for bath
- baby soap
Food and Kitchen
- snacks for the car (baby granola bars, mum mums, pre washed and chopped berries and Cheerios) – these were VERY useful in keeping Andee happy
- sippy cup with water for the car
- extra sippy cup for milk
- string cheese
- baby hummus
- pita
- hard boiled eggs
- milk
- bib
- suction plate and bowl
- baby spoon
- bottles
- clamp on high chair like this one
Clothes
- two outfits per day of travel
- pyjamas for each night plus one extra
- swim suit
- sweater
- socks
- shoes
Items for Car Ride
- blanket
- multi use cover like this one
- toys – jingly and music making toys worked best to distract Andee long term
- teether
- stuffy or lovey or doll for snuggling
And when all else fails, I played her some Paw Patrol. Lol!
Overall, Andee did really well with road tripping. She unfortunately doesn’t really sleep in the car anymore. So that threw off her sleep schedule for a few days, but it wasn’t anything terrible. I think it might be easier to travel for three days instead of two because we were in the car back to back days when we only traveled for two days. So I’m curious if having a third day of not being in the car would help her stay more on track with her sleep schedule. But as I said, she wasn’t thrown off terribly, so I’m not too concerned to take more trips with her.
Have you road tripped with your babe before? What did you find useful or what would you have done differently? Hopefully this list that I shared was helpful and gives you the courage to concur a trip yourself! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Happy day y’all!