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Like the rest of the world, we decided to go on a UK break last month. A “staycation” as the cool kids say. I wanted to explore somewhere new, and preferably somewhere away from the crowds heading to Cornwall and Devon. But I also had an ulterior motive.
You see, for a while I’ve been thinking about planning a driving holiday. A family trip where we load up the car and set off early to drive to France or The Netherlands. And actually in a post-COVID world, that seems like it would be an even better idea. (Y’know once we lose the quarantine period.)
But let’s face it, the idea of doing a massive trip with a toddler is kind of terrifying.
So. I figured our jaunt to Wales last month could be a tester. Just how bad is it? Will she kick off? Will she sleep? How long can she go before getting restless?
When my daughter was tiny, I always worried about the time limit you can keep babies in car seats (#FirstTimeMum), so up until this point we hadn’t done longer than two hours. This trip was just over 4 hours, so definitely out of our comfort zone.
Well, all in all, I’d say it was a successful journey! We made it there and back with zero tantrums, minimal issues, and it’s definitely encouraged me to do that BIG TRIP in the hopefully not-too-distant future. (Y’know, lockdown 2.0 pending.)
So to help out any parents about to embark on an equally terrifying road trip, here are a few things we did that worked out really well…
Tips for Surviving a Road Trip with a Toddler
1) We split the journey into 1-2 hour drives with gaps placed at opportune moments. We stopped for a little brunch in Stratford-Upon-Avon (totally recommend Boston Tea Party by the way!) and a late lunch in Brecon. And I made sure the longest drive was during nap time. It took a bit of planning before we left but that kind of scheduling is basically what parenthood is all about, right?
2) I bought a back-of-the-seat organiser. Just this cheap one from Amazon, but it was such a great impulse buy! It has pockets for toys and snacks and my daughter’s water bottle. I mean, she’s still a little too small to reach it all, but I think she liked looking at her favourite toys instead of the back of the seat. And if she wanted snacks or water or anything she would tell us. But the best part is that it has a see-through slot for…
3) …Watching her favourite TV shows on my phone! I don’t like to resort to this too often, but I think a long road trip warrants getting the phone out for some cartoon time. I downloaded a load of Peppa Pig and Hey Duggee on Netflix and it worked out a treat. I saved it for after her nap and once she was starting to get a bit restless. Then I whipped out the phone and it kept her entertained until we got to our destination. Absolute game-changer.
4) We listened to podcasts during the road trip. I don’t know why but podcasts seem to be better when my girl needs to sleep. Maybe they’re more monotonous and therapeutic? I don’t know but it is always more effective than music. Plus we got to catch up with our faves, and I finally got Josh into Lockdown Parenting Hell (you have to listen to it, it’s so funny!). Win/win.
Ok they may sound like basic things to some of you experienced mamas, but they really helped us get through the road trip. And it’s definitely encouraged me to try some longer trips in the future. Stay tuned for big family driving holidays, lads.
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