{"id":6578,"date":"2014-11-25T07:37:33","date_gmt":"2014-11-25T12:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/?p=6578"},"modified":"2019-07-13T08:22:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-13T12:22:16","slug":"car-travel-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/25\/car-travel-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Car Travel with Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traveling with kids is not always the funnest thing and traveling by car can be more stressful for many reasons. The journey is usually longer; the kids are stuck, buckled in their seats for long periods; and space is cramped.<\/p>\n

I previously shared my tips on car travel with a baby<\/a> and yesterday I shared my Holiday Travel Tips<\/a> when flying on Perfectly Imperfect Mom and many of the tips on packing apply to car travel as well but here are some more specific\u00a0tips for holiday car travel with kids:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"D<\/a>1. \u00a0Be diligent about car seat safety<\/a>.<\/h3>\n

Long road trips are definitely not the time to get lax on proper car seat use. \u00a0Because you are going farther, going faster and drivers may be more tired from hours on the road, chances of an accident can increase. \u00a0When traveling long distances I want my kids as safe as possible which means Sugarplum and Doodle are rear facing and Honeybun is is a 5-point harness. \u00a0Not only does this keep them safer but they are also more comfortable for car naps and relaxing on the road.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Keep things you’ll need on the drive and in case of am emergency handy.<\/h3>\n

The floorboards of the back seat under rear facing car seats or kids’ feet is the perfect place to keep snacks, water, and in the winter time, coats and blankets. \u00a0With car seats installed, you can’t always get to the trunk from inside the car (unless you drive an SUV) and may not be able to safely exit the car.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Take soft, small toys in the car.<\/h3>\n

Most child passenger safety experts follow the rule “if you wouldn’t throw it at your child’s head, they shouldn’t have it in the car,” due to the projectile risk in the event of an accident. \u00a0I’m not super diligent about this but I do try to stick to paperback books, soft animals and small art supplies.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Stop frequently.<\/h3>\n

Little (and big) legs need time to stretch, run and of course, use the potty! \u00a0Don’t try to go too far without stopping. \u00a0Plan your trip to include a short stop every 2-4 hours (depending on the age and temperament of your kids) and realize no stop will probably ever take less than 30 minutes!<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Bring kids music and books on tape.<\/h3>\n

Hubby likes to listen to NPR while we drive, the kids not so much! \u00a0We usually bring a few books on tape as well as the kids’ favorite music (Frozen<\/a>) to listen to when they are awake to help pass the time and keep them happy and entertained.<\/p>\n

Pin it!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Traveling with kids is not always the funnest thing and traveling by car can be more stressful for many reasons. The journey is usually longer; the kids are stuck, buckled in their seats for long periods; and space is cramped. I previously shared my tips on car travel with a baby and yesterday I shared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,8,9,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-mommys-life","category-baby-business","category-family-life","category-tiny-travellers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6578"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14604,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578\/revisions\/14604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}