Planning your first road trip with a toddler can be a daunting experience. How will they cope on long car journeys? How long can we drive for? What about naps? What if we're tired and stressed all the time? We had all of these worries and more, before setting off on our first international road trip in Mexico with our little girl. Despite doing road trips in California, Canada and Costa Rica pre-baby, we weren't sure what to expect. However, with some careful planning and a lot of flexibility, you can absolutely enjoy a successful and enjoyable road trip with your children.
Here are our top tips for planning a stress-free international road trip with a toddler. While all children are different, these tips could be adapted for almost any situation.
Consider collecting your hire car from a regional office or from your hotel, rather than from the airport. We didn't know how our 18-month old was going to cope with her first long haul flight, so we chose to skip the stress of collecting the hire car at the airport and took a private transfer to our hotel instead. Collecting our hire car from the Playa del Carmen office two days later was very convenient - and meant that we minimised the cost of the car, only paying for it when we needed it.
Build in additional time at each stop on your route. If you are in a hurry or are travelling child-free, our Yucatán road trip could have been condensed into seven to ten days. However, with a toddler in tow, we would recommend staying at least two nights at each stop to allow yourself extra time for cooling down by the pool and discovering the local play parks.
Reduce your driving distances to make your road trip as enjoyed and engaging for your toddler as possible. Sometimes longer journeys are unavoidable, but try to intersperse these with shorter drives so that your little one doesn't come to dread the car.
Plan your journeys around nap time where possible, minimising the time you spend in a car with a potentially bored and grumpy toddler. Wren is a great sleeper but doesn't like to nap in a pushchair or carrier; however she is happy to sleep in the car after a busy morning of exploring.
Bring your own car seat. Airlines often allow infants to bring two items in the hold, so we pack a travel pushchair and car seat. While car rental companies usually offer the option of hiring a car seat, we prefer to pack our own so that we are familiar with how to install it and are confident that it is a safe and secure option for Wren.
Come prepared with toys and activities! We pack a variety of small, engaging toys that Wren hasn't played with much before, a combination of new and favourite books and, when all else fails, we use screen time. We download Disney movies and lots of Bluey on the iPad and bring a holder so that Wren can watch it in the car. You're on holiday, and your child is on holiday too - so we choose not to worry about additional screen time if it makes everyone a happier traveller.
Consider finishing off your trip at an all-inclusive resort. When we visited Mexico, we had no idea how our toddler would react to her first international road trip, and we anticipated that it could be stressful and exhausting. Rather than avoid booking it altogether, we decided to finish off with four nights at an all-inclusive resort to prioritise easy, accessible fun and relaxation.
Enjoy a slower pace of travel! Doing a road trip with a toddler forces us to slow down compared to our holidays pre-baby. However, we also speak to more people, discover parks and restaurants we otherwise would have bypassed, and definitely benefit from the daily siesta while Wren takes a nap.
What are your top tips for stress-free car journeys with a toddler? We'd love to hear them!
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